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Budgeting in college can be hard – trust me, we’ve all been there! It can be painful to look at your credit card bill or bank account after a tough month. But don’t sweat it! Notion is here to help you and me stay on top of it while still having a great time in university 😊

Here are 5 tips and tricks to help you stay on top of your finances using Notion this school year:

1. Create a budget database

The most beneficial part of using Notion as a budget tracker is having a centralized database to view and control your expenses. It is super easy and efficient to maintain your budget through a database.

Here is what my template looks like — you can access it here!

These are my personal categories. These might look different for everyone, but they’re what work best for my spending habits. You can also view the breakdown by living expenses, shopping, and saving in the database’s views. Lastly, I’ve included a “by day” calendar view, so you can easily look at your expenses throughout time.

2. Track your expenses consistently

I know this can be tough — but it’s so worth it. Every time you make a purchase, take a couple of seconds to add it to your database (or take a photo of the receipt for later!). I would recommend being diligent with this — skipping a few times can easily build up, and you might be stuck tracing back your credit card statement to update your budget tracker (definitely not speaking from experience). Think of it like building a budgeting muscle – a little effort now saves you from a budgeting marathon later! 🏃🏻‍♀️💨

Overall, this helps you stay conscious and intentional with your spending. And by consistently tracking your expenses, you can gain valuable insights into your spending patterns and can identify areas where you can save more!

If you have subscriptions or any recurring expenses, you can also use Notion’s recurring task function to set up automatic population on a consistent basis (say, every month).

Create a template in the database for your recurring expensve

Find it in the templates section under “New”

Have it repeat as needed!

3. Set up a budget and stick to it

There’s a lot of information out there on budget breakdowns, and it can get pretty overwhelming. Start simple and find a system that works best for you.

Personally, I try my best to stick to the 50/3020 rule! Every month:

• 50% of my spending goes to mandatory living expenses (housing, groceries, bills).
• I put 30% — or as close to that as possible — into my savings. This can look like my regular savings account, a high yield savings account, or my investments depending on the month.
• Then, the last 20% goes to discretionary (or fun) spending (shopping, drinks, etc – I spend most of mine on boba 🧋). Even if I’m not perfect with this every month, it really helps to have a guideline to try and stick to.

Another strategy I try to use is to stretch my cash. For example, if I have $28 in cash, I’ll save the bigger bill ($20) and try to stick to the $8 if I can by passing on certain purchases.

There are a lot of breakdown options to try! For example, if you’re not working a student job or have consistent income, then it might be difficult to be putting money into savings each month. If your living expenses are covered by external aid, you might find a different subset most beneficial for your budgeting. Take the time to research and experiment with different budgeting methods until you find the one that aligns best with your personal objectives and lifestyle!

4. Take advantage of student discounts

Honestly, this is something I wish I picked up earlier when I was a freshman in college. There are so many programs, online discounts, and even university-specific opportunities that can ease the financial burden for you. For example, a club at my school offers 10-20% off discounts at local shops that partner with them — all you have to do is become a member. There are also a bunchhh of retail student discounts, like Apple and Amazon!

• Apple: save on a Mac or iPad with education pricing, plus a gift card with purchase!
• Amazon: students can get a Prime account for $69 a year
• Spotify: Spotify Premium + Hulu for $5.99 a month!
• …and much more. If you’re looking into a subscription or a big purchase, definitely do some research on potential college student discounts before you buy!

Moreover, student ambassador programs (like Notion Campus Leaders! shameless plug*)* can offer you product-specific perks, which is particularly nice with companies and products that you’re passionate about! Some of them even have paid opportunities.

5. Try out different credit cards

I know, I know. Credit card talk can be hard to understand and pretty hefty at times! I’ll keep it to the very basics — if you don’t have a credit card, now is a great time to get one started! Several credit card companies offer college student-specific cards. These cards typically come with lower credit limits to help you manage your spending and start building credit history responsibly. Plus, they usually offer benefits like specific cashback rewards or student-friendly perks.

Here are some common beginner cards for students:

• Discover Credit Cards for Students
• Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards for Students

Conclusion

Ultimately, there are so many different ways you can choose to manage your finances in college. I personally centralize so much of my university lifestyle on Notion, so it’s really easy to put my budgeting on my dashboard too! Having a strong budget can take a lot of the mental burden of personal finance off your shoulders — so you have time to focus on the more fun things in college without stressing :) Happy budgeting!