Hi All,
I've just started reading through the blog 2 days ago, and am about 13 articles in. :) As it mostly seems aimed at people with a full time job, with a fairly large income and expense list, I thought it'd be best to get advice from you all on my position. I'm living in Australia, so I have no up-front student debt (all our fees can be taken care of through
HECS, which is a no-interest government loan only needing to be repaid when I earn
over a certain amount) and I have no outstanding debts/loans of any kind. I'm living away from home, with fairly low expenses and income.
Income$324/fortnight
Expenses$120/fortnight = Board
$18/month = Phone
$95/fortnight = Miscellaneous
Savings$100/fortnight into a 3% interest account
(That income is after tax - that money is government financial support in the form of Youth Allowance)
I don't have a car, and ride my bike to Uni / shops, so I don't have any car expenses at this point (my gf has a car I borrow occasionally and pay for petrol when I do). As I'm living away from home to study, the government sends me an extra $2000 every year for books etc, and I've just negotiated with them to get a
$4269 grant. Of that, I'm spending $1000 on an overseas trip with my gf in June.
What I really want to know is what is the best option to do with the remaining $3000 + future grants? At the minute I'm just putting it into a Commonwealth savings account. I've never invested before, and I've only just developed an interest in it after reading a book at my Aunt's place (
Rich Dad, Poor Dad). Is it worth investing this $3000, or is there a better option I should be taking advantage of? Also, any other general tips on improving my finances? I could theoretically live of $0/wk because all meals/accommodation are covered in the board, but there's always misc. expenses popping up to take from that. I really just want to make the best use of my savings as it stands.
Thanks for reading this!