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Nifty November's No-Spend Days challenge!

Welcome to Nifty November's No-Spend Days Challenge! This challenge is all about helping people to save money by setting aside days every month where you deliberately don't spend unnecessary cash. Over the short term, it can help you have a more frugal month. Over the long term, if you stick with it, it can help change your mindset because you get out of the habit of frittering money away and start automatically holding off from spending instead. It also helps you delay purchases, which in turn means you lose interest in a lot of things you might otherwise impulse buy.

Another good thing with this challenge is we're all in it together, and people will help you on bad days and cheer you on on good days, and the support and accountability can really help make it easier to keep going with it. And if all else fails, there's always next month

To join, just post the number of no-spend days (NSDs) you're aiming for this month and you are on your way!

Tips for the challenge:
1. It's totally up to you but if you've never done the challenge before, it's probably simpler to start with a goal of 10 or (at most) 15.

2. It is fine to exclude necessary expenses eg petrol, groceries, pet food, etc, when it comes to deciding what is and isn't an NSD. It is also completely fine to exclude automated or recurring payments such as bills, mortgage or direct debits.

3. It does help to post every time you notch up an NSD, or at least every two or three days ... it's easy to lose track! If you want to keep track of your NSDs in your MSE signature, that can be really motivating too

4. It also helps to bookmark the thread, it's much easier to find.

5. NSDs are trickier than they seem and easily derailed. It can work better if you notch up as many days as you can in the first half of the month, or think of the month in thirds so if you're aiming for 10 NSDs, try to do 4 days in the first 10, 3 in the second and 3 in the third. And if you feel that you're falling behind, there's no shame in changing your target! Sometimes life just gets in the way, and the challenge should be fun, not a grind.

November

Off to a start = image 

5 days = image 

10 days = image  

15 days = image 

20 days = image 

Target reached = image 

Target beaten = image

To see the updated results for November on phone or tablet, click here :)
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Comments

  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 15,886 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 31 October at 3:46PM
    November targets

    AuntieL 18
    beanielou 19
    Caeraugirl 10
    cathybird 15
    Changeyourlife25 10
    CrazyBee787 12
    Crazycatlady2 15
    Dizzycap 15
    doingitanyway 12
    Doris17 15
    Emmel 12
    InDebtEnby 13
    KajiKita 20
    laurenh1 18
    leftatthetrafficlights 15
    LittleMissDetermined 12
    Pinkpieuni 10
    Prodigal50 10
    Quantaqa 15
    QueenJess 15
    short bird 18
    Tenar15 10
    VickyA 2 15


    🌞 🌞  Everyone welcome to join! 🌞 🌞

  • Dizzycap
    Dizzycap Posts: 1,260 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Photogenic Debt-free and Proud!
    Whoo-Woooooooo - Here we are  :D See you all in a couple of days  ;):D
    ~ NSD 2025 - NSD November 2/15 (11 x💯)
    # Spectos/Royal Mail Monitoring and Posting Panel - On Rest - 2 x £25 Vouchers Redeemed, 29 FREE Books of RM Stamps & 2 x Presentation Pack.
    ~ Totally FREE Christmas 2025 - 🎁✉️🏷🎀💐🪪🗒🧺
    ⭐️Completed Challenges 2025:
    # No.36 Make £2025 in 2025 £1698.68 / £2025  (4) 💯💯💯
    # No.12 Save £2 a Day 2025 £730/ £730 💯
    # No.27 Save 1p A Day 2025 £667.95 / £667.95 💯
    # No.19 52 Week Env Challenge £1378 / £1378 💯 
    # No.34 Save £12k in 2025 £21,877.08 / £12,000 💯 (8) - Continuing
  • KajiKita
    KajiKita Posts: 8,536 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    Looking forward to getting the skipping sheep! ❤️😊🤩

    KK
    As at 15.10.25:
    - When bought house £315,995 mortgage debt and end date at start = October 2039 - now £229,702
    - OPs to mortgage = £12,345 Estd. interest saved = £5,863 to date
    Fixed rate 3.85% ends October 2030

    Read 60 books of target 52 in 2025, as @ 30th October 
    Produce tracker: £426 of £300 in 2025

    Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
    Watch your words, they become your actions. 
    Watch your actions, they become your reality. 
  • CrazyBee787
    CrazyBee787 Posts: 1,285 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thank you @cathybird for all that you do, we all really appreciate you working in the background to make sure we have a thread to hold us accountable, Thank you. And may we all have a rockin 'No spend' month.XX
    Missions: -

    1) Build up an emergency fund (EF) £3100/£3500 By end of 2025!
    2) Pay off Mortgage Starting £58738 (11/04/2017) - Current balance £46985.67 (21/10/2025) Unknown time frame? Start coming soon. ( another 5 years?)
    3) Improve the number of no spend days.
  • Dizzycap
    Dizzycap Posts: 1,260 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Photogenic Debt-free and Proud!
    KajiKita said:
    Looking forward to getting the skipping sheep! ❤️😊🤩

    KK
    I did laugh at the sheep. Having scoffed 6 Caburys roses last night, I think the skipping sheep exercise will be applicable to me before Christmas to get t hose extra chocolate pounds off!  :D
    Here's my plan for November:
    I have a few extra payout days in November with the car needing an MOT/repairs etc along with workman coming in and out when possible. In order to be able to keep things simple for the NSD challenge and my own sanity, I've already paid in full for all the materials needed and as I know how much the full work cost will be, I've set aside the total amount, plus extra;just in case, today - counting it as a spend day  :D That way, I will definately be able to hopefully reach over 20+ NSD for November as all my Chrissy present making/shopping with points was completed months ago  :D
    All the Chrissy food will be bought with collected SM points and In-App freebies making it another totally free Chrissy for 2025, so I'm going to set myself the challenge of NO spendy days in December - CRAZY!  :D
    ~ NSD 2025 - NSD November 2/15 (11 x💯)
    # Spectos/Royal Mail Monitoring and Posting Panel - On Rest - 2 x £25 Vouchers Redeemed, 29 FREE Books of RM Stamps & 2 x Presentation Pack.
    ~ Totally FREE Christmas 2025 - 🎁✉️🏷🎀💐🪪🗒🧺
    ⭐️Completed Challenges 2025:
    # No.36 Make £2025 in 2025 £1698.68 / £2025  (4) 💯💯💯
    # No.12 Save £2 a Day 2025 £730/ £730 💯
    # No.27 Save 1p A Day 2025 £667.95 / £667.95 💯
    # No.19 52 Week Env Challenge £1378 / £1378 💯 
    # No.34 Save £12k in 2025 £21,877.08 / £12,000 💯 (8) - Continuing
  • I'd like to join please 😁 I'm aiming for 15 but hopefully I'll manage a few more 🤞
    'Happiness is not a destination but the journey you walk every day'

    Weight loss challenge 2024:
    Start weight: 9st 13.1lb
    End weight: 8st 13lb

    Weight loss challenge 2025: 
    Start weight: 8st 6lbs
    End weight: 

    Nov GC: £0/£350

    'It's the small compromises you keep making over time that start to add up and get you to a place you don't want to be'

  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 15,886 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yay @leftatthetrafficlights, good to see you here xx :)
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 96,791 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    Kicking off with no 1. 
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.

    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 15,886 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yay November! Not one for me, I'm organising food for a birthday party today. :)
  • cathybird
    cathybird Posts: 15,886 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    November 2025 NSD challenge


    Off to a start = image 

    5 days = image 

    10 days = image  

    15 days = image 

    20 days = image 

    Target reached = image 

    Target beaten = image


    November targets


    AuntieL 18 


    beanielou 1/19  image 


    cathybird 15 


    Changeyourlife25 10 


    Crazybee787 12 


    Dizzycap 15 


    doingitanyway 12 


    Doris17 15 


    InDebtEnby 13 


    KajiKita 20 


    laurenh1 18 


    leftatthetrafficlights 15 


    LittleMissDetermined 12 


    Pinkpieuni 10 


    Prodigal50 10 


    QueenJess 15 


    short bird 18  


    VickyA 2 15  



    To see the updated results for November on phone or tablet, click here :)


    🌞 🌞  Newcomers welcome! 🌞 🌞
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