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6 shares 6 View comments Petrol and diesel prices continued to fall in the last month but costs remain ‘fragile’ as traders and speculators exert increasing influence over the fuel market, according to the AA. The average price of petrol at the forecourt fell from 136.89p a litre in mid-April to 133.35p in mid-May, the motoring organisation said in its latest monthly fuel report. Prices had hit a year high of just over 140p a litre at the start of March, having started the year at around 132p. Petrol prices: The cost of unleaded and diesel has tumbled since it reached a year high at the start of March Diesel, on average, now costs 138.17p a litre, down from 141.76p a month ago. It also reached a year high on March 4 of almost 146.5p a litre, having started the year at around 140p. Prices are roughly 5p a litre cheaper than this time last year. June and July 2012 saw prices tumble to a year low of 132.18p. A similar 5p fall in the next two months would see unleade

0 View comments Peace of mind: Make sure your insurance covers your possessions such as phones and iPods when you are out and about on campus The common dorm room has changed since the days when a student would turn up with a few LPs and books, a record player and a government grant. More and more students have laptops or desktops, smart phones and cameras in order to keep up with the demands of their education. Criminals know there’s money to be made from this equipment. Liam Burns, NUS President, comments that because ‘the nature of higher education means students need regular access to expensive equipment such as laptops and cameras’ they advise all students to take ‘precautions against theft and damage’ to gain ‘piece of mind’ and ensure they are not left out of pocket. This may be why student insurance deals are popping up all over the web. So how do you decide which one to choose? For those who choose to buy insurance, there are two options to consider: whe

5 View comments The usual fanfare is greeting students beginning university life. That means two-for-one shots, groans about soaring fees and swapping stories about irresponsible landlords. Some are also having a rude introduction to the university of life. At the University of Lincoln, dozens of students will be sleeping in portable cabins after the university was caught short of proper accommodation. ‘It is not what they signed up for,’ as a student union rep put it. It is unclear how long  Lincoln students will have to be in their less-than-luxury £30-a-week digs, but their experience will concentrate the mind. They might want to take steps to ensure that it never happens again. Megan Walsh, who is beginning her third year of Veterinary Science at the University of Nottingham, could be an inspiration.   More... NEW PRODUCT REVIEW: Post Office's new best buy fixed mortgage for 10% deposit buyers Rental prices accelerate at their fastest pace in a year and hav

0 View comments Applications for university courses for 2012 are down almost 10 per cent compared to those for this time year, according to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). The number of applicants has fallen from 76,612 students at this stage for 2011 to 69,724 for 2012. The cap on tuition fees will leap from £3,375 a year to £9,000 a year in 2012, under controversial plans outlined by the Coalition last November. Debt fears: Experts believe university applications will fall by 10 per cent following the hike in tuition fees The teaching budget for higher education, excluding research funding, will be cut by £2.9billion, or 40 per cent, over the next four years, hence the need for additional income. UCAS published the data following an October 15 deadline for applications to medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses at Oxford and Cambridge. The admission service also included the number of students who have applied so far for other univer

13 View comments Students are spending £324,872.06 a year on telephone calls to the Student Loans Company Limited, This is Money can reveal. The company, which arranges financial services for students, does not currently offer contact by email or a free phone number using instead an 0845 telephone number, from which it makes money. Between April 2010 and March 2011 this generated it almost a third of a million pounds. An SLC spokesman said its contact telephone number was not premium rate: ‘Premium rate telephone numbers are defined as “09XX” numbers, and the telephone numbers provided by SLC all start with “0845”. Revenue that it receives from telephone calls is used to offset overall telephone charges, which reduces the cost to the public purse.   More... STUDENT FINANCE 2011: Your essential guide to help students keep on top of money The hidden gadget that can help to curb all of your car bills ‘The amount invested in providing a telephone service to our custom

8 View comments Tory MP Andrew Percy has made a candid admission about his motivation for pushing compulsory financial  education in schools. Borrow and spend: Tory Andrew Percy MP is still paying off student loans The 34-year-old MP has admitted he is still repaying his student debts and said he is  ‘fairly hopeless’ at managing his credit card or knowing what mortgage rate he paid.  And he said it was likely to be worse for younger generations who were unlikely to get on the housing ladder and see a rise in property values to cover their debts. Percy, whose Brigg and Goole constituency straddles Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire, said in a Commons debate last week that it was essential to ‘send young  people out better equipped to deal with an ever-more complex financial world’. Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull North, accused the Tories of stopping personal finance  education becoming compulsory in the last Education Bill under the  previous Government.

8 shares 0 View comments Banks are putting school leavers through tough credit checks for student accounts and charging higher unauthorised overdraft penalties than for ordinary customers. Some are also dropping account perks and cutting the interest-free overdrafts for students who graduate next year.  As students face a bigger squeeze than ever before, Larisa Brown reveals how students can beat the banks. 'I HADN'T A CLUE MY OVERDRAFT HAD BEEN CUT' Affected: Jessica Hall has a £500 interest-free overdraft but faces a 17.81 per cent rate three years after she graduates Politics and French student Jessica Hall, 20, is one of the tens of thousands of students to be affected by the NatWest and RBS changes to their graduate account. Miss Hall, from Lancaster, is going into her third year at Newcastle University with a £500 interest-free overdraft. When she graduates in 2013, she will be among the first students to see their graduate interest-free overdr

6 shares 3 View comments You’ll probably end up in the red… but be clever and ease the financial pain. Nerves will be jangling this week as hundreds of thousands of students prepare to collect their A-level results on Thursday. For those who make the grade, university places await. But going away to study also means financial independence, with many young people managing a budget and paying bills for the first time. So if you are about to get an account or buy insurance, read our vital guide on student finances to make sure you get the best deals. Solid support: Tilly Parke's bank, HSBC, helps graduates until they are on their feet BANK ACCOUNTS As most students spend university life in the red, getting a bank account with a generous overdraft is a priority, so it’s worth finding out which bank can give you the most generous interest-free borrowing. Halifax and HSBC offer the biggest interest and fee-free overdraft for students in their first year at up to £

13 View comments Students in the South are paying twice as much in rent as those in the North as the average weekly rent bill for British undergraduates hits £70, a new study has showed. London students are faced with the highest rents, paying an average £107.29 per week, slightly down from £108.03 in 2011, while Pontypridd, in Wales, is the cheapest city for renting, with an average £45.94 a week, according to a study by Accommodation for Students website. The study, which took into consideration rents on over 100,000 properties in 77 cities, has showed the cost of student accommodation has increased by about 2.4 per cent this year to £68.70 - from £67.11 in 2011. Fourth most expensive: Student rent in Cambridge costs an average £92.70 per week Cheaper rents: Stoke-on-Trent students pay an average £49.20 per week Some cities saw steep increases this year, such as Hull and Lancaster, which recorded a 25 per cent and a 24 per cent increase in rental costs res

0 View comments   var crsLngth; var fees; var termSpnd; var monthSpnd; var dailySpnd; var annualSpnd; var annualSpndRnd; var stuLoan; var savings; var trmWrk; var sumWork; var totalSpnd; var totalSpndRnd; var totalTermSpnd; var totalTermSpndRnd; var totalMonthSpnd; var totalMonthSpndRnd; var totalTermSpnd; var totalTermSpndRnd; var totalIncome; var annualExShrt; var annualExShrtRnd; var totalExShrt; var totalExShrtRnd; var termExShrt; var termExShrtRnd; var monthExShrt; var monthExShrtRnd; function round(number, plcs) { plcs = (!plcs ? 2 : plcs); return Math.round(number * Math.pow(10, plcs)) / Math.pow(10, plcs); } function invalChkr(Numtochk){ var ok = false; if ( !isNaN(Numtochk) && Numtochk != "" && Numtochk != undefined){ ok = true; } return ok; } function gtvls(){ fees = new Number(document.frmSF.fees.value); crsLngth = new Number(document.frmSF.crsLngth.value); stuLoan = new Number(document.frmSF.stuLoan.value); savings = new Number(doc

68 View comments For today’s students, having fast, reliable internet access is vital. But hundreds of thousands of them face being trapped in long contracts or unable to find a deal to suit their needs. Take BT’s television adverts, which feature students being shown around a flat which luxuriates in its superfast Infinity broadband: if you believe the hype, BT’s Infinity is the perfect broadband choice for technology-savvy flat-sharers. In the real world, students — and their parents, who often foot the bill — might find it difficult to fulfil this utopian dream — and that’s because the minimum contract term for Infinity is 18 months. Internet trouble: Hazel Needham (second from left) with her family And for unlimited broadband — which is what most student households will need — it is hardly cheap, costing £36.75 a month, including line rental, after the initial three-month discount. Peter Needham is one parent who has been frustrated in his search for broadband for

30 shares 159 View comments There are some habits you can never kick — so get one for saving and you’ll be set for life. Putting money aside on a regular basis isn’t the easiest knack to pick up. With soaring household bills, strained budgets and inflation at 2.8 per cent, it can be tricky to free up any spare cash at all. But even from as little as £10 a month, a regular sum saved into an account for years can reap huge rewards. Nifty savings: Just cutting back on your morning coffee could net you £30 a month Save £10 a month for a decade and even at just a 2 per cent average over this time, you’ll have built up £1,329.41. Do it for 30 years and you’ll have £4,935.47; manage to save £50 a month for 30 years and you’ll build a £25,000 treasure chest. That’s some rainy-day money, be it for a wedding, a holiday, home improvements, a deposit or your retirement. The secret is compound interest — something Albert Einstein branded the most powerful force in the univer

38 shares 22 View comments The clock is ticking and you have just over six weeks to make the most of your vital annual tax allowances. In a climate of low interest rates and modest returns from many investments, minimising the tax you pay on your savings is even more important. Should scarce money be used for pensions or Isas? What about more adventurous options such as venture capital trusts? Is there scope to reorganise existing savings to reduce  your overall tax burden? And should families be thinking about helping out the next generation through investments such as Junior Isas or through gifting to reduce their inheritance  tax liability? In this special report, we look at your options for  end-of-year financial planning. Going for growth: Sophie Blythe, with Fin, left, and Harriet, puts any spare cash into equity Isas at this time of year OUR SPARE CASH GOES IN AN ISA Sophie and Adrian Blythe have got into the habit of putting any spare cash into Isas at t

9 shares 14 View comments There is no time like the present if you have made a resolution to start saving. But, with interest rates tumbling, savers have to become even smarter if they are to get the most out of their money. Using our guide, first-time savers and those looking to understand how to build up a nest egg with the best return, can navigate the savings minefield, locate the best individual option and ultimately end up richer. Small steps: This Is Money's tips on the best ways to save Save regularly and save often Even if you only have a small amount to save, it is worth getting into the habit of putting aside something every week - or after every time you get paid. Once you get into a good savings routine you will notice that every little bit adds up! It may sound simple, but one of the best savings tricks is to set up a regular direct debit from your current account as soon as you get paid. Not only does this mean you will be putting aside somet

5 shares 8 View comments Savvy savers always need to be on the look-out for the best available deals for their cash. But how you save matters too and that's why it makes sense to take advantage of tax-free accounts. That opportunity comes in the form of cash Individual Savings Accounts (Isa) - but make sure you shop around to ensure the one you pick pays out the best returns on your nest egg. Top tips: Five things you need to know about cash Isas 1. What is a cash Isa? If you've got any savings, the rules are simple - you should have an Isa. The reason? You can avoid handing over a huge portion of your savings interest to the taxman. Unlike a normal savings account, Isa interest does not incur tax - and that means an extra 20 per cent or 40 per cent of the return on your nest egg is kept by you. An Isa can be used by anyone aged 16 or older for their tax-free savings allowance each tax year. In the 6 April 2012 to 5 April 2013 tax year the cash Isa all