NST: May the odds be ever in your favour!

The_Only_Girl

littleskintdragon wrote: »

They basically said that my motivation is -
Children and saving for the things i want/need instead of getting into debt for them. I'm usually fine with not using credit cards etc until xmas! Theres such an awful pressure at Xmas.

I agree with you littleskint dragon. One thing this debt busting has taught me and my husband is that it is not how much our gifts to our children cost but what they will benefit from them. I know it is easier said than done especially at Xmas where there is a lot of temptation and pressure to spend loads and loads on gifts. Some people spend hundreds of pounds on their children and the kids. We used to do that too, and mostly on credit cards. For all we know some of the amount we are paying the cc now include those presents we bought our kids all those many years ago. Then the LBM moment came and we had to scale down everything, including presents. On special occasions, ie bdays and Xmas, we had to choose one meaningful gift that means a lot to them, something they need, something educational and in the words of my MIL, something that is character building. All these years we've been doing it, my kids value and appreciate their presents more, they still treasure them up until now. Of course it is very important that they understand why we are doing what we are doing so they don't think we are just being mean. (We have been very open to our kids about our situation and they help in anyway they can to minimise the expenses. It is part of their training for the future, part of our legacy) My hubby and I have stopped giving presents to each other just for the sake of gIving presents on bdays, Valentine's, anniversaries, etc. we treasure the experiences more. I am only speaking on our behalf of course, and I am, in no way, indicating that we must all do it. It has irks for us so far.

CEW

The Only Girl I can't say how pleased I am to hear of someone else who does not exchange gifts with their OH on birthdays, Xmas and particularly valentines Day. We made a conscious effort not to exchange gifts and it is so funny to see people's reactions when they ask either of us what we are getting the other one for said events. They really cannot accept that neither of us want or need these gifts. In fact we nearly had our first argument when after agreeing no Valentines card or gift OH gave me a soft toy :mad: Aparently regardless of what had been agreed his ex would have expected a card and gift. I really don't need, what I perceive to be a consumerism led event, to tell me when and how to tell my OH that I love him.

Rant over :rotfl:

2nd SFD today, although thought I might have had to buy some sugar as OH said we were out as he had looked 'properly' in the cupboard but as I thought a full packet was hiding behind a canister of teabags :rotfl: so no emergency.

Rain finally stopped here so may go for a short walk soon.

Chez x

academiablues

Hello Turtles! Sounds like people are enjoying the bank holiday weekend. Stewby, sorry to hear about the travelling nightmare, hope you're feeling better about it now - like everyone else said, maybe you can claim something back? Aphidgirl, well done, that's a large amount of money. CEW, my OH is exactly the same - can never find anything in the kitchen and it's usually right under his nose!
Today was a spendy day but due to spending more than usual a couple of weeks ago on an online shop, we managed to only spend £19.74 on food to last the week. Fridge is practically empty, but I batch-froze about 21 meals last week so we've got plenty of food in the house. Also spend £1 on some bamboo canes to tie my tomato plants to, which came out of last month's budget. Was going out for a drink tonight but still poorly, so OH is going to buy himself some beer and drink it at home instead. I'll be going to bed early with my book and trying to nurse myself better before work on Tuesday!
Keep going Turtles

The_Only_Girl

CEW wrote: »

The Only Girl I can't say how pleased I am to hear of someone else who does not exchange gifts with their OH on birthdays, Xmas and particularly valentines Day. We made a conscious effort not to exchange gifts and it is so funny to see people's reactions when they ask either of us what we are getting the other one for said events. They really cannot accept that neither of us want or need these gifts. In fact we nearly had our first argument when after agreeing no Valentines card or gift OH gave me a soft toy :mad: Aparently regardless of what had been agreed his ex would have expected a card and gift. I really don't need, what I perceive to be a consumerism led event, to tell me when and how to tell my OH that I love him.

Rant over :rotfl:

2nd SFD today, although thought I might have had to buy some sugar as OH said we were out as he had looked 'properly' in the cupboard but as I thought a full packet was hiding behind a canister of teabags :rotfl: so no emergency.

Rain finally stopped here so may go for a short walk soon.

Chez x

I have the same reactions from colleagues when I tell them we are getting nothing for each other on certain occasions. Don't get me wrong we still give each other presents sometimes but it is because we feel the other needs that particular thing and not because it is what is expected of us by society and consumerism.

The weather here is awful : grey, cold and wet! I was hoping to do some garden tidying and go to M@kr0 to avail of their offer on composts, but it's not really a gardening sort of day. It's more of a curl under the duvet and stay under your pajamas kind of day. For that it could potentially be NSD number 2.

apple_muncher

DrCarrie wrote: »

Eeekkkkkk! I am here- I didn't see this before. My BF was here (we have a long distance realtionship) for my birthday, which was the 1st and then family dinner last night. I am still turtling though....20 NSD's that is gonna be tough. But racked one up on Friday at least. I will be back with an update and plan for the rules and the focus for this month.

Lovely, lovely.

No worries DrC, we'll not be chasing you away if you don't manage it! We generaly find that those who log in regularly are more able to reach their goals. So we hope to see lots of you!!!

littleskintdragon

Theonlygirl - thank u, its nice youre children are so understanding and teaching them good future lessons, well done you!
It was our anniversary yesterday, we did buy but only spent just over £10 each, dh got a phone case and bought me a cd with our first dance song on. We never buy cd's or dvds so its a nice treat.
I usually start buying xmas presents in the summer sales, and start a list, hiwever i picked up loads in the boots sale in jan ready for this years birthdays and xmas.
I can cut back on my children, but family i find difficult, although i usually get really good bargains. Had some boots for my niece last year for £5 in the clarks sale, were originally £32!

Today has been sfd number 2.
Nothing much more to add, will pop in later for a read

apple_muncher

MessyMare - £2k is brilliant! I think we did ours for around £4k, and that was 14+ years ago. Our first night was spent in dh's flat and we travelled up to Derbyshire the next day. It was a lovely day all round, and very relaxed.

I have had to spend today - loo roll and milk. (and maybe some raspberry magnums ... which are now gone - within 1 hour of purchase!). The sun has come out so I may drag dd up to the playground later on.

Caeraugirl

So, I have finally given proper consideration to the challenge, and the results are below. Sorry for the very long thread, but feel after a couple of months of drift (no reflection on the challenges, they've all been brilliant) I need to do this properly!

Motivation - I want to be mortgage free and in a position to work because I want to, not because I have to. I've put the cart before the horse a little as am leaving my well paid NHS job in a few months to train as a primary school teacher, with no income and a student loan for a year (eek!), but life's too short to keep doing something I don't enjoy any more for a big chunk of my time. Thanks to endowments and savings we're on track to finish our mortgage early next year, but am pleased that despite taking on a bigger mortgage for our forever home in 2006, we'll be mortgage free after less than 10 years here! More importantly though, I want to teach my boys that what you do in life is far more important than what you have - something I have in common with all you lovely Turtles on here...

Money - YNAB keeps me on track, and gives me a very good idea of what I have to spend each month. I try to use cash where possible as I always spend more when I use a card (no limit, unlike hard cash where you can't spend what you don't physically have in your purse). Food is where I always blow the budget, think it was Lilt several months ago who said that it's where we can "justify" overspending as everybody needs food... Hope the SFD's will help me keep this in check this month. I'm also squirrelling away as much of my salary that I can each month as a buffer for the months I'm not earning, spending less on non-essentials means a bigger buffer.


Me time - love catching up on box sets while ironing, but like MessyMare also waste an awful lot of time on the internet. Plan to restrict internet time to a set amount each day (not sure what that will be yet though....) and read or actually talk to people with the spare time I'm sure I'll have as a result.

Move - Make sure I run or cycle at least three times a week, and will organise a good old family activity for an hour or two every weekend - can't remember the last time we all went for a walk or a bike ride together, and as football season almost over we'll have no excuse for not finding the time.

Activation - YNAB and my spreadsheets keep me on track, and this thread is definitely helpful. Loved the Not Buying It and Kon Marie threads but they moved so fast I could never keep up, and it will hinder my attempts to be on the internet less, so will restrict to just this and a weight loss forum.


Arm yourself - ongoing. Working my way through the KonMari process still, need to get it finished. Have definitely achieved a huge mindshift since my LBM, and these boards really help me maintain focus on why we do this. Thank you, Turtles.

You - another work in progress, but trying to be more mindful day to day. I am definitely happier than I was even a year ago, and hope that will continue to improve



Thanks applemuncher for another great challenge. Budgets are set below, had a mahoosive online shop delivered on 30th April but included it in this month's budget as was for this month. Also noticed that you can buy foodbank donations online at Ocado, and they double your donation as food that's actually on the foodbank's list... Please can anyone tell me if there are any flaws with this scheme, as I've put my donation in my basket ready for my next shop.


So, from what I can remember of turtle news - Stewby, hope you enjoyed your Rome break until the flight fiasco? MessyMare, you're so right about the wedding - and if I had £40K I'd pay off my mortgage now, not blow it on ONE DAY! Ours cost £7K total, including honeymoon, for 80+ guests back in 1994, and I baulked at paying that! But we saved and paid for it as we went along. I feel quite sorry for people getting married these days - the array of stuff you "have" to have to make your day memorable is truly mindboggling. Lilt, you hit the nail on the head with your "Tale of Two Weddings"...


Okay, after this ridiculously long post, I'm off to lie down in a darkened room to recover... lol! Sorry if I've missed commenting on any significant news, will attempt to post daily as challenge says so hopefully won't miss anything else this month. Happy Sunday all!

Caeraugirl

Just posted my epic and see that there were FIVE new posts in the time it took me to write mine lol! x

Fmess

Sorry it has taken me so long to get around to posting a decent post. There is a lot going on in my little world at the moment, its hard to put down on here but hopefully I'll be able to share some bits as and when they happen over the next month (or possibly months). So, here is my blurb...

Motivation – what is your personal motivation for joining in with the turtles? I would like to reduce the stress that that the thought of being debt evokes in me. I would like to be financially secure as an individual, and know that I can take care of myself. I would like to be able to make plans for the future, rather than just living day-to-day.

Money – know your income and outgoings. I have all my monthly and annual expenses written down but I only ever account for the monthly ones in my budget. I have started a savings scheme this year, which will see me with approximately £700 saved by 2016. I will either use this to pay off my last bit of debt, if I am not debt free by the new year, or I will use this for annual expenses and repeat the process next year.

Me time – look after yourself. This is something I am working on. I have treated myself this month and I have booked a massage for next week. Its not MSE, I know, but before my LBM I would have one a month, and currently my back is really aching and has been for the last few months. Once I am debt free I would like to reinstate this monthly treat, as I definitely prefer it to other treats (clothes, going out, takeaway etc).

Move. I am not very good at this as generally hate exercise, however with my Fitbit I am aiming to get 11000 steps a day everyday this month.

Activation: what spurs you on to keep on the path? At the moment, it is bob's daily reminders of how much I wish I had a bath in my bathroom. It sounds daft but reminding me of what I'm missing is really keeping me focussed.

You. Are you happy in yourself? This is an area for development!


The Rules:

20 NSD – I think I've only managed 20 SFDs, once or twice in the last year and half so I am determined to do my upmost to achieve this.

Foodbank donation of £5 - will do.

Pay to your debt/savings FIRST and live off the rest - transferred £488.82 on payday to the debt and then I transfer all the money I earn from extra jobs like tutoring to this as well.

Plan the month – I went out last night for a birthday, I am meeting a friend for essential show shopping tomorrow (this will involved lunch out) and I am going to drive to another event later in the month so will probably buy a soft drink or two.

Check in every day - will do