Jump into January NSD Challenge

bottleofred

Good Morning Folks,

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the start of the weekend. I have been reading with interest about what some people exclude as spends and will take on board the comments:T
A so far very wet day in NI today:mad:. I don't have much planned, but will do a football bet and maybe some baking:)
My shower broke yesterday, so I am hoping my landlord turns up today with a new water pump, as he looked at it yesterday. If not, it'll be off to the gym for a shower for me. I hope you all have a good day:)

kerri_gt

Ugh, sorry to hear about the shower red what a pain, do you have a bath too? Although I'm assuming not if you're thinking of heading off to the gym.

Speaking of which, calf muscles still sore from thurs, think it was actually the warm up that did it which went straight into cardio without much brefore it, not good really. Arms also a bit sore but I was doing lots of inverts and arm work so that's to be expected.

Finally planned what to do with some diced lamb and turkey offal in the freezer....lamb hotpot of sorts. Just means instead of lambs kidneys it will have turkey parts instead, sure it will be fine. Quite enjoying meal planning, making room in the freezer and using things up that have been about for ages. It's like a gastronomic spring clean :rotfl:

fedupandskint

May as well declare now with NSD 18 as not going out anywhere apart from walking the dog!

NSD 18

marmiterulesok

It's interesting to read about what we call an nsd.


Well,I have just calculated that if I am to reach my 'new' total of 19 nsds,then I only have 3 more spend days this month.
It's tight,but it's do-able.
I aim to keep my target at 17,then increase-hopefully!


I'm already claiming today as #9.
I will be going out for a walk,but definitely no shopping.

MissE001

bottleofred wrote: »

Apologies to MissE, as I missed your name when thanking ETO and Sazzie for the updates yesterday. So thank you:T

Aw, no need to apologise bottleofred - and thank you

MissE001

Thank you so much for the update ETO - the front page is all updated to here:T

MissE001

fbrander wrote: »

Morning. Can I join? Am on Day 4!

Welcome aboard fbrander :hello:

Well done on starting with 4......do you have a target?

MissE001

As for what I count / don't count as spend days....

A bit like fedup, I have lots of budgets - I'm just not quite so disciplined at always sticking to them:rotfl:

I don't count DDs, grocery shopping (as long as I only buy essentials), petrol, anything from one of my budgets as long as it doesn't go over. My budgets are for road tax, MOT, car insurance, house insurance, Christmas, dentist, optician, birthdays, holidays

This month I've had unbudgeted spends though - forgotten birthday (although ended up paying for that with Ama*on voucher), leaving gift, baby presents....and I also fell off the wagon and bought a couple of bottles of wine - oops :beer:

So no NSD for me yesterday....today's a possibility though - will report back later

MissE001

68
of us joined in the challenge and already we've collected

413 NSDs



which is already over what we collected in December and we're only just over half-way through January. Aren't we doing well?? :money::money:

MissE001

Hi lovely NSD gang:A
As you can see there is lots of activity on this challenge at the moment and it can be difficult sometimes to see how many NSDs you're all declaring on posts.
Could we ask you to highlight your number of NSDs in a colour and in bold so that we can see them easily when we whizz through the posts - red would be best but we don't really mind as long as we can see the numbers easily.


Some helpful suggestions and ideas to follow below from our sponsor and godmother, BigMummaF :A

NO SPEND CHALLENGE.

1. Have a good, long think about what YOU want to include in your Spend & Excluded categories.
Some of us count everything from Direct Debits & school expenses, while others do not include things like essential Bills or emergency medical costs. If you plan what is or is not a Spend for you now, it will help you decide on a realistic Target.
2. It is NOT a race!
We all have very different demands on our time & bank balance, so please do not think you have to buy everything on 1st January & make it last till 31st December! A few of us have been following this Challenge for a long...long...LONG time so have developed plans & ploys to help us along the way
3. Most important of all, WE..DO..NOT..FAIL!
Sometimes we can't quite reach our Target, but that is fine Everyone knows how Life will try to trip us up, & that is when you will find us here to help you back on to your feet.

OK, an idea of how some of us do things.
1. What you will or will not include as a 'Spend'.
Some people are doing other challenges too, & don't include the money spent on those for this one.
Some will try to shop for other bits on the days their direct debits etc go out of their bank accounts; they're the real hard core of the bunch & have been l-o-n-g time Nsders so don't panic
Some won't count those annoying last minute demands from school & collections as you can't plan for them in advance, likewise emergency prescriptions or visits to the vet
Personally speaking & providing I don't buy anything else, I don't count parking for hospital appointments.(..but then I usually do my shopping because I'm already out :whistle:)
General thoughts on €bay sales is the buyer has paid P&P so no cost to you
2. It takes Time to reach mega-numbers!
The First suggestion is the first, because a bit of planning will work wonders on your road to your Target. Have a look at thefirst posts each month for a hefty list of other threads that may be of help. For example, there's a few giving ideas for packed lunches so you can avoid standing in the queue at the bakers for 45mins of your lunch hour! A good incentive to tweak your healthy eating & the pounds you save will show in your bank balance AND your waistline
It helps to have various 'money pots' for the different costs that happen like Scouts, dinner money, yoga, window cleaner etc etc. The idea is you "spend" all that money in one hit by..:think:..let's say **putting the week's bus fares into the pretty coffee jar, Jo's tumble tots SIZE=2]Weds mornings[/SIZE in the cracked teapot & Ben's £1 coin for the gym locker SIZE=2]Friday lunch[/SIZE in the pocket of the changing bag, on Tuesdays every week when you've got some change from doing the food shop, so an already spendy day. At least four 'spending days' condensed into one (**mine's jam jars for windows, milkman & a bit towards the bills!)
3. Any day the money stays in your pocket is a bonus!
If you look at it as a day you beat the system, you can't help but :j so don't fret it--ENJOY! If nothing else in here, we do manage find something to make us smile

We have virtual outings to wonderful places that never cost us a bean :rotfl:New York, Edinburgh & Brighton have been a couple & nargle usually pilots the Tardis but you can use your own transport; my personal favourite has been a sit-on lawn mower borrowed from the cricket club The only thing to be aware of is Hubert the donkey who is partial to anything remotely edible but is not yet house-trained

And Remember;
there are no silly questions, so don't be afraid to ask us anything!