NST - January. Bobs post bauble debt busting challenge

The_Only_Girl

Good morning everyone! Last day of the month! I hope it's been a good first month of the year for all! Finishing January with 19 NSD's and 1p road kill (6p in total). Just over £138 wombles and everything under budget. This morning, hubby and I finally kickstarted a healthy habit - walking. Woke up apjust after 7am, sorted the laundry, loaded one batch and walked in the woods behind our estate. One hour walking, 3.5 miles and 9000 steps according to my pedometer. I hope it is not a one-off. While walking hubby asked me, "what's the difference between the walking we do at work and the walking we are doing now?" I said a) it's uninterrupted and we're walking in various gradients b) fresh air c) sunshine d). Quality time with me. That made him smile!

Busy day today and a spendy day.

Eager_Elephant

Will do a round up later but for now just reporting in that Friday was a spend day - had to get loo roll and 2 presents for a party that DD was invited to.
Yesterday was a NSD.


Today will be a spend day as my monthly shopping delivery is coming and I need to pop to a different supermarket to stock up on squash for the month.


Would also like to thank dolly (I think it was) who suggested that DH might not be intolerant of gluten but just to processed white bread. I got him a loaf of wholemeal and he feels fine with this so that is my GF bread safe from his clutches!!!:rotfl:

apple_muncher

:bdaycake: Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY Fmees xx

thank you bob for the challenge, and getting us off to a good start in 2016.

themarsbargirl

Had nsd 15 yesterday, and will hit nsd 16 today, no intention of going out other than for a walk. I also made an extra fiver yesterday selling the last of my jam to my brother.

Thank you Bob for running January.

FunBrum

Reading all your posts and I'm shattered with all your cleaning and being busy in general! I think I need a lie down!:eek:

I'd like to thank Bob for this challenge.:T

fmess...Happy birthday. When was it?:j

I'm going to be posting later to catch up and can't wait to start the new challenge for next month:D

apple_muncher

I will make the magic 21 NSD tally today - but only due to a poorly dd keeping me housebound and sharing the germs!

Today I am grateful for my dh looking after me, for a warm house, for good coffee, for my knitting, for yummy sausages and mash.

Eager_Elephant

Thanks Bob for running the thread in January :T


Here are my scores on the doors:


1. I will aim for 21 no spend days. Only managed 16 NSD’s – I know I did not hit target but this is so much better than it would have been if I had not been on this thread.

2. I need to concentrate on my main credit card – I have £107 at 27.5% and £1030 at 0%. I want to pay at least £100 to this to clear the high interest part (£7.77 came out by DD today) and by the end of the month if I haven’t spent all my bus fares/parking budget I will move this across. I paid £100 to my credit card and had to spend £20 on parking so nothing from this budget to go across.


3. I want to stick to my 2016 budget and with DH (finally) on board I think we can buy our current home in the next few years. Money has been paid in to Help 2Buy ISA’s this month by us both plus into other savings accounts we have set up.

4. I often read my subscribed threads every day but rarely post – this month I will. I think I have missed three or four days for various reasons.
5. I already play the East Anglian Air Ambulance charity lottery which is £8.68 per month (just started but hoping to win as the odds are very good). I will donate £5 to SULSAR as they came out 2 years ago to help find my husband when he went missing (mental health issues). £5 paid to SULSAR.

6. I must start meeting up with my best friend every month like we used to – I know she is away in the middle of Jan so will suggest a meet up at the end. I also have a committee meeting in a pub so will definitely need money for a drink and another meeting at a caf! so may need money for drinks as food provided. Think that’s it although we have panto on Saturday – tickets purchased at the weekend, may grab tea when we leave (my children are deprived and want McDonalds!!).
It is DD’s birthday tomorrow, the birthday person gets to pick the meal and she wants Chinese (although will buy tonight as they don’t open NYD and then that won’t count as a January spend!!) The committee meeting in a pub was cancelled, the one at a cafe provided drink (as well as food) and I met up with my friend last week for a meal out.

7. We have spent most of our grocery budget on Xmas – we have loads of food and drink left and only £100 in the budget to last until 25/1/16 so this is what I will stick to. Loyalty points/vouchers cashed in for Xmas so will start building this up again for Xmas 2016. I spent the whole £100 and then went over budget for the last few days until my new budget started. It gets complicated as I have a 4 week budget.

8. This could be interesting – not sure where I can get something for free but I will try. I got 2 lattes and a brownie at the committee meeting, a client gave me a body lotion set and today with my supermarket delivery I got one of my bleaches for free as it had leaked.

9. I need to get back into doing surveys so I pledge to do 80% of the surveys which come into my in box. I do cashback on purchases but this gets donated to SULSAR instead (I only really spend at Xmas and birthdays). I have a reward bank account so I get cashback on DD’s – last month I got £11. I did quite a few surveys but definitely no 80% - I have just cashed out on one of them so that’s a £10 Amazon voucher in the pot, I did my auditing but will get that in Feb.

10. I last checked my credit report years ago and managed to get some things corrected – I have defaulted on my Barclaycard since then so it won’t be pretty!! All checked and not good!!


Some better than others but overall I am very pleased I kept up with the challenge :j.


Bring on February!!!

themarsbargirl

So, my January round up

themarsbargirl wrote: »

I'm in, been a while since I last turtled

1. We are aiming for maximum no spend days this month. There are 31 days in Jan. Aim for at least 21 if not more. Achieved 16 nsd, not a bad amount and I'm fairly chuffed
eeeek! I'll try for 21 NSD, but as I have very little space to store food I usually buy a small amount of fresh produce every day or so.
2. Pay to your debt as soon as priority spends are complete. These should be rent/mortgage, food, heating etc.
This month we are having a stretch target concept which some of you will recognise but for the new contenders means paying your min payment then calculating what you would like to shift from your total debt ideally. If you don't hit the stretch target it doesn't matter but you will probably have raised your game either way.

I usually pay 100 a month to my credit card, this month will aim at 140 achieved well over this, but also threw unexpected water bill on card which wiped out overpayments

3. State your intentions. Tell us what your aim is. Why are you seeking this path and what doors do you hope to unlock along the way?
I want to get myself back on track, using cash only and not using the credit card to cover overspending. other than that pesky water bill this has been achieved

4. Check in every day. The reason we do this is to keep ourselves accountable. If you've set your intentions in a group of like minded people you are less likely to stray from the path.
I will try to remember.
I've done most days I think
5. You will donate £5 to a good cause of your choice. Local foodbank. donated £5 cash plus my usual bits an pieces I knew we were low on

6. Plan your diary. It's good to be sociable but nights out are costly and a walk with a friend is free. Don't worry about offending people by suggesting an alternative social occasion. Report in at how many events you have to attend in Jan and other people can suggest ways to minimise costs.
My idea of being social is going to my friends house for coffee, no nights out here for the socially anxious! yep, no going out other than to my friends house
7. Plan your grocery spends carefully. After the excesses of Christmas you will probably have spent more than usual on food. Can you use this as an opportunity to save on groceries in January? Think carefully about what you do need.Have you got loyalty points for shops that can be cashed in to save on food?
Lack of space at my parents house and sibling hosting Christmas means no excess of food here. Aiming to eat more healthy and utilise a "love your leftovers" book I got given for Christmas. I foresee lots of rubber chicken in my future.
stayed in my weekly groceries budget all month with some rubber chicken and beef stew.
8. Get something for free! - they say the best things in life are free, I challenge you to find as many free things as you can in January and report back. For example can you get a free haircut by going to a student training evening? Can you go shopping at 9pm and get food for nothing? Can you set up a clothes swap with friends and all get a new item of clothing for nothing?
No idea how I'm gonna do this one! free fruit tea and coffee, free graze box

9. Earn extra - find a way of making something on the side. I like the term 'side hustles' mine are ebay, spending apps, cashback sites, reward credit card, wombling store points, anything you can do to bring additional income into your house do it!
Sigh, back to ye old survey sites this month then didn't make it back to surveys but my brother did but the last of my jam from me yesterday, so an extra fiver made.

10. Check your credit report- if you have a bad credit report it can ruin your chances of getting a mortgage, 0% credit deals, renting a property. For between £0 & £3 you can obtain a copy of yours and check that there is nothing unexpected on it.
Never actually checked my credit report! signed up to noodle, all seems to be in order

Let 2016 be the year you set yourself free!!

FunBrum

Okay Turtles.....this is what I have achieved whilst doing this challenge this month.


1,I've managed 28 NSD 's out of 31days!:T

2, I managed to eat fairly cheaply and apart from my direct debits leaving my bank, I only spent £37.37 at Sainsbobs and £12 of that was for a gift!:D
The majority of my food was either storecupboard or fridge/freezer stashed or wombled from friends and family!
In fact, my complete spends this month was £237.09 :j

3, I have managed to save £265 to pay towards my debt. Not as much as I thought I would, but better than nothing.

4,I have donated to Acorns children's hospice.:)


5, I've managed to womble £408.86! Including a 52" tv, road kill, most of my food, and lots of free stuff I saved from going to landfill for my carbooty stash when the season stars! :rotfl:

6, I've checked my credit score. Not good but something o work on.:o

7, Most of all, I've met some lovely encouraging people on here that have supported and inspired me to push myself a little further.
I will be eternally grateful, and especially to Bob for always cheering everyone on. Your a gem! :A

I'm feeling all emotional now!:rotfl:

See you all on the next challenge! :money:

stewby

Talk about finishing on a high... many years ago my dad got rid of his greenhouse by giving it to a relative. They have decided that they no longer want it.
So... OH and I are now the proud owners of a free greenhouse!!
:j

Doing lots of planning-y stuff today. House planning and different things.
Spending quite a while reading mortgage free wannabe diaries in the hope of getting some inspiration.


Happy belated Bday fmess.


We finished cleaning the back bedroom and have put roughly 6 black bags of stuff away (not binned, just that amount). Feeling quite sickened by the amount of money that I have wasted on rubbish that has never been worn or used.
Hopefully this will be a lesson learned. Also, I have pretty much an entire wardrobe of clothes if I can drop two dress sizes... and I mean an entire wardrobe, socks, pants, trousers, tops, everything. I guess that could be MSE, maybe.
:rotfl:

Hope everyone else is doing well. See you in February.