I've just prattled on at length about this in another thread, but this would be my one grain to pass on:
Stay Current & fly frequently.
The quicker you build up that bag of experience, the sooner you won't be so reliant on that bag of luck. You'll be doing all the stuff you were taught whilst recently doing your PPL training, so it should still be reasonably fresh in your mind. If you fly a lot immediately after completing your PPL then you'll massively reinforce all that good stuff you were taught and be much more likely to carry more of it through to your later flying career. And if you can't afford to hire, buy a cheapo share in a permit type that costs £30-50/hr to fly and fly the balls off that. Its well worth it both for the fun and the big bag of skill and experience you will have accumulated after a year or two.