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Some money saving advice required, for a money saving newbie please

Firstly apologies if this is the wrong section on the forum to be posting, as the thread title suggests I am a newbie of the highest order.

Having just signed up this morning I am currently in the process of sifting through the vast pool of knowledge present on the site, all immensely useful and a fantastic resource. I just thought I would create this thread to ask some quick questions :)

So I find myself in a better situation now than I have ever been before. I graduated in the summer of last year and have found employment within the IT industry in October. This year I'll turn 27 and I just dread the thought of turning 30 and not having a firm grip on my finances and perhaps squandering away chances between now and then to better myself financially :/

Ok so some details:
At the minute I am making ~£1390 a month, and have recently just moved from renting a house for £700 pm to shared accomodation where I am paying £300 pm (step 1 = successful thus far :T)

The only real significant debt I have is in the form of a student loan, which at last check was around £17k, which I pay £52 a month towards directly out of my salary. I also have a small credit card debt (about £300) which I hope to have squared up in the next few months. I have no savings at the minute.

My generic(ish) query:
So I find myself, as mentioned above, in an OK position. However I am not entirely sure what is the best way to progress from here. Is it best to focus on paying off the student loan first and foremost? Perhaps best to focus on saving up money in the bank and let the student payments continue out of my salary as minimum? Perhaps take out an ISA?
Also at the back of my mind I hope to, one day in the not so distance future, take out a mortgage - so finding some way of saving for a deposit would need to be factored.

If you are reading this and thinking "Is this fella for real? Those are stupid questions", you are more than likely right - I am a bit of a dunce when it comes to money matters. But I am here and I am eager to learn ;)


So any feedback/advice/comments will be greatly appreciated,

Thanks a mil,

Chris

Comments

  • rdchick
    rdchick Posts: 1,815 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Hi Chris :wave:
    I also graduated last year... wee! Congrats and all that, we are the lucky few who have managed to find work after uni!

    I wouldn't worry about student loans too much, they look after themselves... it's the scary debt like overdrafts and credit cards and loans you've gotta watch out for!! If £300 is all you owe, you've done great! Check out my sig to see my scars of uni - ouch!

    Perhaps you can clear your card and just start saving, get your credit file perfect (which by the sounds of things are!) and put as much as you can comfortably put away for a deposit on a house.

    You've done great, well done :)
    Life is too short not to love what you do.
  • I'd ignore the student loan. It's not a debt in the same sense as a normal loan. I know it must feel rather daunting that you owe £17k but just let them take their payments - see it as an additional tax not as a debt. Nobody will ever come knocking on your door asking you to settle the debt. It'll either get paid off if you earn enough over your lifetime or it gets written off. Simples.

    Concentrate on paying off your credit card ASAP and then get saving your spare income in an ISA.

    It might be helpful if you posted a statement of affairs (SOA) and the people on here will bombard you with ideas for cutting expenditure. See http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

    Well done for recognising at a relatively young age that you need your finances in order to be able to move on with your life. Hopefully a few years of good saving will see you build up enough for that house deposit. There are many people who live it up in their 20s thinking there is plenty of time for that 'grown up' stuff but they get to their 30s, realise they are in piles of debt and they will be in their 40s before they can own their own home. You have a good attitude and I'm sure you'll do well.
  • GeorgieFTB
    GeorgieFTB Posts: 437 Forumite
    Silly questions aside, I agree with everyone, let the student loan run its course...

    Create a budget, you can afford a bit for entertainment etc and learn to stick to it, if you want opinions stick it up here and you will get many!

    Clear your CC then fill an ISA, go look up the best rate, then start looking up stocks and shares ISAs and other things to do with your money.

    I also suggest you have an emergency fund, 6 months take home pay (could be your first ISA) this will mean that if anything happens you will be fine for a while.

    Gx
    Mortgage at 08/10/10: 110k:eek:
    Current Mortgage:... £109,200 :eek:
    OPs 2011: 100.50/4000
    Current MFD: 02/10/45 :shocked: (will be 63!!!)

    Make a payment a week challenge TW 100/123.79
  • hello2007
    hello2007 Posts: 462 Forumite
    edited 8 June 2011 am30 10:51AM
    rdchick wrote: »
    Hi Chris :wave:
    I also graduated last year... wee! Congrats and all that, we are the lucky few who have managed to find work after uni!

    I wouldn't worry about student loans too much, they look after themselves... it's the scary debt like overdrafts and credit cards and loans you've gotta watch out for!! If £300 is all you owe, you've done great! Check out my sig to see my scars of uni - ouch!

    Perhaps you can clear your card and just start saving, get your credit file perfect (which by the sounds of things are!) and put as much as you can comfortably put away for a deposit on a house.

    You've done great, well done :)


    I graduated last year but my year has not been as smooth as yours so you are doing really well . I think that you should pay off the credit card and open a ISA. In this current cimate it is very important to have emergency savings.
  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 12,032 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    My advice would be simple.....you know what your monthly income is, so make a list of all your regular outgoings, work out what you can afford to spend on groceries, etc, and get a budget in place. Allow some treats by giving yourself a set amount of spending money each week, but then stick to the budget as allocated. Some people do get into financial trouble because of experiencing a series of crises, but most often, it happens because people spend more than they earn & fail to put a little bit away for emergencies. if you get a budget in place now, it's a lifeskill that will see you right for a lifetime.
    2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
    2) To read 100 books (10/100)

    "Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)
  • cdog
    cdog Posts: 6 Forumite
    Some great replies, thanks to all.

    Yes I have some budgeting to do over the next few months, get everything sorted in terms of finances. Good advice about the student loan as well.

    I will definitely become an active member of the forums as time goes on to check in and monitor how I'm doing.

    Thanks again to all! :)
  • abby1234519
    abby1234519 Posts: 1,961 Forumite
    cdog wrote: »
    Some great replies, thanks to all.

    Yes I have some budgeting to do over the next few months, get everything sorted in terms of finances. Good advice about the student loan as well.

    I will definitely become an active member of the forums as time goes on to check in and monitor how I'm doing.

    Thanks again to all! :)

    I know you have to pay for it, but I think you'd find something like YNAB helpful, they have a free trial and I loved it. For me it is the easiest way to budget
    Money money money.

    Debt
    Dec 2016: [STRIKE]£25,158.71[/STRIKE] £21,999.99

    #28 Pay off debt in 2017 £3803.55
  • JoKay_2
    JoKay_2 Posts: 301 Forumite
    I know you have to pay for it, but I think you'd find something like YNAB helpful, they have a free trial and I loved it. For me it is the easiest way to budget

    I have to second this - I thought I knew everything there is to know about budgetting, but YNAB has really opened my eyes, and after just 6 weeks I have a better handle on my finances than I've ever had before!! :j
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