Phoebe,
You can do a couple of things as an
inexperienced driver to lower your insurance premiums. If you opt for a higher excess, this will definitely bring your quote down. If you have a garage which is used as a storage space instead of an actual garage, then clear it out and park your car in the garage at night. The safer the place where your car is stored, the lower your quote will be. When you get your car, you can add an engine immobiliser if it doesn't have one or add other safety devices which will make it more difficult to steal.
You've already made a really good decision about getting an
economy car which is cheap to insure to start off with, so get one which has a small engine and which is environment friendly and you will be able to save on your car insurance premiums with companies like The Green Insurance Company which give discounts for cars with low carbon dioxide emission.