NST March TURTLES ARE TOUGH

Bobarella

Yes please Mothernerd..and thank you for running the challenge. It looks great.

angelicious

Can I join please?

mothernerd

Welcome to the Ninja Saving Turtles angelicious.

Everyone numbered up to now if you want to put your number in your signature

crazy_cat_lady

I'm in please mothernerd.
Another month being £1k down as dh is still off work so I have to keep on the straight and narrow.

clippy_girl

I'd like to join please will be going on holiday in April for 3 weeks :j but means lots of spending so want to reign myself in this month!

*snow*white*

hello everyone,

Count me in please. Have started to declutter the house over the last few weeks so the home theme fits perfectly with where my focus is at the moment.

crazy_cat_lady

Time to get tough.
I’m falling down in lots of areas at the moment, but mainly it’s to do with looking after myself. This means I’m spending more on food, doing less exercise etc. If I look after myself then the rest should fall into place.

U will avoid coffee shops, pie shops, sandwich bars, vending machines, canteens and takeaways
This should be easy enough, although I am quite good at convincing other people to fork out for things like that. As well as Easter and Mother’s Day it is also my birthday in March so there may be opportunities.

Reduce your food budget by 1/15th
Takes us to £212.50 for the month – should be doable if we are very careful

The challenge runs from 1st March to midnight on the 31st March.
My birthday is 31st so payday, birthday and end of tough challenge.

Lunch to work every day.
Easter hols so a bit of time off in March which will require organising for the rest of the family.

Exercise. 4 x 30 minutes a week.
I really need to exercise more. This has gone a bit awry since before Christmas

Savings or debt repayments come first.
I am going to pay our May holiday off so I know that it is done and all we have to worry about is saving spends.

Audit your cupboards, fridge and freezer and meal plan before going shopping.
Doing this for March already because the big online order is coming on Monday. Have started a use up box, inspired by a genius the small things thread.

Review your annual budget.
This is probably going to have to wait until dh decides if he’s going back to work or looking for a new job and whether or not he will be ft or pt. At the moment we are surviving on just my wage but not really living.

Eat Well. Give your brain and body the fuel they need to do their jobs.
Definitely. I’m going to continue to focus on reducing sugar even more.

Tough.

Others as ourselves
Monthly donation already set up.

U will aim for 16 Spend Free Days.
Yes, I will

Get ready.

Home.
Already onto this. I have an annoying jobs list thanks to another genius on the small things thread.

Number 11 prepped and ready to go Mothernerd

apple_muncher

I think my 'snags' list make end up encyclopaedic!

mothernerd

Welcome clippygirl and *snow*white*.

Excellent prepping crazy cat lady.

Sorry apple muncher. I find there are so many things we just ignore either because we haven't got the money to do anything about it (me for the past 8 years), the time or the energy. Limit it to 3 doable things per room if it gets too depressing.

I hate the curtains that DS2 put up in the big bedroom. If I had had the time and energy I would have swapped them for the aubergine coloured ones I bought for DS3 before the house sale went through. But getting the ladders out and dealing with the fiddly bits (and being worried about going up the ladder at the empty house when no-one else was there. At least I got rid of the red lampshades that went with them (ugly and made the room darker than it should be).

FunBrum

Count me in please mothernerd :j

Not sure how I can cut back further on my almost non-existent food budget, but where there's a will there's a way! :eek::D