My anniversary of working at my first full-time job following graduation is fast approaching. It’s been a roller-coaster ride with peaks and troughs but I’ve enjoyed every bit – even the stressful and long evenings!! My year in the business also coincides with the end of the fiscal year when performance reviews are taking place too. Everyone hopes for a bonus at the end of each year but I’m trying not to expect one to avoid potential disappointment. View full article »
Category: Secure Future
Last week a colleague of mine left the London office to work for our New York office in a different consulting practice. I’ve only been working with him closely since the beginning of March but since then our working relationship has developed and I would consider him one of the colleagues that I look up to. At just 28, he has worked in London for at least 7 years and is about to embark on a new adventure in New York. He has taught me a lot since I started working with him and is extremely conscientious. I can’t help but wish him all the best for his new role and home. I couldn’t be more pleased for him.
It’s almost a year since I was taking my oral exam for my German degree. It still seems like only yesterday that I was sitting my final year exams. That was my main worry last year. Passing with a good degree was all I needed to worry about. However, this may not be the case for final year students this year. View full article »
How is it that flash cars, clothes and houses have got a favourable image? They are symbols of money, status and power but they can’t always have been associated in this way. What is the most powerful industry in controlling consumer’s habits? Advertising.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve become more aware of my surroundings on my commute. First, as I wait at the station there are a number of billboards for me viewing, then on the actual commute there are plenty of adverts on the walls of the train and then finally going through Waterloo station it’s advertisement central. I’ve seen Iggy Pop and his “saving time is saving money” car insurance adverts around 1000 times since I started working (7 months ago). His image and the purple background of the advert is practically burned into my memory. I’m convinced that investing in Henderson/Jupiter/[insert investment bank here] will give me ridiculous returns on my money without forgetting that the small print (which is actually quite big on billboards) states that I could lose the total amount that I invest.
I hate looking at these adverts because I feel as though they busy my brain. Whilst I’m trying to arrive at work refreshed I feel bogged down by these everyday adverts which offer me no real applicable advice. So why do they stick with me? This may be stating the obvious but advertising is designed to make you feel you need something when you might not. On occasion I’m reminded by a Sainsbury’s advert that I need to pick up milk after work but that really is ON occasion. They’re also extremely powerful because I see them everyday, five days a week if not more. Over time they become burned into my memory like Iggy Pop’s car insurance.
I’m keen to combat this control over consumers that advertising companies possess. I want to use this technique to communicate the opposite message: Saving Money is Cool. It’s a simple message but if there was enough money pumped in by the government or companies keen to do their bit as Corporate Social Responsibility then I have no doubt that people will be left with the image of their own gold pot and the message that saving now is cooler than spending now. If it took off I truly believe that we would have a nation who were more financially responsible.
I read City A.M. (a free business newspaper given out every weekday morning at various train stations in London) every morning and today an article struck me as possible good news for students.
Sainsbury’s and other supermarkets are hoping to lead the jobs rise within the UK. Sainsbury’s are said to be creating 20,000 new jobs over the next three years. All that has been revealed is that these jobs will be both full-time and part-time. There isn’t much details about what parts of Sainsbury’s the jobs will be available in. View full article »
You might think this is only applicable to those buying property but I’ve never bought a property. I like to use my own experiences to find out new things about money so I’ve reflected on my experience as a renter. I was recently reading up on JD Roth (at Get Rich Slowly) and his idea of an Emergency Fund. It got me thinking about my own emergency fund. Currently I have 4 months worth of living expenses which I checked against my Budget spreadsheet. View full article »
It’s been almost eight years since I began managing my personal finances. I can’t believe I’m getting closer to that decade mark! It’s been an enjoyable journey so far mainly because I had the benefit of realising at a young age that saving is key to being financially stable. The journey has only really just begun because I’ve started earning more than I ever have before. So how do I keep going? How do I keep working to improve my situation? View full article »
Christmas has been and gone for another year but I can’t help thinking about it. I’m enjoying my presents (I got a couple of books on consulting, some make-up, jewellery and vouchers) and reflecting on how this has been one of the cheapest Christmas’s I’ve had. Thankfully over the years my friends and I decided, as students, not to buy gifts for one another but instead to have a night out. We still have this tradition so the only people that I need to buy gifts for is my immediate family. View full article »
‘Mistakes’ is perhaps a bit strong to use here but I couldn’t resist using alliteration! This article is more of a chance to reflect on my financial situation of 2010 – what I’ve done well, how much I’ve spent and what I could have done better. I’ve learnt a lot in the past year mostly because of my transition from being a student to working in a full-time graduate position. It’s been an upgrade to say the least because of my increase in income. View full article »
