The Student Finance Blog

Welcome to today’s book review where we will be discussing 1000 CEOs by Andrew Davidson who is the chief business interviewer for The Sunday Times and also contributes to Management Today.  Having a keen interest in business  I was thoroughly looking forward to reading this book so it does appeal to people who are interested in business, management and keen entrepreneurs.

1000 CEOs documents the biographies and profiles of the largest and world’s best CEOs, each profile delves into their career, success and even some failures which all contributed to becoming some of the most well known CEOs in the world for the largest companies in many different sectors.  From the historic innovators such as Henry Ford to modern day entrepreneurs like Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The book is around 500 pages and is split into different sections such as the CEOs who are regarded as Innovators, motivators, organizers, strategists, visionaries and even the controversialists.  The fantastic thing about this book is that there it delves into so many sectors and management styles and the detail is great on why these people are some of the brightest minds in the world and what makes them so successful.  It is highly recommended for people who are studying management styles and how some of the largest companies in the world were created and how they are structured.

These simple words on the back cover of the book really does give a good indication of what to expect:

Incisive and Insightful, 1000 CEOs is your opportunity to meet the people who do he business

Each profile is split into sections which has a description on their early career right through to where they are now.  Their leadership style is a very interesting little section and also we get to find out their key strength and their best decision.  The book isn’t wall-to-wall profiles and biographies though, there are some very interesting pages in each section which are structured in a lesson like or tutorial like style with articles on motivation techniques, confidence, public relations and much more.

Overall I did find the book a great read, the only criticism I would have is that it can get a bit repetitive reading through a massive amount of biographies, it’s definitely not a read-in-one-day book.

Tomorrow I will be launching a competition to give you the chance to win my copy of the book so remember to check us out tomorrow evening.

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With the new University and College year fast approaching, whether you’re heading into your first or final year, it’s that time again where you should be choosing your student bank account for the year ahead.  Even if you are already in University or College, you are still entitled to switch your student account in order to get the best deal.

We’re here to provide you with all the necessary information so you can make an informed and wise choice, we will also talk a little at the end on what you should consider when choosing a student bank account.  So less of the waffle, lets get straight to the point and highlight what the major players are offering this year.

Natwest

Overdraft
1st year - £1250
2nd - £1400
3rd - £1600
4th - £1800
5th - £2000

Freebies - Free young persons railcard which entitles you to save around a third on rail travel, really useful for regular rail travelers.  £100 off a new laptop offer and 50% off 3 mobile broadband.

Other info - Free 4GB USB stick for online applications, 0.1% in credit interest.

Website

RBS

Overdraft
1st to 5th year - up to £2750 dependant on status and circumstances.

Freebies - 2 for 1 cinema card, £100 off a new laptop offer and half-price mobile broadband with 3.

Other Information - 1.02% in-credit interest rate, free 4GB USB stick for online applicants.

Website

HSBC

Overdraft
1st year - £1000
2nd - £1250
3rd - £1500
4th - £1750
5th - £2000

Freebies - 2 year world travel insurance, free t-mobile sim card.

Other Information - 2% in-credit interest for the first year on balances up to £1000

Website

Halifax

Overdraft
1st to 5th year - up to £3000 dependant on status and circumstances.

Freebies - 25% off AA breakdown cover

Other Information - 0.01% in-credit interest paid.

Website

Lloyds TSB

Overdraft
1st year - £1500
2nd - £1500
3rd - £1500
4th - £2000
5th - £2000

Freebies - Free NUS Extra card, free music downloads and more money off vouchers.

Other Information - 0.01% in-credit interest

Website

Abbey

Overdraft
1st year - £1000
2nd - £1250
3rd - £1500
4th - £1800
5th - £2000

Freebies - £50

Other Information 2% in-credit interest on balance up to £500, 0.1% after.

Website

Barclays

Overdraft
1st to 5th year - up-to £2000 dependant on status and circumstances

Freebies - 50% off Orange broadband

Other Information - 0.1% in-credit interest.

Website

So there we have most of the important information you need on the major student accounts out there at the moment.  You will need to check out other information such as how much they charge if you go over you 0% overdraft limit etc.

Best Accounts

Don’t be tempted by freebies alone, these are just incentives in order to buy your custom, you really should pay most attention to the 0% overdraft limit, you should go for the largest one possible, so we would have to recommend the accounts from RBS and Halifax.  Check them out yourself on their website and remember to read all the terms and conditions.

If you would like to add anything to this post or if you have any questions, remember to drop a comment below.

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Cutting costs has never been more important for students. Fortunately, there are many different websites and tools designed specifically for this purpose. Here are 20 sites that would be useful to students:

Directgov - This site is a one-stop shop for students who need information about student loans, grants, and bursaries.

The Demotivator - Students can enter their unnecessary expenses into this free budgeting tool to find out how much money they are wasting per year and how many weeks they will have to work over a lifetime to pay for these things.

Kublax - Kublax makes it easy to see and manage your accounts, create budgets, set up alerts, compare spending, and much more. This free service uses bank security so you can feel safe when you upload your personal information.

Bob’s Budget Planner - Bob’s Budget Planner was created to help people make the most of their money. The tool helps you analyse weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual income as well as expenses.

YBS Budget Planner - Yorkshire Building Society offers this free budget planner to people who need help organising and managing their finances. The budget planner works with Windows and Macs.

XE - The world’s favorite currency site is a great resource for students who want to convert currency, get up-to-date rates, and calculate study abroad or travel expenses.

Moneyspeak - Moneyspeak is a new site designed to demystify financial terms. The interactive tool includes definitions for a wide range of words and phrases.

JourneyEdEurope - JourneyEd offers huge discounts on academic software–up to 85 percent off commercial prices in most cases.

JS Campus - The UK’s leading book seller offers substantial discounts on books. Postage is free in the UK.

iChapters - If you can’t afford or don’t want to pay for an entire textbook, you can get the chapters you need through this website. iChapters also sells e-textbooks for up to 50 percent off the cover price.

Yung Junk - On Yung Junk, students can rent cheap textbooks. Yung Junk also buys used books and class notes from students who want to make extra money.

The Online Books Page - University students who don’t want to buy required reading for each class will love The Online Books Page. This site has more than 35,000 books that can be read online for free.

we7 - This site is a great place to legally listen to and share free music online. Songs are also available for purchase and download.

Blinkbox - Students who want to lower their entertainment costs will love Blinkbox. This site has more than 20,000 free movies, TV shows, and videos that can be viewed and shared for free.

Skype - This calling service is a good way to save on phone calls to landlines and mobile phones.

Preloved - Buying secondhand is one of the best ways for students to save money. Preloved offers secondhand merchandise in more than 500 categories.

OpenOffice - This free and open productivity suite eliminates the need for expensive software. OpenOffice can be used for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, graphics, and more.

FreeSerifSoftware - This free software suite is perfect for the creative, yet frugal student. It can be used to edit images, create documents, publish websites, and much more.

Livemocha - It makes no sense to spend money on pricey foreign language learning materials and courses when a site like Livemocha exists. This free language learning community offers free language courses and a place for speakers from all over the world to connect and chat.

OpenLearn - Open University offers hundreds of free courses and learning resources for self-learners on this online space. All of the free materials were taken from actual courses at Open University.

Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online colleges and universities for OnlineColleges.org.