NST April 2018: April Fool's Challenge

bizzie

Can I sign up for this month please.

DawnW

Thanks Miss Tara for this month's challenge
A new month, a clean slate
My aims /plans for April will be as follows:

Aim for at least 15 NSDs. - I will try. I personally don't count an NSD unless I don't spend anything at all, apart from Direct Debit bills or business expenses which I obviously account for elsewhere
Pay to your debt or savings first and live off the rest. - no debts nowadays, but our savings have taken a hit over the last few months, so it would be good to start to put some of that back
Report in every day - I am a bit rubbish at this, but will try
Interests - I can't wait till the weather gets better and I can do more in the garden!
Love yourself, do something to make yourself feel fab - I will think about this. I have an operation scheduled for the middle of the month so will be especially kind to myself after that :eek: I am not a 'pampering' type but do enjoy a bubble bath, perfume, moisturiser and lipsalve. That is about as far as it goes :rotfl:

Find time to get outside - I have had a painful hip problem which is slowly improving, so I want to get back to going for walks, and doing the garden. The lighter evenings should help with this, and it would be great if it would ever stop raining!
Overpay - aim to pay 20% extra to your debt or savings - I will try to do this. I have lots of food in, so will only be buying items to go with what we already have
Organise your month. Check your cupboards, make a meal plan and stick to your food budget. Plan any social events and budget for them, ideally come up with free alternatives. - Will do.
Lose one bad habit - Eating too much - need to get the weight down!
Sign off your daily post with a list of gratitudes. - will try

This month's challenge budgets will be:

Groceries - 250.00
Pet food - 18.00 (will need to buy big bag this month)
Diesel - £80
Presents - £60 (family birthdays)
Toiletries and cleaning supplies - £30

shabbychic12

Me too please - have loved being part of the earlier challenges

Kerry_Woman

Aim for at least 15 NSDs. Will aim for the 15.
Pay to your debt or savings first and live off the rest. No debt, but will put money into my savings.
Report in every day. Will do.
Interests - is there any hobbies that you'd like to take up or perhaps an old hobby that you'd like to start again. This is the month to do it, let us know what you plan to do Must dig out some cross stitch to do.
Love yourself, do something to make yourself feel fab - wear a bright scarf, get your eyebrows done, have a bath, put on your fave perfume. Will put deep sea salts in the bath, so it will benefit me in a few ways. Also some self care.
Find time to get outside. Lighter nights are now here so get out in the garden, go for a walk. Fresh air is good for everyone Will make a big effort to go out for a walk each day if possible.
Overpay - aim to pay 20% extra to your debt or savings. It's up to you how you do this - overtime at work, saving money on the food bill, selling items. Will seriously have to look at saving money on my food bill then put what I save to be put into my savings account.
Organise your month. Check your cupboards, make a meal plan and stick to your food budget. Plan any social events and budget for them, ideally come up with free alternatives. Have checked cupboards and freezer. Will use what I have in first, before doing a medium sized shop and only do a top up if and when.
Lose one bad habit. Mine's is a food related one but it can be anything you like. Cut the amount of times I spend on social media etc.
Sign off your daily post with a list of gratitudes. Will do.

swimminginaseaofdebt

Evening everyone :hello:

Have set myself the following goals for the month:

• 15 NSDs
• £350 for food/entertainment
• Generate £93 extra income - to go towards debts/savings
• Donate 1 item a week to the food bank
• Batch cook for the little one - try out some new recipes as I've got caught in the trap of feeding him the same 7 or 8 meals
• Take my sister to Tony Macaronis for her birthday lunch - she has agreed to visit earlier in the day and midweek as it is cheaper and she knows I'm watching the pennies
• Catch up on my goodreads challenge - want to read 50 books this year but I'm 3 behind target
• Get a week ahead on my Open University course - the aim is not to be completing my final assignment the night before the deadline when the time comes

FrankieM

Morning
Okay, this is my plan for the month:

Aim for at least 15 NSDs. Usual exceptions apply, you won't lose a NSD for ys items, petrol or medical expenses. Will start tracking
Pay to your debt or savings first and live off the rest.I use 'extra' money for debt repayment currently.
Report in every day. The daily support from this thread will keep you on track I'll be here. I'll definately be needing the support to get me through!
Interests - is there any hobbies that you'd like to take up or perhaps an old hobby that you'd like to start again. This is the month to do it, let us know what you plan to do I want to start meditating every day, probably in the evening
Love yourself, do something to make yourself feel fab - wear a bright scarf, get your eyebrows done, have a bath, put on your fave perfume.I'm also not really a pamper girl, but I think it would be good for me to make that extra effort before I leave the house.

Find time to get outside. Lighter nights are now here so get out in the garden, go for a walk. Fresh air is good for everyone I'm going to try to go for a walk every day.
Overpay - aim to pay 20% extra to your debt or savings. It's up to you how you do this - overtime at work, saving money on the food bill, selling items. My 20% extra is £230. I'm not sure I'll manage the whole lot but I'll try to pick up a bit more weekend work and make a start on my ever growing list of survey sites
Organise your month. Check your cupboards, make a meal plan and stick to your food budget. Plan any social events and budget for them, ideally come up with free alternatives.I did a load of batch cooking on Friday, which I will continue to add to. My main day out was yesterday and I don't have anything else planned so far but will try to do low/no spend where I can.
Lose one bad habit. Mine's is a food related one but it can be anything you like.I'm going to work on dropping the snacking.
Sign off your daily post with a list of gratitudes.Will do

x_raphael_xx

Happy April peeps, I'm in again this month.

Aim for at least [STRIKE]15[/STRIKE] 25 NSDs. I managed 23 NSDs last month, was hoping to try for a spend free month (grocerys & bills excluded), but I'm off to Brighton for my marathon on 13th, so will need to spend on meals etc. Going to try for 25 NSDs.
Pay to your debt or savings first and live off the rest. Mums DD set to come out tues.
Report in every day. The daily support from this thread will keep you on track I will try!
Interests - is there any hobbies that you'd like to take up or perhaps an old hobby that you'd like to start again. This is the month to do it, let us know what you plan to do I would like to find some time for more gaming, and I need to practice for my sax exam. I find it very hard to commit to 30 mins practice a day, but it's something I need to do!
Love yourself, do something to make yourself feel fab - wear a bright scarf, get your eyebrows done, have a bath, put on your fave perfume. I'm currently enjoying a very long lie-in after my long week at work. BF brought me breakfast in bed this morning and I've just been snuggling with the pup while he's at work.

Find time to get outside. Lighter nights are now here so get out in the garden, go for a walk. Fresh air is good for everyone Got a couple of weeks training left before the Marathon. Need to keep consistant in these last few days, 12 miles today begins my taper though, so I can ease up a little.
Overpay - aim to pay 20% extra to your debt or savings. It's up to you how you do this - overtime at work, saving money on the food bill, selling items. Mums debt is down to £2000, I'm squeezing out every penny I can to pay her off by August.
Organise your month. Check your cupboards, make a meal plan and stick to your food budget. Plan any social events and budget for them, ideally come up with free alternatives. Got my trip to Brigthon (one meal out is free thanks to vouchers from my mum at xmas). Will also need to pay for my music exam before the closing date.
Lose one bad habit. Mine's is a food related one but it can be anything you like. I think mine will be my lack of sax practice. My exam will cost £95, so I do not want to waste the money. I need to commit to practicing.
Sign off your daily post with a list of gratitudes. Today I am grateful for a long lazy lie-in

indigowarrior

Morning everyone! Hope you ate plenty of chocolate! My friend bought me an egg so I am happy! I think today will obviously be a NSD due to the fact everywhere is shut. Already 50p up on surveys.

lcc86

No. 16 checking in. Today will be a NSD, I've been volunteering this morning and will be off to horse ride later (paid for by standing order). Volunteering finished early so have come home to do a couple of hours studying before riding later (no rest for the wicked!).

Today I'm grateful for getting a good night's sleep and for volunteering with lovely people.

misstara

Morning turtles

Aim for at least 15 NSDs. Usual exceptions apply, you won't lose a NSD for ys items, petrol or medical expenses. I really struggled with NSDs last month so will aim for 15 this month.
Pay to your debt or savings first and live off the rest. Done.
Report in every day. The daily support from this thread will keep you on track I usually struggle with this so will make more of an effort this month.
Interests - is there any hobbies that you'd like to take up or perhaps an old hobby that you'd like to start again. This is the month to do it, let us know what you plan to do Since I got my car, I barely walk anywhere so this month I'm going to start walking more. I've also signed myself up to do a 26 mile charity walk in June which gives me more incentive to stick to this. I also haven't been running for ages so would like to get back into this.
Love yourself, do something to make yourself feel fab - wear a bright scarf, get your eyebrows done, have a bath, put on your fave perfume. I generally don't take much care of my appearance but over the last month or so I've been trying to make a bit more of an effort and I think it makes a difference to how I feel so want to continue.
Find time to get outside. Lighter nights are now here so get out in the garden, go for a walk. Fresh air is good for everyone I'm going to aim to get out for a walk or run 4 times a week.
I also need to sort the garden out.
Overpay - aim to pay 20% extra to your debt or savings. It's up to you how you do this - overtime at work, saving money on the food bill, selling items.Last month I managed to pay off just over £275 of the debt so this month I'm aiming for £330. So far I've paid £103.58 so quite a bit to go
Organise your month. Check your cupboards, make a meal plan and stick to your food budget. Plan any social events and budget for them, ideally come up with free alternatives. I've budgeted £200 for food/cleaning/toiletries, £60 for petrol and £90 for social.
Lose one bad habit. Mine's is a food related one but it can be anything you like. I love crisps especially kettle chips and can quite easily polish off a sharing bag in one sitting . This month I will limit myself to one small packet of crisps a week.
Sign off your daily post with a list of gratitudes. Will do.