Track your Money as a Student w/ Notion

Summary

The video script discusses managing student finance for accommodation, emphasizing the importance of tracking expenses like rent, utilities, and Wi-Fi. The creator shares their experience with the maintenance loan and how they've organized their finances using a Notion page to keep track of payments and bills. They provide a detailed breakdown of costs and offer to create a template for viewers, highlighting the benefits of visual budgeting to avoid debt and ensure financial stability.

Takeaways

• 💰 The speaker receives a student finance text at the beginning of the term but advises against spending it on unnecessary things like Nike shoes. Instead, it's best to use it for important expenses like accommodation.
• 📊 The speaker tracks their spending using a Notion page, particularly focusing on expenses related to accommodation like rent, gas, electricity, and Wi-Fi.
• 🏠 Student finance loans vary depending on household income, and many students have accommodations that exceed their loan amount, requiring additional funds.
• 🔄 The speaker emphasizes the importance of organizing finances and knowing exactly how much is being spent on accommodation and bills each month.
• 💡 They use a payment checklist to track rent payments and break down how much is their personal contribution and how much is covered by student finance.
• 📅 Rent is paid monthly, and the total cost for the speaker's accommodation for the year was £4,333, which includes rent and a deposit.
• 💻 The speaker is responsible for the Wi-Fi bill, which costs £26.99 per month for four people, and uses a table to keep track of payments and ensure housemates pay their share.
• 🔥 Other housemates manage different bills like gas, electricity, and water. The speaker ensures they transfer the correct amount to cover their share of these utilities.
• 💸 The speaker monitors how much they’ve spent on Wi-Fi and other bills to ensure it stays within their budget, knowing that their student finance may not cover everything.
• 📝 They offer to share a template to help others organize their finances and stress the importance of visually tracking spending to avoid overspending or debt.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The video focuses on how to organize and manage student finances, particularly student accommodation costs and how to make the best use of a maintenance loan.

Why does the speaker emphasize not using the student finance loan for unnecessary purchases?

The speaker advises against using the student finance loan for unnecessary purchases, like buying new shoes, and suggests allocating it toward essential expenses like accommodation to avoid financial strain.

What method does the speaker use to keep track of their accommodation expenses?

The speaker uses a Notion page to track accommodation expenses, including rent, gas, electricity, and Wi-Fi. They create tables and checklists to organize these expenses and monitor payments.

How does the amount of student finance loan vary between students?

The amount of the student finance loan varies based on the household income of the student’s family. Some students with higher household incomes receive a lower loan, while others with lower incomes may receive more.

What does the speaker suggest doing with previous accommodation addresses?

The speaker recommends saving all previous accommodation addresses in one place, as they might be needed when applying for certain things, such as future accommodations or other services.

What tool does the speaker use to organize their student finances?

The speaker uses Notion to organize their finances, including keeping track of rent payments, utility bills, and student finance loan amounts.

How does the speaker split the Wi-Fi bill with housemates?

The speaker is responsible for paying the Wi-Fi bill and divides the monthly cost of £26.99 by four people, which amounts to £6.75 per person. They track these payments and ensure housemates pay their share.

How does the speaker manage the payments for utility bills like gas and electricity?

The speaker’s housemates manage gas, electricity, and water bills. The speaker keeps track of how much they've had to transfer to their housemates for these expenses and ensures that everything is paid on time.

What does the speaker think is beneficial about creating a payment checklist?

The speaker believes that creating a payment checklist helps provide a clear, visual representation of monthly or term-based expenses, allowing them to stay organized and avoid confusion over payments.

Why does the speaker think it is important to organize finances as a student?

The speaker believes organizing finances is important to know exactly where money is going, avoid unnecessary spending, and ensure that essential expenses like accommodation are covered without going into debt or overdraft.