integrated some settings from https://github.com/amix/vimrc/blob/master/vimrcs/basic.vim

.vimrc

@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ set noexpandtab
 
 set tabstop=2
 set sw=2
+set so=7								"set 7 lines to the cursor when moving vertically with j/k
+set foldcolumn=1				"add a bit of extra margin to the left
 
 set smarttab
 set smartindent
@@ -49,6 +51,11 @@ filetype plugin on
 filetype indent on
 filetype on
 
+" With a map leader it's possible to do extra key combinations
+" like <leader>w saves the current file
+let mapleader=" "
+let g:mapleader=" "
+
 " settings for vim 7
 if version >= 700
     set spellfile=~/.vimspell.de.add,~/.vimspell.en.add
@@ -58,6 +65,22 @@ endif
 hi LineTooLong cterm=bold ctermbg=red guibg=LightYellow
 match LineTooLong /\%>80v.\+/
 
+"useful mappings for managing tabs
+map <leader>tn :tabnew<cr>
+map <leader>to :tabonly<cr>
+map <leader>tc :tabclose<cr>
+map <leader>tm :tabmove
+map <leader>t<leader> :tabnext
+
+" Delete trailing white space on save, useful for some filetypes ;)
+fun! CleanExtraSpaces()
+    let save_cursor = getpos(".")
+    let old_query = getreg('/')
+    silent! %s/\s\+$//e
+    call setpos('.', save_cursor)
+    call setreg('/', old_query)
+endfun
+
 " grep will sometimes skip displaying the file name
 set grepprg=grep\ -nH\ $*