Poll Results: How much have you saved/gained from this site?

rumblytum

Like others, I find it impossible to quantify.

I have found a new way of life here, so the savings add up every day, every week, every month, every year for the rest of my life.

How do I save thee? Let me count the ways.

1. I have almost completely paid off our debts - just one loan left.
2. I shop around for all our insurances.
3. I do not pay PPI - and indeed successfully claimed back a refund on my DH's loan, as he is self-employed and wasn't covered.
4. I only have one credit card, which is paid off in full each month, and is a cashback card.
5. I regularly check my utilities and switch supplier where appropriate.
6. I use the Call checker for calling mobiles and calling abroad.
7. I switched bank accounts to a higher interest earning one.
8. I paid savings into an ISA, having shopped around for a good one.
9. I use savings 'pots' for car tax, clothing, gifts budgets, etc etc.
10. I have and live within a budget and my means.
11. I take my own lunches to work.
12. I cook from scratch.
13. I look around for good deals on anything I buy.
14. I have simplified my cleaning products.
15. I shopped around for a decent interest bearing savings account.
16. I started to plan for my retirement.
17. I saved a decent amount for a house deposit (19.5%) and shopped around for a decent mortgage.
18. I question the value of everything I am about to purchase.
19. I have made money on Ebay and Amazon decluttering my house.
20. I have been given the tools to be financially knowledgable, and most importantly am now able to pass this knowledge on to my DD.

20 seemed a good number to stop at, but I can think of many, many more ways in which this site saves me money....shopping at Lidl, using Discount codes/vouchers... etc etc.

How can this possibly be quantified?

rumbly xxx

tonycosgrove

I couldn't begin to calculate how much this site has saved me over the years I have been using it but off the top of my head it has got to be well over £5K.

Level term life insurance (Cavendish online) alone accounts for about 4K over the life of the policy then there is the re-mortgage which I was going to do anyway but I used this site for reference and ended up with a far far better deal than the one I was offered by HBOS ,my then current mortgage provider,and about £50 a month better off which should be even more once interest rates drop.

Then there is £200 I got this month from a cashback CC that I got after reading through this site .

My savings account with ICICI which has currently one of the best interest rates for savings accounts.

Home insurance,gas and electricity,mobile phone cashback,glasses & etc the list is endless.

I never ever make a major financial purchase/decision without first checking out this site or the newsletter.

Has to be one of the best resources on the (UK)web.

Big thanks to all who have anything to do with the running of it.

Cheers,

Tony.

:T

newlywed

Let me see...

Mine is about £800 a month - interest that was being charged on debts. Plus about £30 a month by changing my mobile phone provider. Plus about £350 a month by being taught about grocery budget and reminded about all my mum's OS cooking methods

Can't put an actual figure on it as I think I would have carried on as I was until ... I don't know when

But more than that... it saved me so much worry and stress as without this site I would still be borrowing from one credit card to pay the others and stressing how to buy food and petrol. Without this site I wouldn't have contacted CCCS or even known what a DMP was.

So thanks. This site has helped me beyond just £££'s.


Edit: Wow that's about £1,180 a month - no wonder I got so in debt :rolleyes:

kittykitten

I also find it difficult to quantify, but made a guesstimate at 51-150. I know this site gave me ideas how to save money on my first car insurance when I bought it last december (added my parents as named drivers, cut the cost by £70). I've also made/saved money via sites like quidco & pigsback, & got samples of stuff for free instead of having to buy it to try (which I always did, I'm a mug for new stuff, a marketing campaign's dream customer, or at least I used to be!)

But above all I feel the real value of this site to me is not what I've saved so far, but what I've learned for the future. A lot of the money saving tips don't apply to me at present, as I'm living with my parents, but I still read just about everything on here, as when I get my own place (hopefully quite soon!), the knowledge I've gained from this site will quite probably save me hundreds! It'll quite probably stop me from getting into debt I would otherwise have done.

Also this site has educated me about why people get into debt, and changed my whole way of thinking about those people. I used to work in a high street bank, and I would scoff at the people who came in with thousands owing on their cards, to make minimum payment, and the people who every month were charged £100s cos they were overdrawn, but now I realise how wrong I was to mock! Thank you MSE for changing my thinking, and giving me sympathy!

Oh, and of course there's the value of all the great people I've met on the forums, impossible to quantify!

Well done Martin & the MSE team, who all work so hard to keep us all out of debt and give us great advice. The way they worked through the technical attack at the weekend was brilliant. And thanks & well done to the other MSErs, the people who use this site and give so many good tips & advice to others. You all deserve a big pat on the back! Long may MSE continue!

atro1

I really do not know what I have saved--a lot-- but more importantly for me I have learnt a lot and I did not realise how much the MSE is part of my life until it went down.
The excitement of Glitches in Tesco's and Boots. Quidco and Pigsback all been very rewarding whilst being fun too.
So many thanks Martin you have enlightened my life, added interest and spice to it.
Please keep up the good work and I have a rusty pair of scissors to castrate whoever is attacking MSE

bb999

£1200 council Tax refund for parents
£4000 holiday paid with Tesco deals saved in 1 year - used to get about £20 per quarter until I discovered MSE
Hundreds of £'s savings with MOC's
About £5000 in R&R's from Tesco before this extremely generous policy ended.
£250 Quidco
Plus much more, and this is on top of loads of fantastic advice.

OK, not all the above is 100% as a result of MSE, but if I had not discovered MSE then I would not have got any of it.

Well done Martin in beating the attackers. Keep up the good work.

Sambob_3

I have so much to thank Martin and this website for, i.e. :

Bank charges reclaimed £3,800.00
Council Tax rebate £580.00
Mortgage Redemption Fee refunded £135.00
Using Tesco clubcard vouchers to pay for yearly car service £160.00

I am now more savvy about cash and shop around for better deals on insurance, etc. This website has given a lot of confidence to people and encouraged us not to get taken for granted as consumers !

Have a great weekend all !!

:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

DenBo_4

Couldn't really estimate, but I have just had a Warm Front boiler and draught proofing put in, saved me £2,700 :beer: , I didn't know about this before I came on here. I've got a half price cinema ticket thingy, in fact if I start to reckon up I would bore you all to death, I have saved such a lot, especially my sanity. As I have probably said before, I had a good job, great salary before I became ill/disabled, when I discovered this site I was existing on £59 per week IB...................., without MSE I don't know what I would have done. Seriously. Thanks Martin and all the others who keep this site going, and especially all the peeps who answer threads, it's lovely!! Fankyou fankyoouuuuuuuuuuuuu

pigpen

atro1 wrote: »

I have a rusty pair of scissors to castrate whoever is attacking MSE

And I have a spoon!

£4000 claimed in bank charges (plus my mothers £2000)
£1700 by making an offer on a bank loan
£350 quidco
£300 pigsback
£50 nectar points

Probably hundreds in pricing glitches and offers

Probably hundreds more in codes and vouchers

Not to mention the freebies.. from catfood (for me, my mother and my sister!! Yes I do 3 of everything because they are skint too!) to coasters to vouchers to hair bobbles to mascara and beyond!

Then there are the freebies others have very kindly sent me.. clothing for the children, vouchers, books..

AND.. howe can you put a price on life skills like cooking? And the cost of the planet?

I am much more conscious about my carbon footprint and saving the poor abused planet for my children.

I compost now. I bake. I haven't any debts to talk of (apart from a BIG loan!) and I have quite probably changed the whole way of living and thinking in terms of money and eating and shopping.

My hubby says I NEVER pay full price for anything any more!!!

furndire

I first came to the site seriously from consumeractiongroup, (I'd seen Martin on TV talking about it - but CAG was the first site I found )after claiming back my daughters bank charges.
Since then I have spent most of my time on the comps forum, and have won about £2000 worth of stuff on there since January. I have earned a bit through the Pigsback thread. Joined Consumer Pulse and earned £150 there. Saved a lot of money through Quidco, recommended on here. I've had loads of free cinema tickets and other freebies from the freebie forum.
The old style thread has been a huge help with hints tips etc, especially expensive cleaning products, and recipes.
In fact this site is the Hub of my internet use. Saved a lot more money because I have not been out spending it!!! and have got a different mind set on just what I spend. When the site went down last week, I realised just how much I rely on finding what I need and help from a really friendly helpful crowd of people.