NST December 2024 – the TARDIS awaits

apple_muncher

NST December 2024 – the TARDIS awaits

December is not all about one day. There are 31 of them. It can be the most horrific money swallowing month of the year and there are some serious demands surrounding us as we prepare. We are bombarded by messages in every form telling us what we MUST buy for Christmas, what will make it magical and memorable. As Ninja Saving Turtles, we are calling a halt to all the nonsense. We are giving ourselves permission to say NO (following on from No!vember) and helping each other prepare for a new, cleaner and clearer outlook for 2025.

So we are going on a jaunt. In the TARDIS. We set off on December 1st and keep travelling until the 31st. To whichever time or dimension you like!

Doctor Who is about the balance of heart and fantasy. "Doctor Who" shows us that in spite of all that is terrible around us, all the scenarios that seem doomed, there's always another option, another way, and all it takes is a bit of brain power and humour. And in a society as addled and volatile as our own sometimes is, isn't it nice to see a bit more humanity and compassion in the face of such potential chaos?

And Dr Who plays with history and our perception of how things were, are, and came to be. It's fun to have a little bit of, well, fun with the ideas of how and why our world came to be, really. And it reminds us that anything is possible and that even the tiniest among us are more important than we might think.

We have 2 main enemies:

- DALEKS are a power-hungry, obsessive race bent on controlling the universe at all costs. They choose to exterminate anything that does not fit in with their idea on how the universe should be. I think that they are like the banks. The good news is that they are foiled by stairs!

- CYBERMEN want to make everyone the same. They are intensely and dangerously single-minded, a race of cyborgs obsessed with "upgrading" people to be just like them. No emotion, no variability, all sameness. They are consumerism personified.

Like Dr Who, our weapon is our personalised sonic screwdriver. The Doctor says: I love my sonic screwdriver. Doesn’t kill, doesn’t wound, doesn’t maim. But I’ll tell you what it does do: it’s very good at opening doors. We are here to get rid of debt and indebtedness, to open doors for ourselves and walk right through them. We are here to set ourselves free – financially, emotionally, mentally. Because we Turtles aren’t just here for the money side of things. We are here for each other. Always. No Turtle gets left behind.

How will the month pan out…? We have house rules!

Debt-free date / Mortgage-free date / Savings target date. What’s yours? What is your plan to get there? You don’t set off on a journey without knowing your destination and time-frame of travel. Apply the same to your money.

Organise your outgoings. Budget for the month. For e v e r y t h i n g. Write it down. And stick to it. Plan your meals – avoid waste. Batch cook. This is the most difficult month to plan for as everyone is feeding a different amount of people, budgeting differently and living in different areas with differing prices and weather to deal with. Know that you are not in this by yourself.

Count up to 15. Fifteen No Spend Days. That’s only every other day. Exempt from this are reduced sticker items, travel expenses, fuel, medicines, children’s activities/ window cleaners that are paid in cash randomly.

“There is no such thing as an ordinary human.” So says The Doctor. You are unique and amazing. Treat yourself well. “900 years of time and space and I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important.”

One thousand days from December 1st takes us to August 28th 2027. About 33 months. Just under 143 weeks. More on this later.

Retrain your browsing/tech habits – refrain from mindless browsing your phone when ‘nothing else’ is going on for the duration of the challenge. Waiting in line? Commercial break? Be present in the moment. Be okay with “boredom.” Okay, okay: do try it for a week at least.

What kind of month do you want for yourself? Take a moment and really ask. What do I want to enjoy? What seasonal foods do I want to take advantage of? What do I want to have the energy to take on? Where can I build more leisure into my week? How can I be outside as much as possible? Who do I want to spend my time with?

Here’s a space to make up your own rule for the month. Please share it! Extra rations for ones that begin with H.

Outings. Drop one. Decide which one, inform those who need to know and enjoy the time and money you have just given yourself.

Slow living this month. In a potentially manic month, make a clear intention to keep your schedule and pace in check. Because, really, does anyone want a hectic December that wipes them out?

Omm. Take care of your mental health. Do something every day this month that makes you feel good: gym, reading, time with family, favourite tv programme, meditation, building a snowman. NOT spending, of course!! Write down 3 gratitudes each day.

No entry to any sales. Unless you have a planned budget and have been saving for a specific item PLEASE do not go to the Boxing Day Sales. Or any sales. Anywhere. In person or online. It’s temptation you can’t handle to buy tat you really don’t need. STAY AT HOME! Likewise, no takeaways, canteen meals (unless free), coffee shop or corner shop visits (unless this stops you spending much more in a supermarket).

“I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes, the dreamer of improbable dreams.” So says the Doctor.  Be a dreamer. Be an optimist.

Candles - Switch to candles and firelight after dark (or the high-tech adjustable hue bulb equivalents). Plus, everyone likes a good fire. (But not so much that the fire brigade come to see you…) And switch off your tech an hour before going to bed please.

 

“Some people live more in 20 years than others do in 80. It’s not the time that matters. It’s the person.” “We’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one.”

Chase after awe and joy. Go after it with a purpose. Go and enjoy the sparkly lights. Take a tour of your neighbourhood to look at other people’s outdoor decorations – and be smug about how you are not wasting your money like that. Go and seek Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve.

Read fiction before bed. Reading fiction gets you into the right state of mind for dreamland.

Exercise. Get your steps in. Move a little more. Embrace the outdoors and enjoy the fresh air.

“What’s the point of being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes.” Go play. Go have fun. Laugh. Smile while you eat. Just because.

“Don’t give up. Not ever. Not for one single day. Be safe if you can be. But always be amazing.” Pop on here every day and tell us what you’re up to. Not just the good stuff, but also the bad and the ugly too.

Refuse to get sucked into guilt spending. Reject the mindset that needs to constantly acquire more (Now that is true Ferenghi, a whole other space race). In response to this, remove 31 items from your dwelling this month.

Identify activities and people who drain you. Give yourself permission to take a break from them for 21 days (or as many days as possible) if you can. Just maybe this is a gift you should’ve given yourself a long time ago…?

Visit your local area. Find new footpaths, see where a road or path takes you. Explore new horizons. Boldly go where no one has gone before. Oops, mixing my sci-fi….!

Exterminate (see, we can learn something from the DALEKS…) one bad habit from your life for the first 10 days. This is NOT about food. I have a lot to choose from!

Remember that you are blessed. Count your blessings daily. Be grateful for what you have. And remember those that have less – donate money, time, food, non-perishables, blankets to a charity that you want to support. Relish life, one day at a time.

 

Now, that’s an awful lost of things to think about. Feel free to use them as a pick n mix.

Who will join me aboard the TARDIS?

apple_muncher

Reserved for TARDIS travellers:

1 apple_muncher

2 grandmanerd

3 f0xh0les

4 Betharooni

5 Shrewbie

6 weenancyinAmerica

7 DawnW

8 Short_Bird

9 Flying_By

10 laura_lau

11 ditty1234

12 Nintud

13 cybertortoise

14 dizzyblnd

15 basketcase

16 Esmeralda2662

17 beanielou

18 Thrifty_Taylor

18 ldee2111

grandmanerd

me please apple. I was thinking I might just cheer from the side but I can't pass up a trip in the tardis.

f0xh0les

I'm ready to buckle up in the Tardis. 

Betharooni

Count me in please @apple_muncher.

Shrewbie

Me apunto!! thank you @apple

weenancyinAmerica

Can I be included? This is going to be a hard month for me - one roommate who has always been my "rock" thinks he is moving out to live with his girl friend he has never meet  - he has only talked to on the phone, my property taxes are due and I still need to raise more money for it, somehow the church thinks I am in charge of the Family History Center (I am just the assistant) and have me responsible for staffing a special event, the cat has to get another shot and get fixed, and another roommate still has therapy and nurses visiting every day or two and she won't clean up her mess in the living room (some of it has been there 12 years), and I may need another shot in my back for the legs. Hopefully I will have finished crocheting my comfort chicken by then as I may need it. When I get it done, I will have to post a picture. Made it in my handiwork class but had to do most of it sitting in my car.

DawnW

Yes please @apple_muncher

short_bird

splash 
I appear to have found the swimming pool...
Hello, all, I'm in for December.  

Flying_By

Please may I join apple, although I'll mostly be dipping in and out!

laura_lau

Tu ai you @apple_muncher please count me in!