NST Joyful July

FurryBeastOz

Toni that's great news. Long may it continue.

PlaysNicely

:wave:

Evening all!

1) NSD - yesterday now added in (thanks Mothernerd) and achieved today, so NSDs 11 / 16.

2) Frugal food shopping: still within budget and £13 left till end of Weds ... may need milk tomorrow though. Tonight OH made caponata with pasta, choc ices for dessert. Feeding one extra this week as OH youngest is here on hols from uni.

3) Try to up my own income in some way (legally of course)! Achieved.

4) My NST health goal: 10,000 steps a day (as total of 70,000 across a week)!
Today desk based work day but a bit of housework after & walking dogs to beach gives 8100 which is OK as I have long day on my feet tomorrow.
Total so far this week 41,175 / 70,000,

5) No FleaBay shopping for the whole month - achieved today so 16 / 31 achieved, 1 breadbin shaped glitch!

6) Frugal focus: sourcing instead of spending:
Remaining work in progress ...
* Valance in progress - one panel hemmed, still needs sewing to base
* Doggy glove puppet in progress. ... just 1 1/2 ears and sewing up
Also today ...
* Swapped a jar of HM apricot jam for tub of neighbour's homegrown gooseberries, ours were only planted this year so not very fruitful yet!

Simple pleasures:
butterflies in garden.
dogs playing with ball in the sea, such pure joy.
long conversations with OH, finding ourselves (just about) on same page when it comes to our finances & future.

Good call on the rucksack Mothernerd, I'm thinking I may need to do a CS fast next month when my Fleabay one ends, there are some very tempting ones close to new workplace & each time I pop in I find a need!
Glad things are calm Toni, wishing everyone well, PN x

misstara

A spendy day today - got some food shopping and also bought a few things to donate to a raffle at work.

Today I'm grateful for another beautiful day, a quick shift at work, sunbathing in the garden after work and leftover roast beef for tea.

mothernerd

Happiness is not a destination, it's a way of life.

lcc86

Didn't post yesterday as the headache returned with a vengeance :mad: Ended up leaving work early. A colleague suggested I try aspirin - I can't believe I've suffered with headaches/migraines since childhood (am now 31) and have never, ever taken an aspirin in my life. I've had every other painkiller under the sun probably! Anyway long story short it worked a treat. I felt 1000x better and ended up googling it, apparently there have been lots of studies into how aspirin works for chronic headache/migraine. Fascinating for me, boring for probably everyone else but thought I'd share! :rotfl:

Anyway yesterday wasn't a NSD as I needed to buy said aspirin and it also wasn't a healthy day.

Feeling almost back to normal now, have a chiropractor appointment this morning, have to pay for parking so won't be a NSD today either but that's the only spend I have planned.

FurryBeastOz

I'm exhausted. 5 hours a day for 2 days and I feel like I've worked solid for 3 weeks. Hasn't helped that its the hottest day I remember in Glasgow for some time.

The office is great. Proper procedures and a reporting structure. I've taken a 1/4 pay cut, but I have no responsibilities and no work to take home. It's reassured me that I am competent as well!

Left the house 0630 and didn't get home until 2000 yesterday and 1700 today, so its not really surprising that I'm tired. Its only 4 weeks though, and I'll get more efficient. I've been leaving myself ages to get places. Thankfully boss seems happy for me to come and go within basic hours, so Ive already racked up some overtime for Thursday.

Very proud of NSD today. I dropped make-up on my top and was going to have to buy one on the way from the gym. But I drenched it, and by the time Frasers opened I decided it would do.

Then tonight we needed milk - and a couple of other bits were on the list. Rather than shop, I have rummaged in the freezer and found some milk, and rejigged the menu plan. Shouldn't need to shop before Friday now. Go me:D

Off to calculate the opportunity cost of weekly train ticket/multi-ride individual bus fares, and time for next week:rotfl: Can you tell I'm an accountant:D

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful to be home, for getting shred #14 done (still level 2), for being able to pick up dd from school, for a chat with big sis, for sitting on the other side of the train from usual and getting a whole new perspective on the journey!, for 4/6 end of term 'thank you's being sorted, for bumping into a former pupil and catching up, for the wind blowing through the trees, for a simple tea, for saving dh's shopping receipts in my quest to plot every penny this month.

SkintTeacher

no nsds to report
Lots of fun had - still within budget but will have to have a few thrifty days before heading to my sis in Scotland. Can't wait.
On track now for 1/2 marathon training. Did a punishing run tonight of 2k warm up, 14 x 400m at my maximum pace and 1.6k cool down. Love the long runs but not the 'speed improvement' ones so much! I know they're really good for me though and I could feel how much they helped me in the 10k.
Will continue to use parks and pre-paid subscriptions to keep costs low.
X Skinty X

bizzie

Although not a regular poster, I have since January read the NST threads on an almost daily basis and have been very focused on tracking and justifying any spend. In making sense of my scribblings, both positive and negative, I thought it best to post an update so I can date stamp my progress.
Wealth : tweaking of budget needed to give funds to areas I will be spending in but overall heading towards a debt free status.
Health : finally learning to live with a life long condition and how it impacts on my day to day life and the choices I have to make.
Self : need to prioritise my needs alongside my family & friends. As I grow older accept I am allowed to dig my heels in and do what is best for me.
More details are in my notebook, which may make it on here at some point in the future.
Thank you to everyone for sharing your own stories / advice and for the company as we travel along the path.

Eager_Elephant

lcc86 wrote: »

Didn't post yesterday as the headache returned with a vengeance :mad: Ended up leaving work early. A colleague suggested I try aspirin - I can't believe I've suffered with headaches/migraines since childhood (am now 31) and have never, ever taken an aspirin in my life. I've had every other painkiller under the sun probably! Anyway long story short it worked a treat. I felt 1000x better and ended up googling it, apparently there have been lots of studies into how aspirin works for chronic headache/migraine. Fascinating for me, boring for probably everyone else but thought I'd share! :rotfl:

Anyway yesterday wasn't a NSD as I needed to buy said aspirin and it also wasn't a healthy day.

Feeling almost back to normal now, have a chiropractor appointment this morning, have to pay for parking so won't be a NSD today either but that's the only spend I have planned.

I can confirm that the aspirin thing is a recognised way of treating migraines.

My DH suffered for 5 years with the same migraine, the NHS were crap and kept giving him different medications and none worked and so his quality of life was shockingly bad.
18mths ago we paid for him to see a private migraine consultant - it was the best money we have ever spent. He diagnosed my husband (which the NHS should have done as there are only 2 types of migraine that last longer than 3 months) and also mentioned the aspirin trick but his recommendation was 3 dispersible aspirin in a glass of full fat coke - the caffeine in the coke opens the blood vessels so the aspirin is absorbed quicker.
Generally my husband is 'fixed', well as long as he takes his medication but if he has a stressful day or a day which involved a lot of noise his migraine returns but the aspirin trick always brings down the pain levels so he can get out of bed and go to work.
We keep a stock of coke and aspirin for such times.

If you only purchased aspirin its classed as medical so can be counted as a NSD.

Same as the chiropractor, that is a medical expense and is not counted.