How much have you saved?

Steve-182

Well, thanks to this site informing me that companies like 1899.com exist for cheap international phone calls, its not only saved me so much money, but also went a long way to helping my girlfriend and myself maintain our relationship. I live in the UK and she lives in the USA, so with a one hour phone call on BT being around 8.50 pounds, now with 1899.com making it free to call the states with a 3p connection fee, we can speak every single day of the year !!! for as long as we like !!! for 10.95 pounds in total. Incredible, fantastic. Thanks Martin. Thanks so much.

noramc

I totally agree with the post above. I'm studying and Scotland and my boyfriend's from the Republic of Ireland. Not too far, you might think, but I was spending a FORTUNE on phone calls with BT (didn't manage to get phone cards every time I needed them!) With this site I've signed up myself and lots of my friends and family to 18866 and 1899 and it's been a godsend.

I also managed to get a v desirable mini dv sony camcorder in the great Argos sale which I'm over the moon with, but I think in the long term, the best thing this site has done for me and many others has been alerting us to simple ways to save money everyday (like the phone providers)

A heartfelt thanks!

noramc

oh! ps - boyf's now moved over here, great for me and he still phones his mum every so often, using 1899 of course!

Sofa_Sogood

Does buying all of the year's birthday presents and Christmas presents at up to 80% off count at all? All wrapped up and ready to give too! It might not mean much to some people, but it does to me.

I've made a few savings, but have yet to enter the minefield of saving on mortgages, pensions, ISA's etc, but I will. Same for insurances, services, and savings. I'm picking things up as I go along; some from the financial experts here, some from the technical experts, and something from most of the forum users. This site's also taught me to look at things differently - the 'do I really need it?' syndrome's setting in, and I'm passing that thought on to others.

What I can't bank but is priceless to me is the time other people spend giving that advice. That's worth more than any bargain ... it's priceless.

Thanks to all the people that help. It's much appreciated and I will work on the bigger things ....
.... eventually!

Paul_Varjak

Your site has given me the knowledge, impetus and confidence to save a lot of money:

Knowledge: 18866 phone service (saving £10/month)

Impetus: To change to a metered water supply (saving £120/year)

Confidence: To do probate on my mother's estate myself (saving £3000 in Solicitor's fees)

loan8r

I first became aware of martin on the jeremy vine show he was enthusing about credit card tarting, from that small begining I have made gradual progress with my finances, they were in a terrible mess ;-(.

the first thing was to sort out the credit card, I owed £2500 at 14.9% so I worked all the hours I could get and cleared the debit in january 2004 it almost killed me but was worth it, I have been paying in full ever since, so changed to a cashback card not only saving £175 but earning as I spend.

Now got a sainsburys card for living on, 12 months interest free while saving my wages in high interest account.

Swopped energy suppliers (twice now) just changed to powergen on the age concern tariff, seems to have knocked £40 off the first quarters electricity bill and the free energy saving lamps have come in usefull.

The phone has been changed to a cheaper tariff saving £15 quarter

The house insurance (bricks and mortar) was with my mortgage lender, changed to direct line saved a massive £186 with better cover!

My ISA has been fully utilised for the first time this year and I am building up some cash in an "e" savings account (earning me 5%) ready for april the 5th.

When I get paid I now move the majority of my wages to an "e" savings account until the day before i have to pay a bill out thereby making 5% on it, with internet banking its so easy I wish I had done it years ago.

My current project is the mortgage I am currently stuck with Bristol & west on there "standard" rate for another 10 years at a whopping 6.84% looking to change to a flexible type at a much lower rate and get it payed off sooner.
The problem is that the penaltys for moving or paying off early are horendous so I need a lender who will pay all the costs.


The savings that I have made are making my money go much further and instead of wondering where the money for the next bill is coming from I feel safe in the knowlege that I am in control, this has given me the confidence to carry on and make even more savings.

This is the first time in my life that I actually have some savings in the bank, and all thanks to Martin and his wonderfull web site

Oh happy days!!!

jo_b_2

Well done, loan8r! Keep up the good work!

CathieB

Hello,

New to watching and saving money - but since reading the book I am like a 'religious convert', mentioning it to everyone at work. It's easy to follow the ideas and within the first week I had actually saved £300 on insurances and another estimated £300 on gas/elec and water. I also checked out my brother's car insurance and saved him £250 a year.

Have followed all advice re credit cards and have all debt on 0% rates (with note of dates to move/ shuffle noted down)

Next big task is to move mortgage, which we can do from 15th July, so am starting researching options now. Hope to get monday's download of 'remortgaging advice'.

Only got the book to try and help my brother with his money probs. Thought I would see how easy the suggestions were to follow so tried them on our figs first and was surprised how much we could save.

Can't praise too highly how well designed the book is - it is set out so that you can do just as much as you want, when you want and yet is informative and in depth about the subjects that need more explaining.

Thank you for the book and the site, which I read constantly and am grateful to all the suggestions that are offered.

jo_b_2

Welcome to MSE, CathieB.

TopWelshBird

First ever post. Sorry if this is on the wrong board. Call Sky to cancel subscription, they'll put you through to their retentions (cancellation) dept and they'll offer reduced subscription of £13.50 for the next 3 months. So reduced my £19.50 monthly fee to £13.50. A friend did it too, so thought I would try it. When they ask why you are cancelling, just say money's tight. Good Luck, MSE Addict