I joined as a paid member of www.simplesavings.com.au a year ago to see if I could find any useful money savings tips on it. In this review I go through the pros and cons of paying to be a www.simplesavings.com.au member
The premise of www.simplesavings.com.au is that most people pay too much money for things but never realise it, so they are always behind. They are always in debt and continually playing catch-up. It is a pretty horrible time-deprived way to live.
I can’t see anything wrong with that statement, today’s economy makes it all to easy for people to access easy credit and splurge it on consuming vast quantities of things they actually don’t need.
www.simplesavings.com.au aims to teach you how to become a smarter consumer and says it will be easy. This is arguable, a large part of saving money is psychological – getting into the right state of mind and having the willpower to keep your savings habit without succumbing to temptation and spending all your savings after a few weeks or months.
What You Get for being a Simple Savings Member
Members have full access to thousands of tips at the Savings Savings website 24/7- The majority of these tips (cleaning, cooking, shopping, paying the mortgage etc) seem to be targeted and quite relevant for families with children, couples and senior citizens. Single people and renters in share houses could also find the tips useful
- The sites main strength in my opinion is the sense of community it engenders – the idea that all the other members are in the same boat as you and you’re all pulling towards the same goals
- Tip sheets for common situations eg: Handmade Gifts for Christmas, Innovative and Low Cost Ways to Save on Cleaning, Budget Travel Ideas and How to Host a Garage Sale
- Memory Triggers which make it easier for you to ditch your old expensive habits and switch to cheaper, smarter ones eg: For people spending lots of money on cigarettes, buying takeaway food every day etc
- Regular email newsletters highlighting new tips and members savings success stories
Why I Didn’t Renew My Simple Savings Membership
I looked throughout the site and read many of its tips but I didn’t find any tips that were both relevant to me and which I wasn’t already doing- In the end I decided that in my case it wasn’t worth renewing membership because of a problem lots of people would like to have … I’m already very good at saving money, sticking to long term plans and investing it in places where it will earn a good return like high interest bank accounts and low cost index share funds
In fact I was recently interviewed by the Australian Financial Review on the topic of saving and high interest bank accounts
- Even if the tips were relevant to me I would still be a bit annoyed at the owners of Simple Savings for not doing “housekeeping” and tidying up out of date tips eg:
“Get 5% interest with ING – dated January 31, 2004″ – ING Direct is no longer the best place to get high interest on savings. In fact their rate isn’t even in the top #10 best rates list at the moment.
“Transfer debt to Virgin credit card” – dated March 2, 2004 – Virgin Credit cards are no longer being issued as Westpac has bought out rights to all the customers (as of April 3 2008).
“Computer” tips – quite a few are really out of date, especially when relating to pricing and technical specifications, same applies for pricing of “Telecommunications/Phone” tips.
- I’ve worked in the marketing industry before and also have to constantly delete comment spam on my websites so to me some of the tips looked suspiciously like they were planted there by the company that was being promoted as a great place to buy products/services from. Call me Mr Cynical but that’s what I thought.
However mine is not a common case, for the vast majority of people out there I definitely recommend joining www.simplesavings.com.au. By adopting their procedures and following their tips you’ll quickly start saving money.
At present the cost to join Simple Savings is $47 and to renew a membership is $17.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
This has GREAT ideas im 15 and earn $300Aud a week (not much) i take out of that $200 a month and save the rest…. this means at the end of the month i end up with more than i spent!! its a great simple way to save $$$… i get $1000 per month that’s already taking what i take and taking tax…that’s 12, 000 a year yay me !! that’ll get me my first car
EDITOR: that’s great Matt
Make sure you keep that money in a high interest rate online savings account because $12000 could earn you over $750 in interest over a year at current interest rates.
Nice review Neerav and I would have to agree with most of what you had to say. Especially the part about going through and culling tips. However, what you didn’t mention was the forum that is available to members. I resubscribe every year to have access to that and it is very carefully moderated to keep the standard high. I easily save my $17 renewal fee with tips in the forum. I don’t spend as much time there as I used to but it doesn’t take me much to find a worthwhile tip or recipe to save that $17 and then some
I found this website after Googling for ideas on how to live well on a really tight budget. Being on a pension means that every cent has to be accounted for. I thought this site might be really useful. It may well be, but you have to pay $47 to become a member! Apparently you can then access all the suggestions and tips for saving money. I was really disappointed, as well as a bit annoyed. $47 dollars may not seem like a lot to most people, but it’s an awful lot for me to risk. I wouldn’t have minded paying a small amount, but I cannot see why such a big fee is needed. It doesn’t look as though the website is terribly elaborate, and most of the hints and tips are sent in by members, so where does the money go?
I ummed and ahed about joining this site. I’ve now been a member for about a year. My thought was: How can spending $47 save you money? Did I make my $47 back? Yes. Too easy.
Am I way better off financially than $47? I hadn’t really thought back and this has proved to be somewhat interesting…I’d hate to have to put a financial figure on it. And even a year later I’m still having lightbulb moments…have you ever calculated the daily interest that you pay on your mortgage?
I think you hit the nail on your head *community*. It has really helped me to get into the ‘right state of mind’ and stay that way.
I enjoy simplesavers. I’m nearly 70 and my children call me the original simple saver, but I still learn from the hints and thoughts contributed by other members. I enjoy reading members comments when they suddenly accept responsibility for their financial mess and make a plan to work their way out of it. I also enjoy the way many members support each other emotionally through the difficulties. Despite my age, I would save my annual subscription many times over.
hi there …….i havent joined tho my best friend did and we share all the ideas together im already saving money doing things like the 21 doller challange and buying when going cheap frezzing and stocking up ………having 3 young children who have alergies and can only eat certin foods it gets expensive ,,,,…….i love the site and think that its worth joining maybe go halves with a friend in the cost>>>>>>>>
nice review! I love that site and have been a member for some years now. They’ve recently launched a NZ version http://www.simplesavings.co.nz which is awesome
Hi Neerav,
Great review of SimpleSavings! I too have heard mixed reviews of the cost of signing up VS the content within.
Probably about 1.5 years ago I started my own website in this niche of saving money because I felt there was a void in the market. People had 1 of 2 options – Paying to get access to tips that were largely about living a very basic lifestyle to save money and the 2nd was once off articles found through Google on topics you searched for.
That is why I created ‘Savings Guide’ – http://www.savingsguide.com.au as a free resource for money saving tips.
The response I have got from the site has been overwhelming with many users positing comments and feedback and getting benefit out of a select number of articles.
This has led me to undertake a site redesign with a Web Design company to get the site functioning to its full potential (project is starting today, so should be done in 4-6 weeks hopefully).
The new site will have all the old articles but make them a lot easier to access and read (for Free might I add!) and allow me to focus my time on revising existing articles and writing new ones.
Once the site is redesigned I would love you to have a look and give me some feedback!
Talk soon mate,
Alex
Awesome post.
So many people look into investing or saving or any way to create a small passive income for now or later, but don’t realise that the way to free up money needn’t be to earn more, but to spend slightly less.
Don’t cut out neccessities, but cut down on Novelties
There are so many of these money saving sites springing up continually on the net. Most make a lot of sense but i always ask the question, how many of the tips offered on the sites are actually practiced by any one. The tips are great but i have not yet implemented any of the suggestions, they take too long and the savings are sometimes miniscule.
Having said that, saving suggestions on stuff like insurance and travel help.
You also failed to mention that there is a 1yr guarantee that you will recoup your $47 or your money back.
As you said it is a will power/mind power thing, and as there are so many people working towards the same goal, you have the constant support of positive people not just the friends and family who are constantly saying “I couldn’t be bothered doing that” or “Why would you?” while at the same time bemoaning the fact they can’t afford something.
I have been a paid member for just 5mths and the information that I have gained from this site is amazing, in fact for the first time in our married life (20yrs) we have managed to save over $5000 which has now been transferred into a high interest bearing account. Thats and amazing $1000 a month!!! and I can still see where we can make savings and our life style is the best it has ever been.
I was a single parent of 2 many years ago and I thought I knew how to budget, scrimp and save, but the members on this site have been outstanding with the information that they share and the things that you know are not necessarily common knowledge to everyone, especially our younger generation who have been raised in a consumer driven enviroment.
I am a member of simple savings and love it. There is a 365 money back guarantee with the site and to start with I did think of asking for my money back. However there are not only fantastic ideas but there is a lot of support on the site as well.
The site is about “simple” savings and all those minisicule amounts do add up.
If it had cost me $47 each year I probably would not have renewed but the renewal fee at $17 is very reasonable.
Sonia, you may be surprised at just what “community” does to achieve goals. I am a proud member of SS and find the forum to be as valuable a resource as the savings vault. An example I can give you right now, is that January has been declared “get a better deal month”. A lot of SSers have been successful in renegotiating phone deals, insurance Credit card interest and lots more over the past week. They share their stories via the forum which in turn inspires others to follow suit. No not every hint suits everyone, but I recently met 15 fellow members and we all have happier, healthier and wealthier lives because of SS, not to mention the great “resource” that comes from just asking a question of others who have been there and done that. Long may SS live!
Cheers
Meg
If someones giving me more ideas about saving, then why not. And if I happen to get my original $47 back, the there’s nothing like it right. And so many people do sound for the idea anyway.
Linda.
Great review
For me Simple Savings is a great website and really helpful. I had been working on the idea that there has got to be a better way before joining SS and this is it. I use commonsense with the tips and make sure that they are up to date. Actually there is usually more than one tip but it does set you thinking and then you brainwave your own. The Savings Forum is the best area for tips and the most up to date. And the community support is fabulous.
My budgeting problems were caused by it’s only a cup of coffee, cheap dinner out, only a bit dearer…..”, I have found the “miniscule amounts” add up to not so miniscule amounts over a year. I have been keeping track on the save o meter and I will have saved at least $10,000 by April (1 year). There have been one or two large savings but the majority have been thinking through purchases. Not buying and buying food in as basic a form as possible and cooking. For example I have knocked $70 off the grocery bill for 2 of us, 2 dogs and 2 cats for very little effort That is $3640 in a year. Sure I spend a bit more time cooking but less additional hours at work. We also now eat amazing food.
I clicked I was buying ready made dinners to make time to earn money to buy the ready made dinners, takeaways etc. Sad Sally/ Happy Hanna stuff.
I have a perfectionistic tendancy and am inclined to under-exaggerate savings rather than exaggerate.
Well worth the money and for those who don’t want to pay $47 there is a fair amount of free stuff.
“seem to be targeted and quite relevant for families with children, couples and senior citizens”
I think that’s because a lot of young people don’t care about saving when families do care and want to read this information.
Excellent review and this site should help a lot of people especially in this tough economy
I joined simple saving 7 years ago and paid the full price then I think it was a bit less then the price now whilst still working.
Once I became a pensioner I found the full price a bit steep for me and so let my subscription go.
A few years later I joined again and was willing and fully expecting to pay the full price, but wonder of wonders it only cost me $17 to rejoin and for that alone I’m grateful. Simple Savings has helped me cut down the cost of living and also enabled me to pass on some ideas to my two daughters who have familys and are finding it hard to cope in these hard economic times. I recommend it and the idea of sharing with a friend or two is a very good idea. What stops you from sending the ideas via email to share with your friends.