NST December: Debt Destruction December

Toni'sfriend

Happy December
First of all I shall apologize in advance as I won't make 15 NSDs. We will be spending every day for the first two weeks as we are on holiday. I do have a budget which we will stick to. I promise faithfully I will not go near the sales!! It's unlikely we will eat out (what's the point when you're self catering and there's a fantastic butcher and baker) but maybe a wee drink in the afternoon to keep out the cold after the long walks?
So Christmas shopping done, presents wrapped and cards written. No I'm not super organized - just don't want to be rushing around when we come back. Still have to buy the main event for the two/three of us for Christmas lunch but it's not on sale yet.
Today I donated to the food bank. Checked what they needed beforehand - it's amazing how much canned meat (meatballs etc) you can buy for £5.00 and I gave first two items for my reverse advent. Shampoo which they also need urgently apparently. I think I'll put £1.00 a day away whilst we're on holiday and buy what they need when we come back. Should still be early enough to be in time for Christmas? C has entered into the spirit by donating to the Salvation Army appeal which will provide a food parcel for a needy family.
So I've downloaded the book on to the kindle, the bags are packed and I can't wait to get to the beautiful Lake District tomorrow.
Good luck, everyone.

ilovetea

Happy December everyone.
Read the challenge and heres hoping I can stick with it.
Live on my own so can't blame anybody for any mishaps.:rotfl:
Going for 20 NSD. Can usually manage that.
Have no debts but want to build a rainy day fund.
Have one Christmas outing planned It's a freebie so I'm going!
Don't work I'm retired, so just eat lunch at home.
Sales. Hate the things,plus the fact I don't need anything.

Debt destruction. No debts,just want savings.
Exterminate. Should be chocolate.
Clear up,clean up,take control.Clear some of the stuff I seem to be hoarding.Clean up negative thoughts.Can be very pessamistic at times. Take control Time seems to dissapear when I'm not looking. And it never comes back:eek:
Explore your local area. Have you seen it!!!!
Mental health. Seems o.k. to me.
Budget everything. Not sure what my food budget will be but I'm not one to be extravagant when it come to food. Do have my hair done every week as I have trouble giving my hair a good wash. £7 for a wash and blow dry.
Evaluate the year I've had. Not bad. Spent a couple of months visiting my daughters and grandchildren.Came back shattered but I did enjoy myself..5 things for the year ahead. Usual. Loose weight,spend less,declutter and sell stuff on e-bay. That's only 3 but might think of 2 more by next year.
Remember. Lots of people give to the food banks especially at this time of year,so, I'm donating to the Dogs Trust instead.

ilovetea xx

cybertortoise

Can I join please? I have lost the plot recently and budgeting has fallen by the wayside. I haven't gone mad as we simply don't have the money to but payments have been late or missed simply due to lack of energy. I need to sort this out as my DFD is getting further away not closer!

DebtFreeDuo

Debt Destruction

I do this already, started a diary recently so really trying to become debt free. DFD is Dec 18 but hopefully I can smash it before this.

Exterminate

Give up TV, I am going to do this a little different though if that's ok, I will allow movie night with DS on Fridays and I will allow TV on Saturdays as this is my day off from everything. I am going to aim to do this throughout the whole of December though rather than just the first 10 days.

Clear up, clean up and take control

Aiming to clear 31 items from the house. I am definitely going to show myself some love and kindness this month and I am absolutely ready to take control of my life and my time.

Explore

Will try to do this, I may only get chance to try out a couple of new things but will do the best I can whilst preparing for exams.

Mental health

This will be helped massively by taking control of my life, stick to the other goals here and then this area will automatically be covered.

Budget

Food - £150
Car (fuel and MOT) - £110
Christmas - £80
Other - £60

Hoping the car doesn't need any work when I take it for its MOT, if it does then my budget is ruined.

Evaluate

Will aim to evaluate something each day whether that is something from that day or from the year I have just had.

Revise

I need to revise each day (Saturdays off) for a minimum of 3 hours. I will also make sure I donate some goods to the food bank on top of this but it won't be until the middle of the month.

I think I have covered everything there. I will also aim for 15 NSDs. Today was a spend day as I bought DS his final present so that should be me finished for Christmas.

greent

NSDs 1 achieved today
You will pay to your debt/savings firstMonthly spend CCs paid off in full.
Lunches taken/ prepped at home last night's leftovers topped up with veggies for lunch today

Debt destruction: Aiming for DFD (exc BTL mtge) of 10/2018 - fingers crossed OH gets another job next year! - update =OH's contract likely to be extended for a couple more months :j:j(after a 3 week Xmas shutdown with no pay :eek:)
Exterminate Facebook gone from phone
Clear up, clean up and take control. Clear space by removing 31 items this month - 3/31 so far - 2 pairs of outgrown trousers to school for onward sale. 1 pair of outgrown swim shorts (very faded - worn by all 3 DS!) - fabric recycling. Also turned 6 bars of hotel soap into laundry gloop Clean up your way of talking to yourself. Let yourself sparkle. Take control of your finances, your time, your habits, and your health. - Dec sees me with an opticians appt and a GP apt (last time I went to GP was maybe 4.5 years ago?)

Explore your local area – get out and walk, - not today - spent afternoon with sis & new(ish) baby (1month)

Mental health.. Do something every day this month that makes you feel good: Write down 4 gratitudes each day.
* Seeing baby nephew
* DS2 making a rugby team at school :T
* HM bread - scrummy and uses supplies up
* DD's delight at advent calendar (she is at uni and I wrapped it up for her to open today )

Budget EVERYTHING before you start the month
Food £450
Social £120
Gifts £125
Fuel £65
Make extra money £50
Evaluate the year you have had: what was good, and what was not so good. What did you do well? What was beyond your control? 2017 - OH got a new contract in Jan which was only until July - but ended up running until 15th Dec (and is likely to run again from Jan). DD had a great first year at uni. DS2 got into the grammar school of his choice. DS1 got promoted at Army Cadets. DS3 coped well with the change of not having DS2 at the same school as him. My sister had a very much longed for, long awaited baby boy by ivf with donor eggs - science is great I made some decent OPs on our BTL mtge. I started out the year exercising often - and then that fell by the wayside come April but life is - for the vast, vast majority of it - very good
Now look ahead and plan 5 things to go for in 2018.
* kitchen to be fully completed by Easter (we never finished off our kitchen fitted 11 years ago - there's still bare plaster on the walls....:o:o)
* improve fitness and get back to regular exercise and finally finish c25k!
* continue with OPs (once some unexpected expenses are out of the way) on BTL mtge
* become debt free (other than above)
* enjoy life and family time and take time to appreciate just how lucky we are in the scheme of things
* support DS1 with his A2 exams - and hopefully see him off to uni..
* enjoy the garden in the Summer - we never seem to make the most of it
* declutter challenge - 2018 items in 2018, maybe?
* Income from sales/ surveys etc - £1000
Remember Allocate £5 of your food budget to spend on food bank items - I have some items ready to donate but am contemplating donating to here: http://www.npower.com/home/about-npower/in-the-community/foundation/?WT.mc_id=VURL2081 - 100% goes to foodbank fuel vouchers and npower are fund-matching the first 50k of donations

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for warm clothes, for helpful platform staff, for the train I wanted running 15 mins late so I was able to catch it, for having a seat on the trains, for 2 great visits with my mum, for lots of laughter, for the EA turning up promptly to take photos, for a lovely taxi driver, forcatching up with big sis, for a call from dd.

Toni'sfriend - as you are away for 2 weeks, why not aim for 8 NSDs once you are back?

Kerry_Woman

Day 1
Was a spend day. Will update signature and notebook of spends at some point.
Will try my best to do the challenge, as my Mum's health is not too great. The end of life team are involved. Hopefully the district nurse will coming round tonight to give her some medication that they have to administer. Finding it really hard and it is affecting my mental health. At least she is at home.
Grateful for:
My Mum.
Carers coming in to help with Mum.
For St Francis Hospice and district nurses for sorting out some issues and their support.

DawnW

((Hugs)) Kerry Woman xx

Toni'sfriend

Kerry woman
I am so sorry to hear that. You're in my thoughts. A very difficult time for you.

apple_muncher

Oh Kerry, so sorry that things are this bad. You are both in my prayers.

This challenge isn't where your focus is. Look after yourself, get some help for yourself. We are all here for you, so post as much or as little as you want to x