NST Super September Scrimping challenge

f0xh0les

Yesterday was a NSD so 1/18

yay!
Yesterday
Found I was owed a £20 gift card from a survey site - redeemed
H&B have given me £4.50 reward points
Bank gave me £3 loyalty bonus

daily interest on mortgage down tuppence from last month.

greent

* NSDs - today *should* be the first NSD of the month - unless OH has to pay something when taking DD to the airport. So will say 1/18 for now

* Food spends: £70.74/ £450 so far

* Another small fleabay sale funds transferred to kitchen fund

* Use/ eat everything up - still using hotel tea & coffee sachets brought back by OH. Today's food so far has been a huge brunch for all of us. Dinner will be something easy (although the idea of food right now is almost incomprehensible after that brunch!!:p)
Handwash bottle in downstairs loo is nearly empty - so will hunt for suitably coloured shower gel/ bath foam in stash to use to top it up with to save buying any more ( I like 'matching' colours )

* Exercise - still at 1/3 for the week. Rainy, rainy day here.

*Beauty spends. - £1/£10 spent on face wipes for DD from Primarni. Will look out s/gel/ bath foam to top up handwash as above

*Make time for yourself this month. - plan on catching up on a missed tv programme in peace later

*Keep the heating off - first day where I've felt the need to put socks on!!

Gratitudes:
* daughter's bf is lovely - am glad she has found someone so nice
* new (as in in my drawer but not worn until today) super comfy socks on
* paracetamol for my headache

Sun_Addict

Day 3 check in and the first SFD 1/18. It was a battle as Mr SA wanted me to buy a paper, reminded him they're full of rubbish on Sunday and he didn't mention it again.

My hairdressers closed down a couple of months ago, found a new one but decided to take the opportunity to start colouring my own hair and save some money. Bought a hair dye a few weeks ago and plucked up the courage to use it today - it looks great

Have made a batch of soup for work lunches next week using up some frozen roast veg lurking in the freezer.

First day back at work tomorrow after 2 weeks off, feeling very back to school-ish

crazy_cat_lady

No joy for a nsd today unfortunately. However, I've done all of the big spends so I'm hoping that it will lead to loads of nsd's during the week.
Went to Ik3a this morning to buy feet for the naughty sofa :rotfl: so it's not wonky any more and also bought a few other essentials while I was there. Didn't go completely mad, had my list and stuck to it.
While I was out I spent £42 on the weekly grocery shop from Mr M. Plenty of food in for the time being. And I also filled the car up with petrol - so in theory I shouldn't have to spend anything during the week.
Back to work tomorrow.

foxgloves

Hi Scrimpy Friends,
Daily check-in 3/30.
Not as good as I'd hoped as I was sure we'd have an NSD. We didn't because we ran out of milk.....most unusual for us, so bought 1 pint, we needed to fill the car up with diesel & also to squander 20p to put some air in the tyres.
Today's scrimps:
*Baked a sourdough loaf, a pear cake & some biscuits to take away with us. Already had ingredients in, so cheap but nice holiday food supplies.
*Made picnic for journey to avoid silly sandwich spending.
*Went round garden with 2 big colanders to pick anything that was ready & needed dealing with: 2lbs tomatoes frozen, a bag of chillies & 2 sliced green peppers. Courgettes in fridge ready to use as basis for a meal when we get back. Loads of pears picked & brought indoors to ripen. 2 bunches of grapes picked & added to holiday food box.
*Updated grocery budget. This week's groceries is a cash economy. For the remaining 3 shops this month, we have £46-50 per week. Lots of food in the freezer & pantry. I think it's doable.
*Free roast dinner today. I like to freeze slices of meat with extra gravy when we've cooked a joint, because it makes a quick roast dinner later in the month without another financial outlay on meat. This works with pork, beef, lamb & turkey.
Time for me: Not yet. But have finally got my bum into a chair & will be getting my knitting out shortly.
Exercise goal - I won't achieve my step goal today. Have been really busy, but nothing very step-based. Unlikely to get more than around 4,600/7000 today but will be doing a fair bit of walking over the next few days.
Cheers,
F x

greent

Darn it! Today has turned into another spendy day - so I'm retracting my 1/18 SFD for today - and making it back to 0/18

Freezer part of our fridge freezer has been playing up on and off and today is rapidly warming up and the ice cream is now liquid..... I knew which one I was getting as a replacement anyway (this one has been repaired a handful of times and is cosmetically damaged externally and has some non working bits (eg ice maker) internally and we're getting a new kitchen early next year) but was hanging on. I had already decided to get it before the new kitchen to ensure no fit problems with the units around it (custom built units, so they will change to the specs) but had planned on maybe late Nov. However, have managed to find it on offer at a cheaper price than I've seen it before, in stock and can be delivered on Weds (we are both home other than school run) and used cashback and a discount voucher. Removal of old one is £20 (bargain for American f/f). So although I've spent a lot it was a planned later in the year purchase and I've got it as cheap as I could. And I've sold an item on flebay being collected this week which covers more than 25% of the cost - so will pay that straight off the 0% card I put it on.

We are now on use up freezer as much as poss though - thankfully it is actually quite empty for us atm but I do have 4 whole chickens in there..... Fridge part is working fine - so I can at least cook and chill if necessary....

Oh - and OH spent £1 on the airport drop off (for less than 10 mins!:mad:) an bought a Sunday paper.

Ho hum. Tomorrow is another day......

Kerry_Woman

Day 3/30

Today was my first SFD - 1/18.

Did the 5k walk at the Olympic Park in 51 minutes. Brought my own refreshments as I know that it is expensive at the food/drink stalls. Had put that I would commit to an activity and got a free hoodie, which came in handy as it got a bit chilly. Sat and watched a singer on the stage there which I enjoyed and chilled out. Went to a talk about health, was the only one there. The one who gave the talk gave me the pot of parsley plant that she brought with her for her talk. Also got 2 facial cleansers in the goodie bag.

Using food in stock for dinner.

vintagebrighton

Day 3/30 check in

Today is my first NSD of September. Didn't go out at all nor did I spend anything online shopping

Another airbnb turnaround done. A one nighter so will do it all again tomorrow (and the next day I think)

No exercise but am eyeing up the exercise bike I bought a while ago wondering if now is the time to put it together and use it! It's not very decorative as an ornament..... I did start doing a yoga for dummies dvd at home 3 weeks ago, then 2 weeks ago I had an attack of BPPV which seems to have settled down a bit but not gone. I think I should be able to stay upright on a static bike though. For the first week I couldn't do anything unaccompanied, I kept losing my balance :eek:

Have started the crochet Christmas bits - strangely therapeutic.

Tomorrow I plan to go through all our finances again to make sure we're making the best use of every penny. I love being out of debt but I'd love a buffer in savings even more.

VB x

abundant1972

Happy belated September everyone...

It feels like I lifetime since I posted here. Last month I opted out as I was away visiting family - and since then, I think my whole life has been turned upside. In the last few weeks, I have had a friend die and her funeral, one friend become critically ill - who has now thankfully recovered. A premature birth, a wedding, and to add to that - when I was on my leave in Manchester with family - my father became unwell and has been hospitalised, and he was main carer for my mum who has dementia! Nightmare!

The long and short of it is I have resigned from my existing job and am moving from my serene and settled life in Somerset to the unknown! I have a new job in Manchester (less hours though) in a place I am totally unfamiliar with... nowhere definite to live as of yet, and my life is in boxes!!!

I am trying to stay positive - It will be lovely to be near my family again, and to be able to make some memories with my Mum whilst she still knows who I am. I will also (finally) get to have a social life (it has been redundant living in Somerset) and maybe even a chance to meet a guy and settle down! I just have to get through this period of change and all the financial and emotional upheaval that goes along with it.

I have still done a budget as always for this month - but I am needing to be a bit more flexible, as I know there will be relocation/storage costs to factor in, and possibly a deposit for a new rental place. I have money saved in my HelpToBuy ISA but not enough to put a deposit down on my own place yet. Besides - I might hate living up there... I think I need to give myself a year at least to settle in and see how I go.

So that's my life! How are you all? It's good to see so many of you still on-board and making fantastic progress. Keep up the good work. Once I am settled on the other side, and know what my new earnings and budget will be - I will be back fighting the good fight for sure!!!

Lots of love x

dizzyblnd

Well I'm claiming nsd 2/18 as my lovely sister offered dinner to us all. Therefore I still haven't spent any of my food budget 0/£300. The walk at the Olympic park sounds great Kerry woman- was it for charity?