NST July - Bobs Bucket & Spade Boogie to the beach!

misstara

Can I join in too? June wasn't great and this seems like the ideal challenge to kick start my debt busting again. I'm aiming to get my debt down to £5250 this month, I can maybe stretch it to £5200

Bobarella

misstara wrote: »

Can I join in too? June wasn't great and this seems like the ideal challenge to kick start my debt busting again. I'm aiming to get my debt down to £5250 this month, I can maybe stretch it to £5200

Of course. Welcome to the challenge! Think that's a great stretch target as well!

Bobarella

Good morning Turtles

So here we go the July challenge is starting!

I think one of the main factors today will be trying to stay safe in this extreme weather. Apparently we have it hitting 30 in London today:eek: so don't forget to fill your water bottles before leaving the house, wack on the suncream and wear a hat!

Thanks to all the lovely regulars for signing up again for this month & welcome to the newbies. Everyone should now have been assigned a number (check page 1 of the post)

Good luck with the challenge!

Bob

apple_muncher

Day 1, and it has to be a spendy day! Tis the food shop day - I plan to use the bike as walking the 20 mins home with the milk may not do it much good in this heat...!

My stretch target is to pay an extra £250 off the mortgage. Current payments will have it paid off in 47 months and I want to get it down to 43, the end of 2018.

abundant1972

Happy 01st July Everyone!

Today will be a spend day - as can now do some much needed shopping...

The bit I struggle with is hoarding... I'll explain. I go to a supermarket with my weekly budget in mind. Then I see stuff I regularly buy - my staple food - on offer. I then feel I need to stock up on it and thus easily blow my week's budget allowance - even though I hope it will save me money in the long term... I could just have a monthly budget and when that's gone it's gone.

What do other people do?

Looking like it is going to be a lovely day!!! :T

The_Only_Girl

With that in mind what are this months challenge rules?

1) This challenge runs from midnight on 1st July to midnight on 31st July.

2) You will aim for 20 No Spend Days - No spend days can be defined by you. Some people choose to include days their Direct Debits go out, some dont. Items you dont have to lose a NSD for include prescription meds, essential travel bills, & anything else that is essential to your well being. And YS food as well (which means marked down items purchased in the yellow sticker section or whatever your supermarket equivelant is)

I would like to set my target to 20 NSD's this month, this is not including direct debits, medications and kids' lunch.

3) You will post your main financial aim on the thread as in 'Hi my names Bob, & I am aiming to hit £4,500 this month as my debt target'
As a new twist we will all be posting our stretch target too, so if you think there is a way you can pay off an extra £100, state it in your intro, whats the worst that can happen?

My aim is to get my debt below £1000 at the end of the month and my grocery/household budget to £450. At a sttttttrrrrrrreeeeeeetttttttcccccchhhhhh I would like to reduce my debt to £700.

4) You will nominate a Turtle who turtlally inspires you, and post your reasons why on the thread! Take your time on this, it may take you a while to decide if you are new.

I would like to nominate abundant as a turtally inspiring Turtle as she has been through a lot of ups and downs yet managed to become debt free. I also can not wait to become debt free and have a healthy Emergency Fund. All of you Fellow Turtles also inspire me in many different ways, and I consider myself lucky to be part of this lovely community

5) You will plan at least 1 outdoor day where you either spend the whole day in a park, doing the garden, walking in the countryside, on the beach, whatever, but this is really good for well being & with the light being best & weather looking good, July is a great month to do it. If you manage to make this a NSD as well, then high five you! There will be a bonus to the Turtle who nabs the most outdoor days this month.

Will do.

6) You will brand drop 1 level on your food shopping, unless you are already a total pro & feel your food budget is on the floor & cannot be cut!

Not yet a pro, but I have brand dropped most things and I am willing to try other things, the cheaper the better.

7) As this is a bucket & spade boogie challenge, you are allowed a fun budget of £25 for the month, (if its available to you) to spend on fish & chips on the front, ice creams for the kids, grandkids, me rides on the donkeys & anything else seaside inspired.

Set. Can't wait

8) Pick a good cause close to your heart & donate £5 of your money, or £5 worth at least of your time to that cause this month. A lot of people like to buy a few extra cans & drop them in the food bank box, or cats charity food box next time they are at the supermarket, but equally if you will be running the school fair stall for a local good cause I'd say that counts too.

As part of our monthly budget we as a family, donate £100 a month to a charity. We also have £25 for a Good Samaritan budget for somebody in need. As Dave Ramsey puts it, "If you live like no one else, later you can live and give like no one else.

9) You must check in on the thread daily, or as often as is possible if you are at work etc.

will do my best to check in daily.

thriftylass

Hi Bob,

sorry for the late notice. I've been off the last few days and home alone with two kids, so a bit mental and really busy but fun so I kind of missed the end on June. More later.

Can I please still join.

My name is Thrifty and I reduced my debt by £256 this month. Maybe stretch it to 300. However the childcare is nearly a £1000 this month (long month, no three year old funding due to hols) and we go camping for a long weekend at the end of the month so might be tight.

Thanks

Optimistic_Kate

Hi all, hope it's not too late to join this! 10 NSD will be a big challenge for me (how you guys manage 20 is inspirational) and I hope to put an extra £200 towards my debt this month. Food challenge is perfect for me too as I need to cut this bill down.

What a beautiful start to the month it is!

abundant1972

Hey all...

Realised I hadn't introduced my self and my goals...

I'm Abundant... Although I became debt free last month I want to stay in good habits (as I slipped back once before).

My main financial goals then are to:

i) stay within budget
ii) save £500 into my EF - stretch to an extra £50 if I can
iii) start re-building my credit rating (using cc for a small spend (£50), and paying off in full each month) - i'll move the amount spent from my spend allowance into an online saving account so it's ready to go.
iv) achieve 20 SFDs
v) donate £5 to charity

Nominations? Firstly - thank you TheOnlyGirl!!! That was really kind. I am actually a *he* :rotfl:but thank you still! I am going to be rubbish at nominating. I don't want to miss anyone out haha!!! Is this mandatory??? Lol. I genuinely appreciate everybody's posts and input.

I'll do my best to achieve the rest - a day outdoors, brand drop and have set up a £25 fun budget. Great ideas Bob

The_Only_Girl

abundant sorry about the wrong pronoun used. I assumed wrong. Nevertheless I think you've done amazingly well.