NST July 2024: A July jaunt around Madrid

Shrewbie

****A JULY JAUNT AROUND MADRID***

July is a quiet month in Madrid. The max exodus to other parts of Spain starts when schools break up at the end of June and a hush falls over the city. This combines with the heat rising from the pavements to give you the sensation of being inside a vast, soporific sauna. A very cultural sauna at that, as you can take the opportunity to visit tourist traps that suddenly become calming oases, all for your enjoyment, as long as they’re open of course. And if the heat gets too much you can always retreat into an air-conditioned tapas bar for a caña, vermut or cafe con hielo. 

Join me to see the sights of Madrid! Here are the rules:

M - is for MONEY - the sordid topic of coin. Holidays stretch our budgets and we should all have a good idea of what we will spend, and a strategy for sticking to the plan. If you are taking a leaf out of the Spanish book and having a staycation, good for you! If not, think of ways you can make your holiday cheaper, can you cook at home some of the time or take picnics out?

A - is for ADVENTURE - What does adventure look like to you. Think back to your childhood, what signalled to you that summer had arrived? Was it free or did it cost money? Did you do it alone or with other people? Do that thing! 

D - is for DEBT AND SAVINGS  Do you have a way of visualising your progress with paying down debt or saving? I can’t remember which MSEer it was (their name will come to me as soon as I post this) who was saving to buy a house (not the deposit, this was the entire purchase price!) and they made a spreadsheet with bricks to represent a specific percentage of their savings. It kept them motivated. 

R - is for RAKS (RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS) think about how you can make someone’s day better and in turn, your own.

I - Is for IDEAL DAY. What does your ideal ideal day look like (no limits) from waking up to going to bed. Take one aspect and do it this summer! 

D- Is for DANCING. Put on your headphones and dance/chair/chaise-longue dance to your favourite tune every day for a week. 

I’d like to suggest 10 NSDs for this month.

Who’s coming with me?

Reserved for Madrileños 

1. Shrewbie

2. ditty1234

3. FrugalAspirations

4. DrCarrie

5. F0xh0les

6. Mothernerd

7. lcc86

8. weenancyinAmerica

9. beanielou

10. apple_muncher

11. ldee2111

12. leftatthetrafficlights

13. thriftylass

14. Esmeralda2662

18. Thrifty_Taylor

ditty1234

Hi can I please join in July. Very excited we're relocating to Madrid for a bit. 

FrugalAspirations

Count me in!

Shrewbie

Thanks for joining!! You are both numbered

DrCarrie

Thanks @Shrewbie This looks like fun, please add me. See you on Monday. 

f0xh0les

Me too please @Shrewbie

mothernerd

Me please Shrewbie. I'm back to mothernerd. I tried linking through my older e-mail and it came up as mothernerd .Had to ask for a password change but I'm here, on the new laptop. Think I'll go pack to using this email as my main one, the other one is getting cluttered with junk (mainly stuff I like but not 4 times a day). Utilities will drop off but I'll be changing them all soon (fingers crossed).  

short_bird

(delurks)
ooh Madrid!! Amazing city: oddly enough, first thing I thought of was the free entry (and climate controlled) museums. Some museums are free all the time, some are free at specific times on specific days. Any free or low cost activities in your neighbourhood in the next few weeks??
My second thought was: there used to be a turtle pond at Atocha train station but sadly, that's not there any more. 
(relurks)

lcc86

Count me in please! Really want to focus on clearing my debts, preferably before starting a new job in September/October time so July's budget is a good time to really make some inroads!

weenancyinAmerica

I'm up for traveling. Count me in.

I may have to do another pretend trip. When I was younger and couldn't afford to go anywhere, I planned a trip. Started with the British Isles and ended up going around the world. I read books, travel brochures, contacted embassies, and really planned the trip day by day including where and what I would be eating and complete walking tours of towns. Checked with embassies to see if it was possible. At that time it took 405 days for 105 countries and cost - less than $6,000. Can't do the trip now as some of the places are too dangerous to visit - or too expensive. But I have done segments of my planned trip in the British Isles and Canada. Now I can add in videos or slides of the trip too. Maybe a short trip to England like the one I did in PowerPoint class. 

Making some progress. I have my basic budgets written out from now until December. I know the minimum I need to make it through the months. December is my scary month as property taxes are due. Looking for more ways to raise cash. 

Will aim for 15 NSDs. I've been doing good on this so far. 

Hope this will be a better month for all of us, especially healthwise. Onward and upward!

beanielou

Count me in. 

Thanks for the shiny new thread.