Back to basics - how much do you guestimate MSE saved you?

jexygirl

Does what it says on the tin.. how much do you think MSE and your colleagues here on the forums saved you/ encouraged you /advised you to save, whatever new (like me and feeling inspired) or old school and doing it for years. The support here is priceless, but in real £ terms, what do you think, its about time we patted EVERYONE that contributes on the back (not least our fantastic board guides who point us in the right direction) so come on, take a second to see what savings you made, and honour those that helped!
I ADORE (if you didnt notice) Twinks hobnobs.
I love the confidence to go for it, freeze it, double it, use it, dont waste it ( I get guilty when i throw things away and say to myself "now thats not mse is it!)
how much I saved is difficult for my circumstance, Imjust alot more savvy as a result of this forum. Just wondered what everyone else felt they might have saved after adding it all up in a normal world
sorry to guides if its been done, I was just wanting to see the effect and whether it matched mine!
Jex

BitterAndTwisted

I couldn't possible quantify in terms of cash but what I do know is that all of the posters on this forum have saved me something even more precious: my sanity

Pink.

Hi jexygirl,

It's coming up to seven years since I first discovered MSE and I couldn't even attempt to put a figure on the amount I've saved since then, but I know that it's been a lot. :j Much of it has been small ways of saving that over the years have become habitual and ultimately saved a small fortune. I also have to admit that I've managed to spend some of those savings when visiting the grabbit and other MSE shopping boards.

There is actually a board dedicated to this very topic:

How much have you saved?

I'll move your post over there once it's fallen from the first page of Old Style.

Pink

bellaquidsin

Norman_Bean wrote: »

€5,560 since Nov 09 :money:

How? Please tell us.

Bella.

hilstep2000

Can't add it all up, but must be thousands! what with changing utilities, cutting tv packages, using cashback sites and survey sites, vouchers and Old style cooking, the best site on the web!

*Maya*

Norman_Bean wrote: »

HOWEVER I am never ever tight with friends or family with regards presents and paying my way - it just happens to all be budgeted for.

Norman_Bean wrote: »

It was my H's birthday yesterday and he just got a HM card from from our daughters and a piece of his favourite cheese (€2) which he was chuffed with as it's been cut from the shopping bill.

A tiny contradiction methinks. :rotfl:

Seriously tho you must of been massively overspending before Nov 09 to have saved €5,560 in three months. You must have economised on more than groceries and wedding outfits? Can you try to explain your saving to give the rest of us some motivation?

Butterfly_Brain

Thousands - now out of debt, except for mortgage and like Norman we are saving like mad to finish paying it off (£23,000 left to go)

Bitsy_Beans

Its not so much the money I've saved but what being MSE has allowed me to do. Which was basically take a significant pay cut to be at home with the kids. Before MSE I would have sworn it wasn't possible but now......its feasible (with a little tweaking here and there). I won't say it's all perfect as it isn't but it's at least given me the opportunity to try

foxgloves

I can't quantify it in terms of money, but it has allowed me to go part time. And......the mad thing is that with our simpler OS lifestyle, we are actually better off financially than when we were both full time because we have hardly any debt left to pay off. This means that the equivalent of the half of my salary that I've dropped through going part time (about £14,000 a year) must have been swallowed up in debt repayments and wasting money on overspending & buying tat. A sobering thought, as it means I could have SAVED that amount and had a bit of a decent nest-egg. Never mind! LBMs come at different times in our lives & while I would like to have had mine a bit earlier, at least it came in the end. We are both much happier living this lifestyle & I do enjoy the online support of the Old-style community too xx

*Maya*

Norman_Bean wrote: »

:rotfl:H doesn't count! :rotfl:and you should have seen his little face when he opened up the cheese :rotfl:

Yeah I guess we were overspending ... I must have been spending €150 - €180 A WEEK on food and shopping :eek: I now spend around €140 a month :cool:

Maybe it's a bit of a cheat as we put H's extra month salary in Dec into the savings ... erm don't know really, obviously we were extravagant before but not on clothes etc ... more on meals out, nice food and wine ...

Oh it's half term now, normally I'd go to UK for two weeks but am staying put so saved ferry, petrol, tolls, catching up with mates , buying all my British treats ... feeling sad now

Can't explain it any better than we aren't spending and are being really tight and I thank Sir Martin and all you guys :beer:

Bette keep it up now!!!

Thanks. I feel demoralized when I read posts like yours saying they saved thousands in a small time because I know no matter how much I cut back there is no chance of me saving that much in three months. It helps to know ''its a bit of a cheat'' and there was an extra months salary and trips included in your savings.

I hope you keep it up and dont feel sad when you think how you will feel when your morgage is paid.

maman

Norman_Bean wrote: »

I guess it's a not a lifestyle to be recommended forever though x :eek:

Norman x

I think it can become a way of life. I'm fortunate in not having any debts, I use MSE just to be absoulutely sure I'm getting best value for my hard-earned and not wasting any. Then I can choose what I spend my money on whether it's holidays, visiting friends etc etc I like the feeling of being organised and in control. Also I think it's a healthier way of living too, Cooking from scratch, less meat and more veg, walking for short journeys instead of taking the car, making your own sandwiches instead of the mayo laden ones in shops etc etc