NST May 2018: May the odds be ever in your favour!

I'm in for May please. Need to rein in my unneccessary spends.

[FONT=&quot]Motivation[/FONT][FONT=&quot]:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] what is your personal motivation for joining in with the turtles? To get out of debt? Too stay out of debt? To build up savings / an Emergency Fund? FIRE? What is your personal timeline for reaching your goal? If it seems too far away, break it down. My main aims are to pay mum off, (£1800 left as of 1st May) and then put some savings away. My long term savings goals are first to put away 6 months worth of bills, then in the far faaaar future, fill an ISA.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Money[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: [/FONT][FONT=&quot]know your income and outgoings. To the penny. Know when every single DD goes out, when the annual payments are required. If you cannot cope with cash in your pocket, only use a card; if, like me, you work better with cash, then use that. Note down EVERY single spend and eliminate the unnecessary ones. Everything is always recorded in my spreadsheets.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Me[/FONT][FONT=&quot] time:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] look after yourself. Get enough sleep; eat well; move; do things you enjoy. Last month we were encouraged to take up a new hobby / revive an old one. Such a good thing to do! Going to continue my 'hobby' of practicing for my music exam.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Move[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: being active benefits your body and your mind. You know that. Now do it. Find your level of activity and crank it up a notch (I’ve recently upped some of my kettlebell exercises from 8K to 12K). Get outside. Play! I've now had a good couple of weeks recooperating after my marathon. Time to get back into it and train for the 10k and half marathon we have entered this month.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Activation[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: what spurs you on to keep on the path? Does following other threads or blogs inspire you? Dedicate some time each week to expanding your reading and finding ideas that you can use – and please tell us about them. Currently its this thread, running mags and podcasts

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Arm[/FONT][FONT=&quot] yourself [/FONT][FONT=&quot]: you have chosen to follow a path that many mock and despise - that of ridding yourself of debt and financial constrictions in order to be free; free to choose what to do with your money and time, not enslaved to repaying or to other people. Whether you opt to work more or to spend less in order to achieve your goal, stand firm against the naysayers. Stand strong in your personal quest against consumerism and the futility of always acquiring more. I must be strong and not spend!! I would like to book in to finish my tattoo for after my half marathon, which will need a £20 deposit, but apart from that I should be good.
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[/FONT][FONT=&quot]You[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. Are you happy in yourself? Know what brings you joy, what cheers your heart, what makes you pause and wonder. Don’t just stop and smell the coffee in the morning; practise stopping and looking around throughout the day. Appreciate what you have. Be grateful.
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19 NSD: you have 12 days to spend, so use them wisely, especially with the Bank Holidays and half term this month. Petrol, medications and emergency travel needs are exempt. As are reduced items if that is all you buy.
Foodbank/ charity donation of £5.
Pay to your debt/savings FIRST and live off the rest.
Plan the month: every single day: what you are doing, what you are eating, especially with the Bank Holidays and half term, birthdays, anniversaries.
Check in every day. Short posts, long posts, ups and downs. Turtles are gregarious and friendly, they look after each other and encourage each other out of their shells.

As well as the challenge, I'm going to add another 'M'...Minimalism. I'm going to attempt the Minimalism game, get rid of 1 thing on day 1 (donate/trash/gift), 2 things on day 2 etc etc. I'm going to see how many days I can go (31 things on day 31 will be more difficult!)
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I'm in too.

Anti-consumerism is a perfect fit with my intended low spend month!

Thanks apple

Long first post for the month - daily updates will be from 'rules' onwards

[FONT=&quot]Motivation[/FONT][FONT=&quot]:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] what is your personal motivation for joining in with the turtles?
- Immediate short term - Clearing the last of the non-mtge debt (now at less than 5k) - should be this year. Medium - Then clearing the BTL mtge over the next 6-8 years (less of a fixed target there) whilst also building up savings. Want to retire early. Longer term - Ideally I'd like us both to retire at 55, but we will still have youngest (no 4) in school then and no 3 will be at uni (assuming he goes), so that is unlikely. However, 60 will see no 4 finishing uni (if he goes/ unless he chooses a long course, such as medicine) so it would be good to fully retire then. We have started looking more seriously at pension options this year. No final decisions made yet, and we are learning a lot along the way before committing to anything major
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Money[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: [/FONT][FONT=&quot]know your income and outgoings. I am really not very good at tracking all spends - must try harder. I do, however, know annual household bills and when they are due.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Me[/FONT][FONT=&quot] time:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] look after yourself. Get enough sleep; eat well; move; do things you enjoy. - another must try harder area. Although May and June are important months for me to do this, as they are very busy with work and I will not cope without looking after myself.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Move[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: being active benefits your body and your mind. - fits in with above.


[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Activation[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: what spurs you on to keep on the path? Does following other threads or blogs inspire you? Dedicate some time each week to expanding your reading and finding ideas that you can use !!!8211; and please tell us about them. - MSE. Blogs. My ultimate goal of wanting to enjoy life whilst still young enough/ physically able to do things and be able to do so financially (an occasional more expensive trip etc) Our dream goal is to own a property overseas. Being able to help out the children in some way (3 at home, 1 at uni - uni one gets full loans but we do pay for her phone and have bought all equipment (laptop etc) and she gets huge food parcels and knows we would help out more if needed (thankfully she is very sensible with money)

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Arm[/FONT][FONT=&quot] yourself [/FONT][FONT=&quot]: you have chosen to follow a path that many mock and despise - that of ridding yourself of debt and financial constrictions in order to be free; free to choose what to do with your money and time, not enslaved to repaying or to other people. Whether you opt to work more or to spend less in order to achieve your goal, stand firm against the naysayers. Stand strong in your personal quest against consumerism and the futility of always acquiring more. - We don't spend much on just random 'stuff' . Big purchases (eg the kitchen) are considered long and hard and researched. Usually very little is bought on a whim (excluding food items here) Hand me downs for the boys are made full use of, and much of my wardrobe is new-to-me, not new-new. When items are outgrown etc they are sold, passed onto someone (whether a charity or person) or recycled where possible. Very little actual landfill waste is generated from our house and food waste is truly minimal. (although we do occasionally go off-piste - we are not saints!)


[/FONT][FONT=&quot]You[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. Are you happy in yourself? Know what brings you joy, what cheers your heart, what makes you pause and wonder. Don!!!8217;t just stop and smell the coffee in the morning; practise stopping and looking around throughout the day. Appreciate what you have. Be grateful. Definitely. I have got much better at understanding this and practicing it as I have got older.


The Rules:

We start on May 1st and continue to the very end of the 31st. - Yep

19 NSD: you have 12 days to spend, so use them wisely, I am not good at NSDs:o:p:o (my OH also doesn't help with random spends!) although busy-ness at work will keep them lower. My target is more keeping to budgets than NSDs, but I do monitor them.

Foodbank/ charity donation of £5. - have monthly DD to charity but will ensure something else is also done.

Pay to your debt/savings FIRST and live off the rest. - CCs already paid on payday. Savings sto due to go out beginning of month. That just leaves the rest for us


Plan the month: every single day: what you are doing, what you are eating, especially with the Bank Holidays and half term, birthdays, anniversaries. - to do.

Check in every day. ok

Please add me too I've been here before and not been very successful - but I need a focus now I have debt again.

Thank you