A student who has recently enrolled in a university will often find as they approach the end of their first year they are going to be bombarded with credit card offers. The reason for this is that students make up a huge percentage of those who own credit cards and use them. Thus, they are good targets for credit card companies to earn revenue from. There are several situations in which a credit card can be a good decision, while there are situations in which a credit card can end up disaster.

Good Credit Card Situations

For a student who has a firm grasp on their financial situation, a credit card can help in establishing a good credit score, while also offering money in times of need. For example, many students use an Essay Site in order to buy their essays they need written by someone else in order to accommodate for no time to write these themselves, or for having a weak ability of writing essays. In these types of situations, a credit card will be needed in order to pay for the essay. Other times in which a credit card can be a good thing to have is when an unexpected emergency comes about and the student needs to pay for this as soon as possible.

Bad Credit Card Situations

On the other hand, there are times when a credit card can prove to be disastrous. For example, if a student does not have the funds to pay for food, they will rely upon this credit card. When this type of situation arises, the student will be paying on the credit card consistently, while still using the credit line they have. It makes for a vicious circle in which it is hard to get out of. It is these types of situations in which students need to avoid, however, it can be difficult to avoid. Many students feel as though their first credit card is their gateway to having all the things they have ever dreamed of having, even if these objects are not necessities, just basic wants.

Should you consider a Credit Card

Whether you should consider getting a credit card or not is going to depend on the individual student. There are several students who can handle the debt they accumulate and pay this off immediately. With this being said, those students who have revenue coming in every month from a source such as a job, are going to be better equipped to handle a credit card. However, students who simply want this as a way to buy those wants, are going to find they will be better off to avoid using credit cards.

Credit cards are not the way to have everything you ever want. These should be used in emergency situations, and only when the student knows they can pay this off. The interest rate charged on student credit cards can be relatively high, thus it could cost them almost double in the end to buy those things they want. The student should be careful about this decision and only get the credit card if they are sure they can afford it.

Of course it depends on what sort of business you want to run – a big sales operation might need call centre dialer capability for lead generation and complex monthly accountancy, while a sole trader can survive with Skype and a spreadsheet, but nearly everything needed to run a successful business is now available online.

Successful online service providers have learnt that a scaled pricing model is the best way to go, with a limited package offered for very little – sometimes for free – allowing private individuals all they really need, and potential clients the chance to test out the product before they scale up to a paid-for version.

Online document creation & sharing

Google and Microsoft, along with several less familiar names, provide online word-processing, spreadsheets, presentation creation and even drawing tools. Perhaps the most useful aspect of these, apart from being able to run them without downloading software, is that the documents can be shared with, accessed by and even edited by other people. Applications like SharePoint can help you to share your work – see here for more details.

Google and Microsoft automatically keep a record of changes made and different versions of the document, and there’s usually an area where comments can be made, and collaborators can discuss the project with all notes and thoughts saved and easily referred back to.

Shared project management

Extending the usefulness of sharing documents online, project management tools facilitate easy collaboration on a grander scale. Create groups of participants, umbrella projects, individual items, and use the project manager’s tools to assign jobs and create milestones that mark progress towards the final goal. Relevant documents can be uploaded by one collaborator and downloaded to work on (some services offer online editing) by someone else, in a different country or timezone – all they need is a web connection. Progress can be flagged so that everyone can see what’s getting done – and what must be focused on – and discussions can be held online in a mutual virtual “whiteboard” space so that everyone is, as they say, on the same page. The project management software from ProSymmetry (https://www.prosymmetry.com/resources/what-is-flexible-project-management-and-why-is-it-important/) even allows businesses to manage all of their projects at the same time. This gives the business flexibility to plan their projects and meet deadlines.

Hosted telephony

Perhaps you only need to make a few calls, in which case Skype or another VoIP facility – most instant messaging services have them these days – will do the trick. PC-to-PC phone calls are free, apart from the cost of the data connection, and there’s video calling thrown into the bargain. If you need to do a live video call for client conferencing, you might want to consider incorporating video call APIs to further enhance the interaction.

For a larger operation, however – call centres or anyone who needs call centre capability – online is still the way forward. It’s now possible to rent web hosted calling and call management capacity, meaning there’s no need to fork out for equipment, software, or servicing contracts. You can even rent on PAYG basis, and with what amounts to infinite capacity, you can scale up as far as you need to, when you need to, or streamline in response to a dip in demand.

Accountancy

High street accountants have premises to pay for, whereas an online solution like Clearbooks or Freeagent often works out far more affordably for a small business owner. Even complex accounting can be undertaken using software accessed via a secure portal, with tax calculations performed automatically. It’s a huge timesaver, with the basic packages for sole traders and charities starting at very low monthly prices.

When I set out a budget for myself all the obvious costs of living like food, mortgage, gas and electricity get accounted for, but I often forget to consider other things that I am bound to, and would like to spend money on. Sending my loved ones gifts for birthday, the birth of a new baby or just to let them know that I am thinking about them is something I love to do. However, the financial implications can soon mount up, particularly, as with my friends, in certain months of the year there seems to be many birthdays within a few days of each other. It can also result in lots of time, fuel and energy being spent when you go out hunting for that perfect gift. So, here are a few suggestions on how you might be able to spend a little less, while giving something that will give everyone a feel good factor.

Sending Flowers

Everyone loves receiving a beautiful bouquet of fragrant flowers from a loved one. There is no better way to show someone that you care about or love someone than to send flowers. By ordering online you are able to choose exactly what you want to send and hunt down any bargains there might be. You also can avoid speaking to a sales person who may talk you into spending more than you might have intended and instead start looking to find these Flowercard vouchers or similar vouchers for the shop you’re intending to use. There is the added Eco benefit of knowing that you will cut down on shipping and therefore on carbon emissions. Flower delivery services are able to send the freshest possible flowers to locations like Burwood and more, as they use the florists closest to their recipient. This way they can ensure they aren’t damaged in transportation. Others, however, prefer to send fresh flowers as a way to express their appreciation. Flowers can wilt within a very short period of time, which may be why they do this. If that’s the case, you can look for a same day courier service that can deliver these gifts to your loved ones as soon as possible.

Vouchers

It might be a bit boring, but sending vouchers is an easy, cost effective method of bestowing a gift to your loved one. You can buy precisely the amount to want to fit your budget without spontaneously splurgingon an overpriced gift you might find elsewhere. There is very little production, no costly trips to the shops and minimal environmentally damaging postageinvolved. You might even consider buying an e-voucher from an online store like Amazon so when they get round to spending it, they don’t have to go out shopping either, which would cancel out all of your good work. Look out for a more eco friendly supplier to up your green points.

Sponsor/ Adoption Gift

From buying an elephant to a meerkat, you can find all kinds of ways to send an unusual and unique gift by adopting an animal on their behalf. Check out aggregated sites which sell these sorts of sponsorship presents and you are bound to find deals or special offers on certain products. It doesn’t have to be an animal either. There is a wide variety of environmentally friendly options available, so you can make an informed decision on which charity you would like to support and what would give the person you are going to give it to the most pleasure. Fulfil a friend’s life time ambition of owning a pony, knowing that they won’t even have to muck it out.

Not all of us have the budget to buy new showers or fit a large jacuzzi in our bathroom. *Sigh*. Oh well, such is life and for those of you (probably mainly students) who have to live with a distinctly mediocre bathroom then there are certain techniques that you can utilize to fix those nagging problems.

Shower Head

This can be totally dependant on the area you live and the subsequent water quality. It is amazing how quickly a shower head can accumulate dirt and calcify. It is also amazing how long you can put up with shower head that definitely operates with less than half of its holes working. Thankfully there is a very cheap and easy way to fix this dysfunctional shower….utilise the power of vinegar. Get some cheap strong vinegar and soak the shower head in it for a good few hours – preferably overnight. Then rub off the offending dirt and grime, wash off the vinegar, and now you can actually have a decent shower. Simple but beautiful. You do not even have to get expensive vinegar – just go down to your local Poundland or bargain store and pick up a 2 litre bottle of cheap (but strong) vinegar. It is not the taste that you want, it is simply high acidity. This technique can also be used for taps that have accumulated lime scale and dirt so there is no longer an excuse for your taps and showers to have lime scale on them.

Shower Curtain

Some bathrooms have extractor fans that make a hell of a lot of noise but do very little time extracting. This poor performing extractor fan can have disastrous consequences for your shower curtain, especially in the winter when the house if a few degrees colder and everything (not only your towel) takes substantially longer to dry. The shower curtain will trap moisture between the side of the bath and where the curtain rests against it and if your extractor fan or ventilation is particularly bad then your shower curtain may well stay perpetually wet. If this occurs and your house is not incredibly cold then the material can turn a strange orange colour and eventually develop mould. Nice. Even more so if you have custom shower curtains that you put thought into creating, or were a fun gift from a friend – you certainly will want to try and save it from being replaced. There is however a very quick and easy fix to this infestation of mould on your shower curtain: just fill the bath up with bleach, dilute it with a bit of water and submerse the shower curtain in your cleaning concoction. Come back a couple of hours later and voila, a nice pristine shower curtain (you may have to stir it every so often). Just make sure to rinse all the bleach off and give the bath a good clean before you use it!

Buy Online

Sometimes you have to suck it up and replace items. There is only so much that vinegar and bleach can do! This can be especially painful if your finances are in disarray, it can also be a bit of a surprise as to hoe much random items for your bathroom can cost! If you have to replace a bathroom tap or mirror, or even a toilet seat then order it online. Everyone nowadays knows that things are cheaper online, so take advantage of the 21st century and visit websites such as www.homesupply.co.uk. Admittedly you might not be able to hold it in your hands first but unfortunately your budget is the main constraint and they are very tight handcuffs indeed. You don’t have the luxury of buying from some boutique tap maker with a tradition spanning back to the mid 1800’s – so get online and find yourself a bargain!