How has MSE changed you in 2005?

johannamse

SuiDreams wrote:

Well due to MSE I am currently getting free phone line rental for 12 months (saving of £10.50 per month,

How have you done this?

SuiDreams

Currently have Phone TV and Broadband with NTL, rang them up saying that their service was over priced etcetc and they offered me free phone line rental for 12 months. I lot of people have done this see the Home phones board.

Penny-Pincher!!

Hey & great thread!!

Well-where do I begin?? Main things changed 2005 are:

(1)Meal planning & all cooking from scratch (saving £50+pw)
(2)Paid £5500 off my credit card (only 4 more payments till debt free :T )
(3)Buying wine/alchohol from supermarkets online using voucher codes (saves nipping to local offy for over priced wine and beer)
(4)Using less petrol
(5)Cancelled PPI on credit cards
(6)Cancelled all mag subscriptions
(7)Moved all Utility suppliers to cheaper ones
(8)Savings toward a conservatory using left over grocery money each month
(9)Shopped around for cheaper insurances
(10)Using voucher codes/loyalty card points etc towards pressies

Im now saving over £700 per month compared to 18months ago :eek:

Tons more, but there the main ones.

PP
xx

dinkylou

Since finding MSE earlier this year I ve changed my attitude towards my money, stopped sinking and hoping things would get better.

I've also:

got myself out of a nasty car finance deal and changed to a much cheaper normal loan

changed my bank account to A & L (making £130 in the process)

reduced my car insurance by £150 by taking Martin's advice and doing Nationwide's 'double the difference back'

switched my gas and elec - saving £15 per month

reduced my food bill by £25 per month

And am now in control of my money - even if I'm not always as well behaved with it as I could/should be!!!

MSE has really made a difference and has stopped me in my debt tracks whilst Im still young enough to learn a lesson for life.

Debras_Angel

Hi,

Only been a little while since I joined but I never buy anything without first checking here as I'm in the process of buying a new home i daily check for all the useful information.

I am fortune that I don't have any debt except my mortgage (was in debt 20 years ago and learnt my lesson once I got clear) but it has made me start to look at the money I waste.

All my friends have started to ask what Ma Martin (my nickname for the site) says about this and that and I tell them to check it out.

It is an inspirational site and great to hear how people are getting rid of the debt.

This time next year I will post my savings too.

PS...I spend far too much time on here, don't know what I did all day before!

Debs

Gillby1

Debras_Angel wrote:

It is an inspirational site and great to hear how people are getting rid of the debt.

PS...I spend far too much time on here, don't know what I did all day before!

I agree with both points. I spend ages on this site and hate to miss out on anything!

Debras_Angel

Gillby1 wrote:

I agree with both points. I spend ages on this site and hate to miss out on anything!

Hi Gillby1,

MAybe we could say that we are on the university of money. You would never get all this experience and training in the real world of Unis!

Reckon that's a good excuse for all us MSE's!

Debs

charlies_mum

I have saved literally hundreds of pounds on insurance, and have reduced my Sky payments by £12 per month by cancelling channels that I didn't even know I had ! I don't phone any 0870 numbers without checking for a local number first, and got a much better deal from Orange when renewing my contract.

I love the forum with the recipes and next year will get organised and try some of them out. I love this site, problem is I'm turning into a bit of an MSE bore and keep saying to people "just check out the site, you will save loads of money".

bscousegit

I've saved loads thru MSE and the forums

1) Utilities - £100+
2) Credit card 0% - £????
3) mobile phones - managed to get cash back and 500 minutes free a month all year
4) various savings accounts - £???
5) Sky Packages - £60+, great advice from other MSEs.
6) Tried the standard letter to building society to reduce rates etc, no joy at this stage - may try again sometime next year
7) Gained loads of ideas about budgetting, now manage to have savings in place for car expenses, various yearly insurance policies and Xmas. Birthdays will be planned for next year!
8) Now paying extra into Mortgage - £????, now and until end of Mortgage
9) £24 with Asda savings cards

Brilliant site, always worth logging on daily.

jcr16

i have only been a member for a short while , and i not even sure how i discovered mse. but i can see that i will be saving even more money in 2006 with what i have learnt.

i am sticking to a shopping budget , i am making loads more home cooked meals , i am thinking before i buy anything and then instead of buying something i don't need i put it towards paying off a bill. i have paid off 3 debt in the last month. and next year we aim to be debt free all bar our one natwest loan. we feel much happier about our finiancail situation. we have enought to pay our bill plus money left over to save or put towards CC payment's. My hubby is now thinking he may be able to realise his dream in working for himself. he is qualified electrian and has wanted to work for himself for years but due to debts this has stopped him. but since finding mse we have so much more knowledge now , that he is planning his future business and feeling alot happier.

all i can say is a huge thankyou to mse. i recommend to all.