Red doesn't suit me. (Financial advice - birth to death)

Member Name: moonbailey

Product:	Financial advice - birth to death
Date:	20/09/01 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: stay in the black, enjoy bargain hunting, have money for holidays

Disadvantages: A pain to set up initially

Debt scares me silly. In this day and age no job is safe and no future can be foreseen. You have to look after yourself and protect yourself from the unexpected.

This is why I am probably the only person who has ever put money into a CREDIT card account before I've ammassed any bills on it! I knew I had to pay for a holiday with it and couldn't trust myself to remember to pay it back in time!

Even through college I was as thrifty and inventive with my bargains as they come and got through spending incredibly little - although sharing a house with six people with an already low rent can't have harmed.

I work in such a precarious field now that I have safety nets all over the place.

I don't think anyone is immune to debt - so my advice applies to anyone.

When you get a decent job, the first thing you should do is set up an extra bank account (or more if you can).

Personally I recommend three.

A main one for your pay to be deposited into.

A second one for bills/unexpected redundacy/insurance/stuff you hate.

And a fun one for holidays and big treats!

Set up a standing order from your main bank to pay, say, £100 a month into the bills and nasties account - or more if you want to use it for rent money/mortgage.

Then another standing order into your fun bank for £100 as well.

Most banks offer incentives when you open an account - so choose well and you could be quids in.

Never take money from these accounts until you need it for that purpose and NEVER let these ones go overdrawn!

What you do with your main bank is your affair - the others act as your parents!

Never invest more than you could afford to lose on the stockmarket. If you want to play more safely, try Premium Bond. You can always sell them for the same value when you need the money but instead of paying out interest, you go into a draw which might pay out huge amo
unts if your number comes up, or nothing, or somewhere in between. It's a gamble that can't leave you broke but might leave you the same or make you rich!

Save to buy rather than buying then figuring out a way to come up with the money - it's so obvious but so many people work to pay back rather than to see how much they can buy at the end of the month.

If you are already in debt...

Make small adjustments to your routine to save here and there and you will start having money left in your bank you never knew you had. Cycle or walk rather than public transport. Take pack lunches from last nights dinner - it's probably nicer than what you'd buy out. Take a bottle of wine to a friends house rather than meeting at the pub and save on bar prices whilst still 'going out'! It's friendlier too. Cut down on smoking or quit. Swap magazines with friends. Send free e-cards for birthdays. Have your top up trims done at a training salon for free. Cook in bulk at the weekends and freeze in meal size portions. Take tens out not twenties from the cashpoint - you'll spend what you've got on you at the time. I could go on all week...

And last but not least...

Use every point-giving site on the net and you may never need to buy a book or bottle of shampoo with your own money again!

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