Bonfires and fireworks - NST November challenge

laurenh1

Hi all,

Excited for this challenge. Going to aim for 16 NSDs. Got a lot on and I think Id struggle with 20. Dont want to set it so high I can't achieve it then feel disheartened.

Already looking for cheap or free days out this month will be great to see what others come up with!

Fantastic to look at our mental health. This time of year can be tough for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. Especially if finances are tight!

Doing my proper budget tonight and starting to consider annual expenses for next year (holidays Christmas etc) they wont actually be budgeted for until jan but trying to look at what ive spent this year on big expenses so I can prepare for next years and hopefullt make some improvements!

Good luck Lovely people!!

thriftylass

NSDs- my target will be 20, that gives me 2 spend days a week, big shop and top up.
Organise - budgets set, one night out on the 3rd, over to friends on the 11th, weekend at friends at the 24th.
Value for money - no excuses anymore not to go to Aldi/lidl (Tesco is closer)
Exercise - Got a thing going with my colleagues where we drag each other over to the gym 5 days a week
Mental health - DIY projects and crafting is good for my mental health, will make sure I get some done
Be Christmas ready - will start buying ingredients for HM gifts and think about xmas dinner (invited to SIL/BIL but will be too busy for us and they never start!!! cooking till 5). That'll come out of a separate budget but I will still try and keep it to spend days.
Eat well - need to reign my crisp and sweetie intake in.

I try not to hit the shops till Sat now.


Well, that's the plan at least.

Florence_J

After a few months out of being a NST, i would like to rejoin.

At this current moment in time I am unemployed, so saving is not just important, it is essential.

November rules
NSDs- 15 NSDs for me
Organise - No real budget, just DON'T USE CREDIT!
Value for money - Relatively good at this, but will have the mindset of not taking the first offer until I have explored all deals first.
Exercise - Ah yes, this has escaped me. Other than long walks I haven't done anything since...July.
Mental health - My mental health is my primary focus now, and I will look after it.
Be Christmas ready - Just purchased half of the presents today, saving over 120 quid on the order using vouchers.
Eat well - I definitely eat more stodge, but will try and be sensible.
Report - Must remember to post my gratitudes.

Timetopullmysocksup

Hello everyone, can I kindly join in? As you can see by my username it is time to pull my socks up and get my shizz in order. I realised the elastic had gone on my socks 2 months ago and in the spirit of money saving I need to mend them and pull em up.
I have more or less sorted out what I need to do and have implemented a lot of changes already and after reading a lot of diaries and threads on here I know joining in and not doing it alone will help massively.

NSDs- gonna go for 18, keeps me in line for my Friday long life shop, my Sunday fresh shop and 1 days emergency forgot shop.
Organise - everything is budgeted and I have forecast the next 3 months, there shouldn't be any surprises (famous last words)
Value for money - I am no longer supermarket loyal and getting more value for money.
Exercise - If I dont get my fat !!! in the gym by the end of the month I am cancelling my gym membership. Im 2 stone over where I'm happy so I must sort it out and treat it as part of this whole journey.
Mental health - I am a pretty happy, smiley person but occasionally I get down and I need to work on coming out of the slump a bit quicker than usual as I am not productive when I'm in a funk.
Be Christmas ready - This will be my focus this month but unlike other years it will be seriously cut back and strictly monitored. I do this thing 2 weeks before Christmas where I think no one has enough and basically go out and start again, thus doubling any previous notion of a budget.
Eat well - I always take my lunch to work and have a minimum of 3 portions of fruit and 3 portions of veg a day. Its the cheese monster I have to slay.


:wave:

greent

My targets for this month:

Clear Out - have some of DS3's toys to list on flebay in the run up to Xmas. Will also see if I can find anything else to go

NSDs - will monitor these (but am not too fussy about these as long as budgets are ok - find NSDs hard in run up to Xmas as I look for things online/ find deals.

Organise - set your budgets now, pay to your debt/savings first. Organise any social things now, try and keep them low cost or free if possible. Look at your food budget, is there any savings to be made? - All my CCs paid in full at weekend. OH will pay his at start of month. £250 tfr to car account at start of month. Extra monies (cashback etc) will be transferred to kitchen fund. Current account 'save the change' round ups will be transferred to BTL mtge. Will OP BTL mtge when rent received, but less than normal, as 2 bills are due this month.
Food - £400
Fuel (me) - £65
Social - £150 (includes any takeaways we may have and we are visiting DD at uni, so will include a meal for her and her bf in this)
Toiletries - £10
Clothes - £100
Gifts - not setting a budget, just monitoring (as any I buy this month means less to buy next )

Value for money - for all your purchases during November, I want you to ask yourself if you are getting value for your money. Look round for better deals, can you get it cheaper elsewhere? - I usually do this

Exercise - Should achieve outdoor target most weekdays due to school run. Will aim for 3x/ week other exercise, depending upon foot/ ankle (turned over on it 3 weeks ago tomorrow and it is still sore and with limited movement)

Mental health - I do struggle more at this time of year. Eating well, time for self, candles, getting out in the daylight/ sun when possible and exercise help me - and decent sleep!

Be Christmas ready - will aim to have all my lists sorted by end of this week and buy more presents throughout Nov. Will also ensure birthdays from now - end Jan are also included

Eat well - will combine this with ensuring we are using up. New kitchen fit is just under 3 months away - but I know that time will fly (esp with Xmas/ NY) so I want to ensure pantry stocks are used up as much as poss before then.

Report/ Gratitudes - ok

DebtFreeDuo

I like the taking care of our mental health part, over this last month I have been learning a lot about myself and its been quite a difficult month for me. Time to get focused on a number of areas for me in November.

November rules

NSDs - I found 15 very easy last month, its lucky that I got them all in before half term though otherwise I would have failed. I want to be able to say I'm going to aim for 20 but I'm going to set my target at 18 so that in my mind it is still realistic and not completely out of reach.
Organise - Food budget again will be £100, I went over this slightly in October but it was still a big improvement on previous months. This is the only budget that I am going to set for myself as it is the only one I really struggle with, everything else is covered and no real possible savings to be made.
Value for money - I already do this with every single purchase I make so will carry on doing so.
Exercise - Here I am again going to set targets for cycling and hitting 10k steps per day, will go for 10 cycling days and 20 10k step days.
Mental health - I think by keeping my focus on my goals this month then that will work wonders for me, hitting my step goals will mean getting out in the fresh air or hitting the treadmill which are both great for my mind, going to set a goal for my studying too, keeping on top of that will also really give me a boost as it has been really getting me down recently.
Be Christmas ready - I'm already very prepared, got over half of my presents already bought and wrapped so I'm not going to put much focus here.
Eat well - I'm going to change this area to focus on my studies as this is currently more of a priority and I don't want to try and focus on too many areas, therefore this will become Study for minimum of 1 hour per day and will aim for every single except for 1 day each week so will set it at 25.
Report - Will try to do this, I need to write in more often about what I am grateful for as I didn't do this very much in October.
Clear out - This is another area that will help my mental health, I have tons of stuff to eBay so I am going to set myself a target of listing 30 things on eBay, this means one per day but also gives me the flexibility to make up for missed days.

Robi90

Can I join please? :wave:

NSDs - I'd like to aim for 16 ideally
Organise - Everything is budgeted for and I've already made my monthly credit card payment towards my debt.
Value for money - Main purchase will be my mum's birthday present and I'll try and be mindful of other purchases as well.
Exercise - Just joined quite a low cost pay as you go gym which opens on the 6th so I'll be making use of this
Mental health - In addition to exercising will just make sure I get enough sleep, practice mindfulness etc.
Be Christmas ready -Don't really have many people to buy for except family members and office Secret Santa - already agreed with friends we wouldn't do presents. Have already got a small Christmas fund for gifts and Christmas meals
Eat well - Will make sure I plan my meals appropriately for lunches.

misstara

I've numbered everyone up to here (hopefully, give me a shout if I've missed you).

NSDs - I'm going to aim for 18 in November

Organise - my budgets are set, food at £150 again which I completely failed at in October so need to meal plan properly. We've got quite a few social things on this month and my pay hasn't really stretched to any kind of social budget so any extra shifts I pick up with 2nd job will go to this. So far planned is a meal out with a friend, coffee out with another friend, the theatre with my gran (free as my gran treated us to the tickets) and going to see the fireworks (also free as long as I steer OH away from the burger van ).

Value for money - generally do this anyway

Exercise - going to aim for 8 runs again but will vary my route instead of my usual one. Will also aim for one gym class a week

Mental health - try to get more sleep, eating better, exercise

Be Christmas ready - not made any plans for this so really need to start thinking properly. I put aside money all year in a credit union account which I can access from 1st November so the money is sorted at least.

Eat well - plan to make lots of nice soups for lunches and try out some new recipes. No snacking!

Report - often get really busy and don't post for a few days but will try to check in daily

Happy Halloween for tomorrow and see everyone on Wednesday

laurenh1

Will be looking at budgets today and getting those in place. Just waiting for MOT results so I know where I stand.

clubcard vouchers have been released, I have boosted them to pay for tea out on Sunday before our fire work display but will look at days out across the month later!

doingitanyway

Hello Misstara,
I would like to join you all for November if that is okay
I need to get my act together as the year draws to a close...
NSDs - I'd like to aim for 12. I haven't been doing them for some time so 12 will be a real achievement.
Organise - Going back to my bullet journal to plan the month for exercise and meal plan too. Will also declutter 2 items every day so 60 times out of the house by the end of November. I would be happy with that!
Value for money-I am already good at this except when I am tired and that goes back to being organised!
Exercise - I am aiming for 12 sessions at the gym. I struggle with finding the time but I pay a fortune so it will be good to achieve this goal.
Mental health - In addition to exercising will just make sure I get enough sleep, and I will socialise at least once a week outside of work.
Be Christmas ready -I have YS food all ready for Christmas food. i drank my Christmas fizz. I have most of my pressies. I will do a Christmas plan in my bullet journal
Eat well I need to make sure I have fruit and veggies. I've been talking about ordering a monthly veggie box. Going to do this in November
Report Yes, plan to do this daily

Game on! See you all on Wednesday! Have a good day turtles