Some support and a big thank you

SarahNeedle1872

Thanks for a great thread Lunar, it's nice to see a positive attitude towards Martin, as opposed to some of the poison on other boards.
I personally think Martin/the MSE guys are fantastic, and if it weren't for this site and the people here, I wouldn't have paid off nearly £10k of debt (now stuck at £3k, but thats another story!). Ok, I'm not as 'hard-core' as some people here, but I do what I can!

To all those that trashed Martin, I say take responsibility for your actions, Martin didn't tell you what to do, he only said what the best rates were! If he said it was a good idea to jump of a cliff, would you!?! I think not!

To everyone here in support of Martin, I say keep up the good work! Your daily ramblings help people in dire situations realise that there is light at the end of the tunnel, as the seemingly impossible can be achieved with a bit of hard graft/budgetting.

And to Martin I say, keep up the good work! Despite the negativity from the idiots, there are 2.5m people that read your emails every week! You work your nuts off (a little too hard sometimes!) for Joe Public every single day, and without you and this site, I for one would probably be facing bankruptcy right about now! Take care of yourself, and remember there are more of us for you than against you....... and someone shoud kick Jon Snow in the nuts!

savingholmes

I want to add my vote of thanks to Martin and team. I had already saved thousands of pounds in interest thro following his advice (in the money diet book) on switching to 0% balance transfers, plus savings on insurance, car bills, utilities even before I came on this site and joined the forum proper.... Since joining I have made even more savings and I can only say THANK YOU. :T :T :T :A :T :T :T

I am now paying off my debt rather than adding to it. I've paid off 3 balances since July 08 - I wouldn't have done otherwise. Generally we have now put together a budget we can actually live within. Yes we have made some lifestyle changes and it doesn't come without some sacrifice.... My niece and nephew are getting Martin's Teensclass booklet for Christmas (as well as other gifts) to help them avoid the pitfalls we fell into. We therefore feel far more prepared to face this latest crisis than we would without this site. We used to be branded only as a household, now very few brands have survived our downshift challenge and our grocery bill is a lot more manageable. I have 2/3 of the Christmas presents sorted, plus January birthdays....

I read small print, I'm aware of buyer beware and I can't understand why anyone would want to shift responsibility. As I am now a reforming shopaholic - my husband too couldn't be more grateful!:A Keep up the good work!

millionaire_in_training

Jeezo !! Why the blame game? As said before we all are adults and all able to decide for ourselves what to do. I loves Martin sure I even offered to have his babies a while back :rotfl: . Well said Lunar :T .

Triker

I was going to post last night to 'defend' this site, Martin and all relevent others who were being offensively slated on some of the forums.

But I had a look at those most offensive of posters and noticed that they had a 3 or 4 or 7 or 8 post count at most. They obviously registered that day or very recently just to scream and shout and head for the easiest target.

Again, whilst it's acknowledged by many that what was happening was highly stressful and heartbreaking, lashing out to those whom actively go out of their way to support, guide and give relevent updates on an ever changing situation was unacceptable.

One of the biggest strengths of this site is supporting one another through difficult, life changing times, lets continue to do that eh, instead of giving negative people attention.

To all behind the scenes, the majority of members and to Martin, lets keep on keeping on, it's what it's all about.;):D

michellew_2

Just a point that may be elsewhere on here - only so many MSE hours in the day - on the school run the chap on the radio pointed out that numerous local governments had money in the Icelandic Bank and I'm positive they didnt put their money there on Martins say so - whenever anything goes against the grain there has to be a scapegoat. We as MSErs have to make it known that we wont let Martin be blamed for this, he has helped me reclaim thousands, save almost as much and win a bit too - Martin for number 10 !!

lunar

Sarah, I think we will have to form a cue for kicking jon snow from this board! How can anyone claim no responsibility for their own decisions, I found a list of cheap insurance sites when i renewed home insurance last month. I didnt take the cheapest one as it didnt cover what i needed. would it have been the fault of the insurance company or website if i needed to claim but wasnt properly covered?

Triker, i do wonder if some of these posters on the other boards with not many posts might be more regular users who dont want to use their screen name.

Im so glad to see all the support for the MSE team on this board.

painted_lady

I must add that Martin has changed my life too, I kind of paid off my bad debt, but also set up in business at the same time, I now have debt, but it earns me 25% profit, after taking into account the interest charged to me. I dont consider myself debt free, hence i post here.
2 and half years ago,although not in a bad financial position for my age, I was not opening bank statements, was paying over £100 a month in bank charges, £250 a month in interest (if not more) and was wasting money on clothes shoes etc. I found out i was pregnant, now I have the MSE baby. I paid off debts, using martins advice and that of others on here, I afforded to take a year on maternity leave and got everything for the baby for free (or very very cheap). I look forward to managing my money now.
I said it in my earlier post, but well done martin for giving us the tools to take control of our lives.

Bagpuss741

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

Just wanted to say hugs/thanks/support from me too - not just to Martin but to the team at mse towers and all that contribute. The site has been life changig for many of us and I know had it not been for mse my life woud have been very different. By now I would have lost my house, possibly my job and definately any self respect I had. With the site and support from forumites my life is very different but in a good way. I can say hand on heart that I couldnt do without it.
While some will always want to lay blame one of the things the site has taught me is to take responsibility for me. The forum is the map but I choose which route to take...only I am responsible for that but when people get lost theres usually someone happy to say "told you you should have turned left" ...and this is no different.
As always it saddens me that people fail to see the commitment and energy with which Martin does his job and they instead just want to get the boot in which I know he will be upset by because he does have such passion and genuinely does care...
So from me a big hug with the reminder that you can only do your best and some of us know that you do...
For those who are happy to get the boot in I would simply ask what have you contributed to society today? Can you honestly say that you have been responsible for changing lifes for the better and lead a huge shift in thinking of thousands of people? Doubtful me thinks and possibly your time would be better spent trying to make a positive change to society rather than slating those who already DO.

I think ISOM has put this better than I ever could so I'll just say I agree with everything she says:o If it wasn't for Martin or this site and you guys I wouldn't know where to start with tackling my debt. :A

In_Search_Of_Me

aww thanks bagpuss...just feel strongly for martin at the team who work so hard and know all will be tired, gutted and discouraged by what has happened...its no more their fault than mine...they are the ones trying to help and yet get slated...makes me v.cross!

SarahNeedle1872

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=14855103#post14855103

Have you seen this thread guys? Despite the title, positivity rules here too!

(haven't mastered the proper way of adding links - sorry!)