NST January 2025: Freedom!

DawnW

NSD #3 for me today. Work again, and it was very cold. The shop is in a really old building without any proper heating. Not many customers today either, so the time passed slowly. Never mind, all done now till next Thursday.

I brought quite a bit of stock back with me, so will need to put that away, but probably won't get to it till tomorrow. At least it is all in the house, as I hauled it up from the garage when I got back.

Looking forward to the weekend - hope the weather isn't too bad, as elder DD is coming down for younger DD's birthday on Sunday, and we are all going for a pub lunch

ldee2111

That’s fantastic @abundant! October will be here before you know it. 

And we’re off! NSD 1 done and dusted.

Spent most of the day at home, catching up after a few days away. I used the time to sort out some of our finances and get the house back in order.

I did sums and confirmed that we’ll definitely be able to pay off the mortgage in April! So, I’ve started thinking about how we’ll prioritise pennies after that milestone.

Money from selling items on V!ntD will go straight into DS’s clothing fund—he’s growing out of his clothes so fast! Anything from surveys will go into my personal account. (I’m not growing like DS, but I do like to have a little extra cash. In 2024, most of my “pocket money” went on charity donations, colleague collections, and treating the father-outlaw and OH to the odd coffee at the football.)

Transport underspends will be swept into our holiday savings, while food budget underspends will stay in the food account. These days, there’s rarely much leftover, and any extra one month is usually needed the next. The same applies to the leisure budget—it’ll now stay in the leisure account, especially since DS has started enjoying restaurants and cafés! Mushed up apple in a baby pouch was definitely cheaper! 🤣

I did pop out briefly to post something I sold on V!ntD at the new, much closer postage lockers. This time, it was an unwanted toy DS was gifted, so the money will go towards some longer-legged trousers for him.

I also dropped DS at Mum’s. She offered to take him swimming, which was great for him, for her and for us. 👍🏻

OH and I pottered around the house, tidied up after our caravan trip, did some washing, meal planned for the week ahead, and made dinner.

Feeling grateful today for the closer postage lockers, Mum taking DS out, and OH sorting dinner.

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for a long night's sleep, for a friend coming over for lunch and telling her about my elephant and coming up with a plan together, for Pip finally finishing a certain piece of homework, for WSM recordings even though I know the final outcome.

cybertortoise

I'd like to join please. I will be active this month!

F - My wardrobe is already quite spare but I tend to wear about 20% of what I actually own. One thing I do have too many of is coats!

R - Aiming to follow the R's. I need to get to the local repair cafe and see if they can fix my blender.

E - I am going to start learning German.

E - I definitely need to focus on this, I eat too much junk and don't plan meals or shop well.

D - Donating to charity where I can and will aim to help the food bank when I shop.

O - I'm off to check the old-fashioned board for ideas on keeping costs down - especially regarding meal prep.

M - I'll have music on every day when I clean, I would also like to listen to more than just my playlist of favourites!

N - I'm aiming for NSD x 10 as I am paid very irregularly throughout the month, so have to do grocery shopping quite regularly.

E - I have elephants in every room! My whole house needs a thorough clean and declutter. I'm off work from yesterday until Thursday next week so have a fixed number of days to get it done. 

W - off to work on my wishlist

I am on a budget but i need to be better at following it. Especially when considering groceries. I hate food shopping, meal planning, with a passion so I avoid it. I need to make it my super power!

I had one of those BNPL credit ccounts which I used occasionally and then it threw off my budgeting, I've closed that down so no temptation to spend what I don't physically have.And no sneaky payments to have to find funds for.

Today I listed an item for sale (should be collected tomorrow), and several small bits were advertised for free (3 have gone). 

I've sorted a few bits round the house and garden:

-Greenhouse built - this was free on FB, collected in Oct and put together over past few weeks

-Under stairs cupboard sorted out and tidied - now we can get to the coats!

-Christmas tree down and stored away for next year

-Dishwasher wiring sorted so it is properly under the counter and not sticking out

Betharooni

Very little done the last couple of days as not been feeling well, but upside is another 2 NSDs so NSD #3 now.

Thankful for the two weeks off work that I’ve had (which was needed), a tasty dinner cooked by DB1 and having plenty of food in the house.

Thrifty_Taylor

Well done on bringing your DFD & MFD forward @abundant1972 & @ldee2111 🎉

Yesterday we still had some snow, had a male pheasant in the garden looking for fallen birdseed. Wrapped up & went for a 4.5 mile walk with DH. Saw some Rhea in a field, they've doubled in height since we last saw them!

Went to town with DS1, he went to mum's, whilst I met with my 2 work besties at one of them's houses. We had a great night, Xmas film, drinks, a game & a takeaway (used by birthday money to pay for mine), then walked back to mum's & I stayed the night.

Today there was still snow. Me, mum & DS went food shopping. I'd stupidly left my bag of spare shopping bags at L1DL last Saturday, but they were still there. I was over the moon!! Put the big monthly shop away (had used my 10% off my shop). Pottered about, then had a bath after tea. Washed the dishes, ordered 2 birthday presents for later in the year, then did some knitting whilst watching The Split: Barcelona. I'd firgy how much I love this series!

Grateful for birds of all sizes, finding my bags, fun with my friends, having company when driving in the snow, great programmes, starting a new book

grandmanerd

I've just lost quite a long post. Progress is slow, I need to adjust my expectations of what I will get done. I had a bit of a disaster on Thursday and spent most of the day dealing with it but it helped me make up my mind about some items of clothing and an old sheet. I put on old comfy clothing and rarely check whether they still fit to wear in public unless the holes get big enough to show parts of my anatomy. These were to far gone to donate and I had no hesitation in throwing them at the problem.

I've cooked gammon slices and chicken breasts, various items from the freezer (found 2 salmon pieces which I had with the last 5 breaded mushrooms and the last roasted baby potatoes - cooked a whole bag of them and throw a few in to heat up near the end of the cooking time for other things). More things lined up to go in.

3 bin bags went out plus 1 and 1/2 sacks of cans and stuffed box of paper. Giving up on moving furniture to where I want it (will do one piece at a time when the builders have started). Will work on sorting tools/ garden/ painting into separate boxes and getting the small cube shelves where I want them and the microwave and toaster set up on top. Paperwork will be dealt with later (will sort for obvious recycling) and I'll spend time pondering this and other challenges.

Grateful for everything I have and for enough to be able to donate to others (a big craft supply purge is needed), for weather being okay enough to process washing and finding nice nibbles in the freezer.

dizzyblnd

I am still on 2 nsds as yesterday and today I have needed to pick up bits here and there. Back to normality and clubs today so my brain is starting to regain work mode. Got a birthday meal later which I am looking forward to. Not looking forward to the snow that is forecast though. I’d quite like to skip winter and go straight to warmer spring days. 

I need to get my bottom in gear selling some things or giving them away to declutter my house. I’m feeling slightly overwhelmed but I know once I stay, it will be easier. 

DawnW

I too would like to skip winter @dizzyblnd

Still on NSD #3. I was hoping to make it #4 today, but started making a cake and realised that I didn't have enough eggs

Walked to the corner shop to get some. I couldn't be bothered to walk or drive to the supermarket, which is further away, but where they would be cheaper. There is far less temptation at the corner shop. Apart from the very basics, they seem to mostly stock lager, fizzy drinks, lottery tickets and sweets. I can quite easily resist all of those things, so I successfully bought only eggs. Ironically, DD2 arrived about an hour later with eggs from her hens, so I could have kept my NSD. Oh well, they will all get used.

DD2 took away the large model farm animals which OH had repaired for her. They are teaching aids from her classroom, and I am very pleased that they have gone back there, as I now have my dining table back. Now I just need to get rid of the additional chair, which belongs to DD1, which OH also repaired, and my dining room will be back to normal. We should be seeing her tomorrow, so fingers crossed that they aren't prevented by heavy snow.

Apart from that I have cleaned the bathroom and rescued the geraniums from the greenhouse and put them in the conservatory. The conservatory is also unheated, but a bit warmer as it is attached to the house. They should survive ok in there.

No cooking today apart from lemon drizzle cakes (made to use up sad lemons) and a couple of baked potatoes. There are plenty of use up bits to go with the potatoes. I shall need to find space in the freezer for one or both of the cakes.

Grateful today for a relaxing day at home and getting my dining table back

ldee2111

@dizzyblnd I am the same. Feeling overwhelmed with the amount of stuff  taking up space we don’t have. I’ve set a target for myself of listing 2 items a day, and donating what doesn’t sell within 2 weeks... it feels less daunting that way.

Today I stick at NSD 1 as it was grocery delivery day. It arrived almost 2-hours later than time slot… because of the extremely icy roads. I wished the delivery driver a safe trip for the rest of his shift. Grateful not to be a delivery driver today! 

But I am grateful for grocery deliveries in general (they massively help us keep within our food budget - no spending temptations like there is in an actual supermarket), grateful also for a relaxed day at home and no need to go out, and for Dad and partner popping in for a visit.