My Savings in 3 Weeks

BullyCornedBeef

I have been a student for 4 years and in September I start my first 'proper' job. This site will ensure I get my finances in good order.

So far:

1, £90 Chequeback from mobile phone contract company.
2, £15 Reduced my monthly contract. Will go PAYG when it expires.
3, £550 cancelled my PPI on my graduate loan (7.9%) and got £450 back
4, In the process of switching graduate accounts from HSBCrap to NATWest. They are offering a £2k interest free overdraft, while HSBCrap's is £1k (boo, hiss!)
5, Moved my Credit Card balance (£450ish) to an interest free card

Its not huge, but its a start. A big thanks to everyone's advice.

I dont think my credit rating is great at the moment heres the things I will be doing when I start work:

1, Get a better loan to replace my existing one. Probably go with Northern Rock (6ish%)
2, Try and get £3k in an ISA asap (prob. with Bradford & Bing).
3, If I have more money to set aside I will look to open an ICICI's HiSave account.
4, Try and structure a sensible programme to repay my student loan (its £15k :eek:)

I will keep this thread updated as I go along.

Thanks everyone.

BullyCornedBeef

Forgot to mention that I got £25 in bank fees back!!!! :beer:

System

If you can do as well as you have done as a student, just think of what you can achieve when you have a job! My hat goes off to you, your a young person with a very mature head on your shoulders and i am sure you will do well with the attitude you have. I for one will look forward to your updates.

BullyCornedBeef

Thank you Judi. I will keep you updated.

Lola23

You are doing well! Plus, you have got your plans written down and I think that's a great incentive.

Good encouragement for others here too.

:j

BullyCornedBeef

Im now selling my last few items on ebay and have made...

... £230! :beer:

I thought this was all a load of junk that I was going to just throw away!

BullyCornedBeef

Interesting article by Richard today regarding the USD being at $1.90 = £1.00.

If you were to, say buy your CD's monthly from Amazon.com you could make substantial savings even with the shipping fee!

eg. The latest Johnny Cash album is about a tenner in Tesco yet at the above site is $9.72 = £5.12!

The new Scissor Sisters album works out at £7.89!

This is pretty good!!!! :beer:

Spud_2

Hello

Just a thought....but is it worth putting £3K into a mini cash ISA when you have debts (loan)? Could you pay a lump sum off that instead?

Good luck though, sounds like you've got everything in check!

BullyCornedBeef

I see what your saying mate.

I will pay off my CC first as the ammount on it is not so high. However, my loan is £4,000 and you can only pay off the full ammount and not more than the agreed monthly repayments.

System

you can only pay off the full ammount and not more than the agreed monthly repayments.

I think you ought to double check that.

BullyCornedBeef

You cannot change the terms of your existing loan though? You have to pay the agreed monthly repayments of £x; you cannot decide to pay more or less without a new loan unless you are paying back the full ammount?

Anyway, just thought I would let you know that I have now joined Natwest and am sofar impressed - nice interest free overdraft, UK call centres and everything can be done over the phone. Its called a Primeline account which I think may only be for graduates but well worth a check if you want to move banks.