This evening I started an investment account at Sharebuilder and a savings account at Emigrant Direct. Sharebuilder will give me six trades a month for a mere $12 and Emigrant Direct will give me 4 percent interest on my savings — the highest rate I’ve seen online and .06 higher than ING.

I’m hoping that Emigrant Direct will allow me to subdivide my savings like ING does. At ING, after you start your main account, you can create little sub-accounts and name them “vacation fund” or “down payment.” Isn’t that really cool? I thought long and hard about which one I should do, and I finally picked Emigrant, however.

What did I buy in my first ever equity trade, you ask? I bought $250 of Microsoft and $50 of a Russel 2000 index ETF.

I am starting to get excited about what this bankruptcy means for me: an extra $600 or so that I can save, invest, and spend on myself. I’ve decided I am going to take my finances seriously. I’m going to build an emergency nest egg and and begin investing for retirement.

My financial to do list:

1. Change banks I hate my current bank, Wells Fargo, and want to fire them. Part of my hatred for Wells Fargo comes from the fact they charge me $6 a month for online bill pay when I know I can get that for free at other banks. Part of it has to do that they charged me a fortune in bounced check fees and I just want to be rid of them. Too many bad memories.

So I’m starting two new bank accounts this week: Washington Mutual with free checking and online bill pay and IDG, who pays more than 100 percent higher interest rates on savings accounts than most other banks. The Washington Mutual account will be where my direct deposits from the university will go. I’ll keep enough in there to pay bills, and the rest I will withdraw for cash and transfers to my IDG savings accounts.

2. Begin investing immediately: I scoured the internet looking for information about what a first-time investor should do to begin investing. I researched investment strategies and investment brokers. I live on a pretty limited income (only $1,500 a month from the university plus money from second jobs) so definately needed a discount broker.

I looked at quite a few reviews, and finally decided on Sharebuilder. With their $12 a month standard investment plan, they give me 6 buys a month–just $2 a trade. Plus, they will administer my Roth IRA for free. Sharebuilder really specializes in serving beginning investors who want the benefits of automatic investing and low costs. They make mass buys on Tuesdays, and won’t allow you to buy on any other days. This allows them to save a lot of money, and they pass it on to the customers.

3. Make a budget: Probably the hardest part, but still a necessary step.