NST June Challenge
thriftylass
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NST June – How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? Dr. Seuss
Welcome to the new Monthly NST (Ninja Saving Turtles) Challenge! NST's are a group of Money Saving challengers from across the UK (and beyond?) who are always up for new money saving challenges, fighting our way to debt freedom, sharing tips and new money saving discoveries, general chat, support and good banter! This challenge is open to everyone- so please join us.
If April was hard, grey, rainy and cold (financially and weather wise), May hopefully hasn’t been quite so dreich and this month we’ll blossom. We’ll embrace frugality, mother nature (hug a tree if you like) and life itself.
We’ll follow in the footsteps of last month’s challenges and this month, too, is All about little things we can do to make our lives better, aim is to have a happier less stressful future.
There are rules but only you are in charge. We make no assumptions and accept all shortcomings - we are here to help each other after all. Though this challenge might be especially hard for those with babies, children and those with a non-MSE- partners like me.
The reason I am doing this is to clear my debt. I want to clear £3467 by 31/12/2016 while still having a life, feeding the family with tasty nutritious food, replacing the front door, shelling out hundreds each month to the nursery and spending on other necessities like passport renewals. I want to find a balance of paying the debt down and not feeling guilty of spending on/saving for things that need done (front door is now a safety issue, my parents live abroad so need passports etc.). So in order to be able to do this I need to find a fine balance of saving, spending, paying debt, reducing outgoings, make do & mend where I can. All this while staying sane and taking care of our loved ones and ourselves. Doddle….
Welcome to the new Monthly NST (Ninja Saving Turtles) Challenge! NST's are a group of Money Saving challengers from across the UK (and beyond?) who are always up for new money saving challenges, fighting our way to debt freedom, sharing tips and new money saving discoveries, general chat, support and good banter! This challenge is open to everyone- so please join us.
If April was hard, grey, rainy and cold (financially and weather wise), May hopefully hasn’t been quite so dreich and this month we’ll blossom. We’ll embrace frugality, mother nature (hug a tree if you like) and life itself.
We’ll follow in the footsteps of last month’s challenges and this month, too, is All about little things we can do to make our lives better, aim is to have a happier less stressful future.
There are rules but only you are in charge. We make no assumptions and accept all shortcomings - we are here to help each other after all. Though this challenge might be especially hard for those with babies, children and those with a non-MSE- partners like me.
The reason I am doing this is to clear my debt. I want to clear £3467 by 31/12/2016 while still having a life, feeding the family with tasty nutritious food, replacing the front door, shelling out hundreds each month to the nursery and spending on other necessities like passport renewals. I want to find a balance of paying the debt down and not feeling guilty of spending on/saving for things that need done (front door is now a safety issue, my parents live abroad so need passports etc.). So in order to be able to do this I need to find a fine balance of saving, spending, paying debt, reducing outgoings, make do & mend where I can. All this while staying sane and taking care of our loved ones and ourselves. Doddle….
Back to basics with the rules
• This will commence at 00:01 on the 01/06/2016 and complete at 23:59 on the 31/06/2016
• Minimum of 20 NSDs. (It’s a long month) This challenge does NOT include rent / mortgage/ DD payments/preplanned regular spending like afterschool club or medicine.
* Pay your debt first and budget with the rest.
• All monetary outgoings are to be accounted for prior to the start of the month. This includes anything from direct debits and standing orders to a basic amount for dinner dates that have already been planned.
• Utilise any random food left in cupboards / freezers etc and get creative, think twice before going out for a food shop. Only need milk and bread, stick to that. Make a list for a bigger shop and don’t go shopping hungry
• Batch cooking is encouraged- meals that require individual or specialised ingredients are not unless you already have them.
• No foods are to be purchased at work canteens / cafes etc. If you are having a family day out take packed lunches. (this will be hard with a non-MSE DH like mine)
• Only supermarket own brands are encouraged unless there is really sth you despise like the coffee and can’t live without the brand (like my DH). Get it delivered to prevent impulse buys… the delivery charge will outweigh impulse buys and any green-eyed monster issues you make incur. Use Aldi and LIDL, if you haven’t tried them yet you might be positively surprised.
• No non-essential beauty items are to be purchased. Use up everything you have in the house before ANY purchases.
• Beauty purchases are to remain under £5 for the month if you are truly out of resources. Challenge yourself - join https://www.bzzagent.co.uk and see what you can get for free. (Tesco/Lidl/Aldi sell shampoo and conditioner for 75p or less each by the way).
• Reduce smoking in this month by half. I know this is a difficult one so I can’t be too harsh as I’m stuck myself on quitting the last two a day (this is a rather personal challenge, so ignore if N/A).
• Try and eat at least one frog this month, a giant one (for the uninitiated it means dealing with sth that you have been putting of for ages for various reasons) – for me this will be making DH see the light. I might not make him a MSE convert but I would like him to be more sensible and understanding when it comes to money matters so we’re singing of the same hymn sheet as he is just so blase about it,
My second frog might be a trip (or the planning of it) to the German consulate to finally change my name (basically involves my whole family and about 2 dozen documents travelling to Edinbugh, mental)
• And last but not least: Combat overwhelmed-ness : There just aren’t enough hours in the day, right? I’m guilty myself of easily being overwhelmed. I write endless lists of things that need doing but realistically are unachievable. So my aim this month is to do just one little thing a day and one slightly bigger thing a week on top of everyday stuff without beating myself up about the other 132 things I could’ve/should’ve done too. I.e. pick sth up that belongs in another room but has been stranded in the kitchen since Christmas. Can’t find any matching socks, take the 5-10 min and go through your sock drawer and reunite them, bin holey ones etc. You get the idea.
And finally, blossom, enjoy life, there is too much negativity pumped into us through the media etc. Slow down. It’s nearly half way through the year and it just passed me by. Do sth everyday that makes you happy, even the smallest thing counts…..
DEBT 03/23: CC 4637 4318 4100 Family 1380 0 , Extra money earnt £54, NSDs 1/20, sober 2/31
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Debt neutral
Roadkill 17 £56.58 2016-£62.28 2015- £84.20)
RYSAW17 £1900 2016 £2,535.16 2015 £1027.20
You are so right enjoy life, scary half of the year has passed by already.
Anyway I am in can I have lucky 13 pretty please ?
1 Bobarella
2 Apple Muncher
3 LightBulbMoment
4 Dramaqueen33
5 misstara
6 mothernerd
7 greent
8 Fmess
9 Dizzy Imp
10 crazy_cat_lady
11 drcee
12 Buffythedebtslayer
13 Calling14
14 Thriftylass
15 Onmyway2
16 Eager_elephant
17 NinjaSavingKat
18 WelshKitty85
19 SpekySquarehead
20 smiley333
21 dizzyblnd
22 sunshine&showers
23 xspender
24 the only girl
25 -Selene
LBM
Great ideas and the support I'm sure is super helpful.
Not sure I can stick to £5 beauty budget lol! I don't buy much - I usually opt for quality over quantity but there is one skincare brand I just can't live without! Maybe I should stock up this weekend and then have no spends in June?!
The NSD will really help - as will the packed lunch rule at work. So easy to spend way too much on food in the cafes around where I work.
You can have my beauty budget if you like. I'd struggle to spend £5 in a month.
Live with my OH. We tend to share 1 deodarant between us. Normally whatever Sure is the cheapest.
Toothpaste 1 per month usually from the £ shop
Shampoo lasts us almost years as he is a Grant Mitchell hair wise & I wear mine up in a topknot and just wash it when needed.
I did buy a new hairbrush after about 8 years recently.
Showergel is the 70p variety and again lasts ages.
Err are we including loo roll
Debt neutral
Roadkill 17 £56.58 2016-£62.28 2015- £84.20)
RYSAW17 £1900 2016 £2,535.16 2015 £1027.20
My other half is a big fan of grant Mitchell lol!
Normally I love hunting out a beauty bargain - especially for showergel etc. I've actually got 3 unopened in door as they were on offer a few weeks ago. My weakness is facewash! I've used so many premium brands - on cleanser cost me £35 once and really wasn't worth it! I use a brand now which is amazing and I think good value at £12 per 100ml. I know vanity doesn't always go hand in hand with DFW lifestyle - but I'm gonna try and keep my wrinkles at bay for as long as possible
Don't think loo roll counts towards the BEAUTY budget :rotfl: I meant more grooming items like conditioner, fancy shampoo and make up. Obviously if you have sensitive skin or a condition than exceptions can be made as that is then more a health product than beauty.