Seriously, is all this MSE stuff really worth it??

A question about : Seriously, is all this MSE stuff really worth it??

I stumbled across this site on a miserable day (30/05/2004 to be exact).

Well needless to say I spent the whole day looking through this site and the next day I started doing things the "Martin Way".

Now looking back I can say the following has been achieved from MSE:

1. Saving Ј25 a month on the mobile bill.

2. Wife and I both applied for Tesco life insurance and cancelled...recieved 7000 points (Ј60) profit after one off payment.

3. Changed gas & elec. to Powergen via GP..recieved cashback from GP and 1000 tesco points and Ј30 cashback....then switched again to southern electric recieved cashback from GP....then switched back to Powergen on wife's maiden name recieved all the cashback plus points....will change back to me again soon...so made about Ј100 from that

4. Got about 50k on credit cards 0% between my wife and I in cahoot 5.5% savings. Plus maxed our ISA's with credit card bt's. Will make good cash from that.

5. Switched current accounts to A + L getting a better interest rate.

6. Recieved Ј37.50 each from GP for the lloyds current plus account....with a Ј5000 overdraft limit each which is in cahoot recieving a nice interest.

7. Wife got Ј25 from first direct and Ј7.50 from GP recommended me so she got another Ј25 and I got Ј25. Both recently recieved letters saying another Ј25 for moving our current account to them as we havent done it yet. So made Ј125 from them.

8. Landline changes.... via GP...BT to equitalk recieved Ј7.50 from GP and Ј7.50 from equitalk...from equitalk to onetel recieved Ј3.50 from GP and Ј20 worth of free calls from onetel....from onetel to talk talk received Ј7.50 from GP and just made the switch to tesco home phone and recieved 2000 points (Ј20). So about Ј65 made from that.

9. Broadband changed to wanadoo saving of Ј12 a month.

10. Savings on various freebies and off course laredoute.

11. And finally the nail in the coffin the real killer....Alison's vouchers... Used to go to tesco 3 times a week and spend about Ј25 on a shop. Now we go to tesco 5 times a week with a Ј15 shop...and off course about Ј9 worth off vouchers at a time....so we only pay Ј6 a shop. Thats Ј30 shopping a week compared to Ј75 a week so thats a saving of Ј45 a week on food and diapers (please note diapers are not for us...for the baby ).

Well I cant actually determine how much we have actually saved but if I had to look at it roughly id say savings of about Ј1000 so far...in only 3 months.

Will get a car soon and then it will be saving on petrol, insurance etc and off course insurance freebies!!!

So seriously is all this MSE stuff really worth it??

HELL YEAH!!!

Martin and everyone else here thank you very much!!!!!

Best answers:

• Well done! Am very impressed! Feel inspired to switch suppliers now.
• Goodness me! Thats some money saving
  I'm obviously a mere tadpole in the money saving pool. The idea of continually switching makes me tired thinking about it :-[ :-[
  NB. What is GP? Seems like GP is the way to get the rewards but I am being thick and can't work it out :-[ :-[
• GP is GreasyPalm, which is one of a number of different cashback sites. Basically, you can earn extra money by shopping online at certain sites (quite a wide range) or by signing up to things such as credit cards, bank accounts, phone services etc.
  I've been with them for a while and it's taken me a long time to receive any cashback because you need to earn Ј25 before you get a cheque.
  I don't really shop online so all my cashback has been gathered through signing up to free offers etc. I'm expecting my first cheque for over Ј50 next month!
  That's without actually spending any money, just through signing up for free offers including Ј10 for a free trial of a gambling site, Ј15 for changing to Powergen etc. Well worth it.
• What an amazing story. I would never have imagined there were so many ways you could save money. I am chuffed to bits when I find buy one, get one free!
• Congrats Robin Cooper Bell.
  Did'nt you do well
  Did you also get Martins Book ???
  ;D ;D
• Havent got the book yet...will need to get it soon and hopefully save even more ;D
• RCB
  I got my copy from BOL.COM and it was only Ј3.19 and Ј1 p+p. ;D ;D
• Wow. Well done. I need to look round this site more. Off to greasy palm now. Cheers.
• Robin Cooper-Bell said:
  Quote:
• Robin Cooper-Bell -
  Well done, you've really gotten things sorted.
  I wondered about the Tesco Life Insurance thing and wondered what the procedure was for this. Do you simply take out the policy, cancel it and they let you keep the points?
• ROBIN:
  Unfortunately, my local SAFEWAY store only accepts coupons (whether internet or not) for the products featured on them!
• You need to apply online for the life insurance at:
  https://www.tescofinance.com/personal/finance/index.html
  You receive the 3500 points after the first month's premium has been paid and can then cancel the policy. This offer ends on 31st August so get in quick!
• Unfortunately the site the above link leads to via the Tesco site no longer loads.
• The Tesco finance link still works fine for me, Ice. :-/
  They have extended the offer period for the points so no rush. You can also apply over the phone but will have to hunt out the number.
• Got it sorted now thanks.
  And thanks to the original poster for the Tescos tip.