| Product: |
moneysavingexpert.com |
| Date: |
23.01.06 (3702 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: So many useful tips, and a great forum
Disadvantages: Can be soooo addictive!!!
So can anyone ever give truly unbiased advice on how to save money, how to get out of debt, which mortgage is best and how to use your money? Those were the question I asked myself when I first stumbled across www.moneysavingexpert.com more than two years ago. By that stage I was so used to the fact that whoever I asked, there was a bias to the answer I received, ask a high street bank and they will inevitably push their own most profitable product, which for me as the consumer will only end in having to pay more. Ask an independent financial advisor, and most will again push the products that they receive the best commission on. Ask a friend, and they will give you an honest response, but as they are not necessarily the best informed their view may again be warped.
So when I first visited moneysaving.com, although I felt I have nothing to loose in looking through the extensive list of articles, I was still filled with trepidation. So can a website such as this provide what I have been searching out for years? Well all I can say is two years later, it’s a site I visit daily and I personally feel has provided something unique. So could it be that this is the place where truly unbiased advice can be sort?
The founder – Martin Lewis
I joined the site 2 years ago, and at that stage, Maritn Lewis was a name I and most others had never heard of. A journalist, with no financial background and in his early 30s, thinking back it was a strange person to be seeking advice from. But, after leafing through the site, I soon found that the journalist side of his nature had lead to great research. I soon realised that his thinking behind the site was one of reason, he was searching for the same thing I was, a way to play financial institutions at their own game, a way to find ‘find the best deals and beat the system’ as he stated in one of his opening pages.
Today, he has a following well into the thousands, two best selling books behind him (The Money Diet), a weekly TV programme (Make Me Rich), a weekly column in The Guardian and a Radio 2 monthly programme and the offers keep coming. The website now has a team working on it and is in a continual growth.
What makes me think its unbiased advice?
Its obvious after a read through a couple of the articles on the site that Martin Lewis has financial knowledge, but the real seller of his advice is the fact that the site is a non profit site. The site is free to join, and there are no adverts, no affiliations with any financial institutions. Recommendations are made on all aspects of money, from debt to mortgages to loans to savings, and all are completely independent. All information is the result of detailed journalistic research, rather than a tidy pay off!
I have found that every piece of advice in the articles consistently better deals than any I have found in any league in the paper, any other website or on the high street. If you sign up to the weekly email service (Ill tell you more about that later) you will not receive anything more than what you are signed to, ie a weekly letter from the site. No spam from other companies, nor anything untoward from the site itself.
If the advice truly is unbiased and without adverts, then where does the money come from?
The only form of income for Martin on the site are from affiliate links to some banks and institutions present in his articles. Now, I’m sure this has made you all suspicious of the advice, but I can guarantee that in a lot of the articles it is the non affiliate links that come out top of the chart. So the site by no means pushes a select number of institutions. Also if this is something you do not wish to encourage, then alongside every affiliate link, you will find a non affiliate link to exactly the same bank etc. So, the choice to help fund the site, always comes from you the user.
Do I have to become a member to access the site?
In short, no all parts of the site can be accessed as a guest, and therefore you can if you choose spend the whole time you are using the site as a non identifiable user. If you want to receive the weekly emails, of course you do need to sign up to get them delivered to your inbox. However, if you just want to pop by the site and read the weekly advice, then every week the non emailed version is available on the home page, with past weekly updates archived and easily accessed.
What elements make up the site?
The site contains tips on anything from the obvious such as Credit Cards, Savings and Investments, Banking & Loans, Insurance and Mortgages, etc to the less obvious of Travel and Holidays, pensions, and the Cheapest Roadside Recovery.
Most of the suggestions are to change minor things in your life, with the theory that look after the pennies then they will look after the pounds, although there is a section dedicated to where to start with problem debts, for those of us who feel pushed under by the debts that surround us. If you do have a problem with debt, I would really suggest reading this section. I fortunately at the moment do not, but read this section out of curiosity and found the advice quite uplifting.
· Weekly emails – As I mentioned to receive these you do need to sign up and become a member of the site, which is free. If you do not want to sign up, then the emails are produced every Wednesday without fail and go onto the site on the same day, so simply access the site, and on the homepage you will find a scrolling banner which links to a web version of the email. The topics in the email vary from week to week according to what deals Martin and his team have found and some link over to the forum and deals which the members themselves have found and posted up. To give you an example of content this weeks email contained information regarding a deal Barclays were offering of a £100 incentive to open and credit with a £1000, on two consecutive months (now closed), details on an update to a best mortgage article, a cheap breakdown article, a credit card deal, a list of freebies from different companies and how to get them, cheap phone calls to abroad and a warning regarding tax returns. So as you can see, there really is something for everyone in the emails!
· Articles – On the home page there are links to all of the current updated articles on the site. Some are new, and some are articles which are constantly being updated. Again the coverage is vast, from how to get the best advice on mortgages, to low cost petrol, car insurance, cheap DVD rental, switching gas and electric suppliers, internet shopping, cheaper home insurance and mobile phones. The list above is just a small snip bit from the articles on the site. The information in the articles revolve around how to get the best price for everything in life focused on each specific area. Some articles tell you directly where to go for a specific deal, while others tell you how to adjust your life to achieve something. These are a fantastic source of information and basically by pooling information, cut out the need for individual research. Of course, these articles can be outdate, just as things change so fast so always check that the information is still current, but generally 90% of it is and therefore forms a fantastic basis for anything!
· Forums – These are linked to from the main homepage, and are once again possible to access without signing up to the site. All of the forums are heavily used, and cover all areas of life once again. As the member base is so vast now, you are pretty much guaranteed to find someone with the right information about any topic imaginable. The mix of people to be found on the forums varies from stay at home mothers to top end professionals, to those in debt and considering bankruptcy to those who are retired and want to share some knowledge. Post any question and someone will answer and a debate will start. To detail the forums to give it credit would need a review of its own. My advice would be to pop by and give it a go. People are friendly and as the mix is so vast, someone will be able to offer advice regardless of your individual situation. There are people who know all of the tricks of ebay and selling on Amazon, people who have found freebies, or tricks to get free money from gambling sites, or cashback sites, people who know all there is to know about savings accounts, or have found a good deal on a mortgage or travel insurance, seriously there is something for everyone. To post a question or to respond to one of the current threads, I’m pretty sure that you do need to be a member. However to access and read you can stay on the peripheries and just read and read! There is only one warning regarding this part of the site though, this really is addictive and you will find yourself visiting the site daily and reading, commenting for hours on end!!!. Ine other thing I will say about the forum is that advertising something on there is strictly forbidden and will be removed. As the ethic of the site is for non advertising, this follows through to the forum, and any form of advertising or self publicity is very fronded upon. IF you do risk posting it, I guarantee that it will be removed from the site at break neck speed, so don’t try it!
Who can benefit from the site?
In short, everyone! Literally this is true, from those in heavy debt and need to find a solution to help them readjust their life to pay their debts and get the best deals, to those who have plenty of money that they want to stash away and get the maximum return from it, to those who are searching for a new mortgage, loan etc. But even if you are not planning to make any changes there is even advice for you on how to save more money without making any changes to your lifestyle. The site is not about going without, but about making the most of your personal situation and gaining in whichever form is appropriate to your stage of life.
What do I feel about the site?
Well I’m sure that it will come as no surprise that I adore this site. I have found this site to be very useful, and the articles non-patronizingly written. Saving money or preventing debt is a topic that most people have some form of interest in. This site is somewhere where all of the research and thinking is done for you, and wrapped up together.
The site is by no means beautiful or flashy, but is very easy to use and navigate around, which is by far more appropriate in a topic such as debt! The site is non-profit so a definite bonus of the site is that there are no adverts (although there are referrals in some places). The focus of the site is pure information built up by the founder of the website and the people in forums. How you use the site is very much up to you, the range of information on the site is extensive, but well ordered. It is possible to dip into specific areas that you may wish to save money on, or an area which you may think you waste money. Or else you could of course systematically trail through every topic and pick out points specific to you along the way.
I personally think it is a fantastic place of interest, whatever your situation, in debt or out, there is something for everyone on there. Have a look and see what you feel.
Summary: Something for everyone all in one place!
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