NST: December 2016: A pared back Christmas

misstara

NSDs today and yesterday. Planning a spend day tomorrow, going shopping for christmas presents (finally got my savings out of the credit union) and need some shampoo.

Fmess

SFD to report for yesterday Today should be too

dolly84

seasidegal - wow you have been a busy lady. Hope you enjoy the Orient Express.

abundant - hope that £50 hits your account soon.

I had a small ebay sale yesterday and was able to transfer £5 to the savings account after fees and postage.

Plan to put the Christmas tree up tomorrow night so will give the lounge a really good clean today or tomorrow. Other than that today is just work and the normal day to day stuff.

SpekySquarehead

Oh dear, I'm not having a good month at all.

Today should be my first NSD of the month. Very disappointing from me.

thriftylass

Good morning,

hopefully today will be a SFD. Got some more christmas cards written, made some tree decorations (PVA glue and cornstarch, cut out like cookies) and started on DS bike helmet. They have to decorate them in a christmassy fashion for Friday. So we covered his with brown felt, stuck a red nose on and some buttons for eyes, plus a antler headband. So quite a productive night. Will hopefully finish that off tonight and get sth else done, like the gift bags. Gave myself way too many projects this year. Love doing it but not sure if it's worth the effort.

Hope I can keep that momentum going next year and apply it to getting the house done up a bit.

Hoepfully get the house cleaned and tidied a bit on the weekend too to get ready for putting the tree up. Can't wait. :rudolf:

mothernerd

I've had quite a strange day and have blown my food budget. However I can remember the days when the 'big shop' (usually a week befor Christmas) would cost over £100 and sometimes it is better to have food in the house. Have ordered plenty of things to batch cook so should be a big help in January and February.

Went to my local history meeting by taxi, dropped an old pair of spectacles in to the optician (optician is between my house and the taxi place). My local history partner was busy as he was meeting and greeting people who had counselling and other appointments (health drop-in which sometimes has no customers and sometimes is non-stop).

Yesterday they had no Christmas tree, today 5 have been brought in/ donated. A worker came over from the other building with bags and boxes of donated decorations so I spent about 3 hours co-ordinating 5 Christmas trees with the available decorations (2 in the lounges/ waiting rooms, one in each office and one in the entrance). I sat on a kitchen chair for most of the actual tree decorating.

Apart from the pink ones, none of the baubles had loops to hang over the branches. Luckily my partner had asked to see what I had been sewing so I have used two whole skeins of embroidery thread and lots of odd bits, cut into bits and threaded through baubles.

I was there so long that I paid for a meal (excellent turkey and salad sandwich). We took some gold and silver baubles back to the main building and I spent nearly another hour threading loops on those. All done now and enough spare to decorate the original office in the village up the road.

Paid £1 for the bus hop back to the bus station and made my way slowly up to Icyland, calling at the pound emporium for ibruprofen and bits for mum's present and home bargins for white chocolate coins for DS3. Spent more than expected at Icyland but have a lot to show for it (being delivered tomorrow afternoon). Christmas food, party food, some treats (not excessive - only one packet of biscuits) and stuff to be eaten/ made into meals now. Wrote the list last night and kept adding things as they came to mind. Have nearly everything on the list and will cut back in Jan and Feb to compensate. could have got things for less if I could visit lots of different shops but am happy to have it and not having to queue too long. Walked round a couple of corners and got a taxi home. Can stay home until next Tuesday's doctor's appointment if I need to. Been in the bath and have clean bedcovers.

Today I am grateful for festive feelings creeping up on me, for completing a boring but necessary task and for having 'done' the food shop (lots of ticks from the Christmas list). Today I am grateful for not having to order new doors (following on from the burglary and an earlier vandalism incident) and being told after I had paid for them, that they could not fit them until January (the man came and did them on Christmas Eve to my great relief).

Oxfam had a half price sale on goats and some other charity gifts so I've opted for a pair of goats, fixing a well and educating a child for atotal of £47.40. This will come from the money mum gives me for Christmas so would not affect a SFD but it's done now.

lcc86

Just reporting another NSD, up to 4 now.

abundant1972

Hey all...

Great job on the NSDs rolling in today!

Speky - don't worry - you set yourself 15 NSDs - that gives you 9 Spend Days left this month... Maybe go through your calendar and try and pick days to allocate them to and try really hard to stick to them... We'll all cheer you along... and you know there's a naughty step waiting if you slip haha!

Thriftylass - that's great! Sometimes it just takes a bit of creative planning and it sounds like you nailed that! Awesome!!!

Dolly- Checked my CC account today and the £50 has been credited! Hoorah! I shall amend my signature this minute!!!

Today = NSD number 7

Planning another one tomorrow... frozen chilli from last month and own brand chips (actually ok for 75p for a massive bag!) and some salad. Nom Nom

Catch y'all tomorrow :rotfl:

swimminginaseaofdebt

Evening everyone,

Posting a wee update of what’s happened the last few days.

Wed – Took the wee one to Bounce N Rhyme at the local library rather than the mother and toddler group we normally go to. Bounce N Rhyme was more suited to the little one, the mother and toddler group lack activities for smaller babies, and I saved £1.50 in the process. Ended up spending over £6 in junk food at the supermarket though ooops. Donated £7 to Glasgow City Mission to fund a Christmas meal for a homeless person and in the evening I finished my book.

Thu – A NSD today. Went to sensory play with the wee one, to find out the Christmas party I’d booked with them has been cancelled so I got a £10 refund. Did a few surveys on swagbucks and earned enough SB to order myself a £5 paypal voucher. It’s come through already so tomorrow I’ll pay it off my Natwest credit card.

Bobarella

thriftylass wrote: »

I just shuffled some money around and paid off one CC. So now everything is on 0%. One CC (900) and family debt (ca 1200) to go.

That's great Thrifty!