NST: September: the Turtles go Wombling 28 August 2015 at 4:22PM in Debt-free wannabe challenges 528 replies 34.2K views

Calling14

Great to see everyone returning to the fold and new turtles. Welcome.

This time next year I am determined to be debt free if not sooner.
Going for 20 sfd. Payments to cards hopefully £200, not overstretching myself this month. I plan to try to lose 1st in weight this month as well. Dolly may need some help here. Usual food budget well slightly reduced to £100 only got my bunny and me now. Petrol £40. Determined to not dwell on sadness had lately and move on. Happy bunny.

thriftylass

Hello,

I would like to join in again. I was starting to make excuses like we are on holiday the first week in September etc. But I hope that I can still join in even if I might be MIA for a week.

I will write a wee update tomorrow with budgets etc. Off to read the first post properly

TF

Sallycat

Count me in please - 15 NSD's for me.....other targets to follow later!

academiablues

Been thinking about this challenge a lot over the last couple of days. I’m lucky to be in a position where I don’t really have any debt, but I do need to save for the future. I have a mortgage that I want to pay off (we’re making some good overpayments, but I think there’s room for more) and I’m saving up to take me and the OH to New York for a milestone birthday in 2017.

I’m pretty good at saving but need these challenges to hold me accountable. One thing I need to be able to do better is spend on the things that matter, and not on things that don’t – for example, we could definitely afford to spend more money on food and eat a little better (better meat, less often), so I need to find a way to do that as it will hopefully improve our health in the long run. I’ve also recently (June) started exercising more consistently, and need to keep up to this to ingrain it into my life. I’ve started to realise that changing little things and building up helps me to stick to them, rather than trying to do everything at once and getting frustrated!

My plans for Christmas are endless – I love the holidays! I’ve been planning since April, and have some money saved up in @mazon vouchers from various survey sites. However, due to birthdays I only have £40 at the moment, so I’m trying this month and October to increase this to at least £65, if not £80!

So, here are my personal targets for September:

* 20 NSDs
* £100 in additional savings (s t r e t c h would be £150)
* Lunch to work every day (22 days) as buying it would cost me £4 in our overpriced canteen! Also exercise most work days (20 days) and s t r e t c h would be one day per weekend as well.
* Try to hit my survey site target every single day (not actually do-able as there will be days when I’m not at a PC, but if I make that my target at least I can see how close I get!)
* Work out which food we can spend more on, and at what expense (we don’t really buy brands, but can we save elsewhere, or still go down a level on some things?)
* Try not to put the heating on this month!

Good luck everyone! :beer:

apple_muncher

Tomorrow we start anew.

Post your end goal and your motivation if you haven't already done so. Let's inspire each other!

thriftylass

Ok, my financial end goal is to be debt free, have enough savings so that we don't need CC anymore or loans for anything by the age of 40. Hopefully we will have moved considerable closer to this goal by the end of next year. My motivation are my kids and keeping them save, fed and a roof over their head no matter what and not to risk this by having credit that might jeopardise their home etc for some unforeseen reason. So I'm approaching the the big 40 in 3 years and want to feel more secure and grown up financially by then. Additionally, I am an only child and my parents still live in Germany. I would like to be able to support them in years to come should they need it.

Samiszel

I'm aiming for 15 NSD and lunch to work everyday. I don't have any debt and already overpay on the mortgage, but am hoping to save a lot more into my own 'emergency fund'.

New school year starts tomorrow, so using this as an opportunity to start healthy eating again and exercising 5 times a week (gym class, swim etc.) as well as 10,000 steps per day.

Fmess

Hi all,

So my target for SFDs is 20, my goal is to pay £404.63 off my debt - I have just done my minimum payments and they come to about £290, so I need to find £115 more from somewhere.

My motivation is to be debt free and feel financially independent and secure. Having recently become single, many of financial outgoings have doubled so I need to reign in the spending and make the most of what I already have.

Iwanttobefree1

Please can I join? Will aim for 15 NSDs

cybertortoise

Please sign me up. I am focused and raring to go. I would like to aim for 15 NSD's and my extra challenge is less food waste as although I plan meals, it doesn't take much to throw things off plan and I end up throwing things away I could easily have used.


I would also like to lose 5lbs by the end of this month. It was my 35th birthday on Saturday and I am overweight and underfit and would like to be healthier and have more energy to play with the kids especially as my youngest is only 7 months old.


Thanks