How much have you saved?

Fran

The phrase "stooze on" springs to mind

Yes but what does it mean? ???

Talking

Martin, I am currently working my way through all of the techniques on the site and I am building a formula to save as much as possible on my money ins and outs. I have tended to ignore the occassional purchase tips such as DVD's etc (useful though they are) as I find they can be researched on the net in any case. Instead I have concentrated on the tips that will affect my monthly balance on an ongoing basis. This has meant adjusting quite a lot (mortgage etc) and so it is only now beginning to reap rewards.
At the moment I have £32,000 offsetting my Virgin One Mortgage from interest free Super BT's from credit cards (3 cards at the moment). I am know beginning to look to stagger the SBT's by other BT's so that the savings will continue after the initial interest free period has come to an end. (My new Egg card will continue to offset in the future with the anniversary 0% offer). I could go on as it has become a great way to save money with only an hour or two admin a week. From my interest payments alone I am saving £140 - 150 per month (£1680-1800 per annum), however that is not the whole story as instead of pocketting this money I am using it to reduce the capitol on the Mortgage by leaving this in the account. This has the added benefit of further reducing monthly interest payments and reducing my repayment term. Using The One Accounts own figures this type of sum reduces the term by about 12 years if I can keep juggling. You can try and work that out but  the prospective savings on unpaid interest are immense. If I do nothing else then the Super Balance Transfer articles are worth their weight in gold. Thanks

sablade

I dont know where to start

PCs at my business Dell PC with flatscreen £359+vat dell make their money on upgrades eg fit your own ram easy £30 buy a dell with extra ram £80

Buy as much as poss online using shopbots like uk.pricerunner or buy on ebay using the snipe method

Always ask for lowest price then after bartering ask for 5% disc for cash

Carverys - ask for 1 meat then after chef has piled it up ask for a bit of another meat (you get much more then asking for 2 meats at start)

use buy.co.uk for gas elec ect

buy mobile sim free on ebay and buy sim only deal eg last deal was £50pa inc 600mins per month off peak free 50 texts per month free line rental

always always shop around

when shopping go in with an open mind buy your weeks food mainly with offers eg bogof deals, visit more than 1 supermarket.

always use I wanna before buying any large purchase

be persistant if an item is priced incorrectly low, know your legal rights

I have bought 2 cameras from jessops taking in internet printouts to pricematch (uk websites in stock)

System

I'm feeling smug today... :P

After a bit of a spending spree yesterday I think I've converted my girlfriend to money saving...

All started with a new car purchase yesterday...

Her cheapest quote for insurance...£324

Via insuresupermarket.....£197!!

So £127 saved

That got her interested...

Changed her type of bank account - £5/month fee no more...

So £60 saved

"what's next".. she says

Gas & Elec - £45 saved

Water - £22 saved

So 3 hours effort today £253 saved ;D

(She is already a tart...) :-X

Credit Card Tart....

Pat__3

I love this site, you get great advice friendly chat and to top all that by having fun on this site and meeting other people you always end up saving money or even time. ;D

The other thing is reading other peoples problems helps you too as in some situations you think your the only one or it can only happen to you and you begin to think you have something wrong with you, and then you find that your not the only one your just the same as everyone else I know they say a problem shared etc but it really does work

You basically want to shout it from the roof tops because you want to help everyone else feel great like you do ;D

I just hope what we learn we pass on to others because we want them to feel good like us don't we.

Its nice to be in control of your finances and know where your at and the biggest THANK YOU is to MARTIN and his web site.

[move]THANK YOU !! THANK YOU !![/move]


Do you not have any car stickers Martin this would help to spread the Knowledge!! ;D ;D ;D

Sorry if I have waffled - but I don't care :P

robnye

Do you not have any car stickers Martin this would help to spread the Knowledge!! ;D ;D ;D

what a brilliant idea...... How about it Martin......! ;D

perhaps we should start thread to decide on the best slogan.....

Ziggy_3

Hi everyone

Using my '3 x multiplier' rule and a few tips from this site, I've saved about £50,000 over the last 3 years.

Of course the best way to save is not to spend. I avoid unessential spending by multipling the price of everything by 3 and only buying if it's still worth it. This also applies to saving opportunities.

Assuming real intest rates are 3% pa (calculated daily), and compound this over 30 years (until I plan to retire), then every pound saved now is worth in real terms £3 then.

Typically, I will now walk past the cheese counter, avoid spending £5, smile and pretend I've found £15 on the pavement for my retirement. The £15 win is more satisfying the the £5 cheese loss, so I'm happier too. Once you've done this a few times it gets stupidly easy. A few luxury items, taxi trips, unessential journeys and newspapers later you'll have soon racked it up.

It also means all of this sites saving tips are 3 times as valuable as first mentioned, so there's no time to lose.

By applying for all 0% credit card offers and using them to offset against my mortgage, I have reduced my mortgage debt by 60,000 for 3 years. With an interest saving of £3000/year for 3 years, times by the multiple, the credit cards companies have given me £27,000 free cash towards my pension. Thanks to you all.

Any thoughts on how to control my wife's spending on new baby kit is most welcome.

Half way to the Ferrari when I retire.

Have fun.

Iona_Penny

I am only about a month in to reading this site and the savings to date are small , but my thinking has changed.
Firstly i have a poor credit history due to credit card debt and poor payment record and so knew that i would not get a o% deal BUT went into HSBC where spouse and i have joint account and 1- opened new current account which i use primarily to draw cash and pay in cash for goods (scary when you see it disappear) g get started on internet banking so i can check account balances and 2-get a 0% balance transfer card for my husband. Its only for 6months but perhaps then he can move to something else.
Am planning much more and thinking about what i spend and am trying to save £2 coins as and when i can. decided to put a 50p away with each one and in only a month i have £30!
small fry to some of you i know but i gotta start somewhere.

sheenagh_2

Hello ;D

Thanks to hearing Martin on Radio 2 I came on to this most joyous of web sites and have so far saved loads during a period of deep financial instability - here is the good news

Saved £400 per month off my mortgage even with the same provider. This will save us £9100.00 over 3 years

Transfered £8,000 credit debit at stupid rates to 0% and saved god knows how much!

Free DVD player and rucksack, sold the fanta at cost to a friend.

I am also now looking at insurances, have found car insurance for half the cost that saves £100.00

I know I have more to save Yippeee!! ;D ;D

Thanks Martin and all you other jolly moneysavers

Love Sheenagh

jo_b_2

Welcome to MSE, Sheenagh, and well done for getting so much sorted already! Keep up the good work.