PS
I saw the light more than twenty years ago and moved from certified to Permit. The savings have been more than enough to enable me to fly many more hours than would otherwise have been the case. During that time I've owned two metal a/c which lived outside on a tiedown thus saving one of the most expensive components of flying - hangarage.
I've done most of the maintenance myself and I'm far from being an engineer ! The a/c I bought were slightly more expensive than a tidy 152/150 = £30k and £18 respectively. Running costs were a fraction of those incurred with a certified job. My last invoice for the Annual on a Robin HR100/200 was a staggering whisker under £10k - for what? Nothing major that would account for that sum that's for sure.
I went on to sell shares in both a/c. They were snapped up very quickly.