When my bottom bitch and my part time slaves have all had good weeks at work I get pretty excited for MY pay day (the day after their checks clear when they’re forced to hand all their money over to me)
This time we take the perspective of an exchange student from the States. Very interesting because although what he says may not relate to all, we can all learn from what he says and advises.
Enjoy!
1. Name and university
Dillan, from the US, studying at Edinburgh University
2. Did you take out a student loan? If so, how much are you getting?
As an international student, Dillan obviously has to pay way more for university. He’s studying a one year masters in Edinburgh, which will cost him $35,000.
To us Brits, that’s a huge amount of money – but in the US university costs double that, so he’s probably saving money by coming all the way to our little island. In the recording it’s not very clear if he took out a loan to come here, but we can assume so.
3. Is the loan enough? How else do you support yourself?
He tells us he worked for 6 years before coming to the UK, and was able to save up quite a lot. Go Dillan.
4. Do you budget? How?
Dillan is even more of a budget nerd than I am! He budgets all his expenses into an Excel spreadsheet every 2 weeks. That way he’s in good control of everything that comes in and out and how to plan for the future. Alvar and I were impressed.
Investments! I was ecstatic to hear about a student who was into investing!
He says he doesn’t have any short-term investments, only long term in something called an IRA (the American version of the ISA here in the UK). Since he worked for two different companies, he has investments with their pension schemes.
Still pretty cool that he’s already thinking about his future and investing.
8. How do you find student deals and which ones do you use?
Since he is a hardcore budgeter, he doesn’t feel the need to search for student deals and discounts. As mentioned before, he focuses on increasing his income, and not so much decreasing his expenses– simply an interesting and different mentality to have.
Although cool, I still recommend checking out this system I made to take advantage of as many discounts as possible (it does not require coupon clipping).
9. Ever thought of getting started with investing? What’s holding you back?
Of course, here we knew Dillan had experience with investing, and both Alvar and I were excited to hear someone else who was into it.
But Dillan gave a very important piece of advice: don’t start investing until you have no debt.
When investing, you will be getting an average of 7% a year, however if you have debt with an interest rate of 18% APR, it literally makes no sense to start investing before paying off debt.
In the US, student loans are very different to the UK. Americans get higher interest rates and are obliged to pay them all back.
In the UK, you don’t need to pay them back in full and the interest rate is 0.5 or 1%. Yay.
So following Dillan’s advice, pay off your debt if it’s something like consumer debt (credit cards, payday loans, personal loans, etc), and then start investing. Hopefully you haven’t even heard of the word consumer debt before.
10. What are some things you’re struggling with at uni?
As an international student, the hardest part for him was uncertainty. He wasn’t sure how high the expenses would be in Edinburgh and didn’t know how to budget or forecast before actually getting there.
An interesting problem to have. If I were him I would have gone to an Edinburgh subreddit or UK students and asked others – crowdsourcing is always a great answer!
11. Is university worth it, for you?
Following on from his philosophy, Dillan is doing this masters so he can get a much better job with a higher salary. For him, a big part of university is that big career advance that will let him earn more money.
Impressive, and I think we can learn a lot from a mentality like this.
Takeaways
Dillan was very interesting to interview and I’m glad we got the perspective of an American student! Here are the main takeaways I got from our interview:
Focus more on your income than your expenses
Pay off your debt before you start investing
Do your research before moving to a new place!
Do you agree with what Dillan says? Reblog and let me know!
This time I decided to take it to the streets and interview students hanging around University of Edinburgh. I dragged my good friend Alvar along and we just stopped random students and asked them the same 11 questions. It was very interesting and quite a bit of fun! I also handed them an amateur (but still cute) Financially Mint business card so they would check out their answers.
I also recorded their answers, but won’t be putting them all up since that day was very windy and the sound wasn’t always great.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s see what our great interviewee Tom has got to say!
(I will probably hit the streets again, so if you have any ideas of other questions to ask them feel free to reblog with ideas!)
1. Name and university
Tom from the University of Edinburgh
2. Did you take out a student loan? If so, how much are you getting?
Since we’re in Scotland, most students have free tuition (unless you’re international or English). Tom gets a maintenance loan of around £300/month.
3. Is the loan enough? How else do you support yourself?
Tom’s parents aren’t too hard off, so it’s understandable that his loan is low. However, from what he says it seems that his parents don’t send him that much money either.
His savings from working over the summer paid for the rent this year.
4. Do you budget? How?
He tries to not spend more than £300-400 a month. Although that might not be considered full on budgeting, it still shows he is conscious about his spending and puts some restrictions. Good Tom.
As mentioned before, Tom took a summer job working in a restaurant. All the money went to rent and now he’s applied for a job in a pub.
It’s crazy to think how many hours we can work in a summer, and then how quickly it disappears with big expenses like rent or textbooks. That’s why I encourage students to take a job that builds skills, so you can get something else out of the job as well.
7. Do you make money in any other ways?
Currently applied for a pub job.
8. How do you find student deals and which ones do you use?
He does use the NUS card and simply tries shopping in cheap places, but apart from that not much else. This is because of his mentality of ‘yes discounts are great, but I would still have to buy it in the first place’.
I love this because Tom understands that discounts are a marketing and sales tactic for companies to attract more customers. That’s great, but it still doesn’t mean we actually need to buy said thing.
Discounts and offers are great, but ask yourself the Tom question before even using it: Do I really need this? You’ll save much more money buy simply not buying
9. Ever thought of getting started with investing? What’s holding you back?
I was always laughing when I asked this question, simply because investing is mostly unheard of in the student world, and most students would look at me like ‘investing? I don’t want to lose all my money thanks’.
Tom told us he knew a bit about stocks and had seen Wolf of Wall Street, but like many other people, did not know enough to get started.
But I’m adamant on investing for a reason: investing in your early twenties means having a savings pot of £121,000 at the age of 50, versus just saving £36,000. Cue my favourite graph:
But of course, no one tells us how to get started. So here are some Financially Mint articles for ya:
If you’re very nervous about getting started and want a bit more advice, contact me or send me a message on Instagram – I’m always happy to help
10. What’s the hardest part of being a student?
Tom had a few replies:
Getting used to the independence – from student accommodation to a flat
Loneliness
Balancing work and study, managing your time efficiently.
Other students had similar answers (check out Victoria‘s). It’s hard to try to have a social life, earn money and get good grades at the same time. The key is scheduling. Google Calendar is my life. More in this in a post to follow.
11. Is university worth it, for you?
Tom was a bit hesitant on this question, admitting that sometimes when he finishes the summer he does wish he could get into a full time job immediately.
His answer was: ask me after I’ve graduated. He hopes it will be worth it, but it was visible he wasn’t sure.
It’s not an easy question to answer; we’ve been programmed to think: school, university, job. Most people go to university because this is what is expected, this is what society tells us is the path of life. So it’s interesting to hear what students themselves think of it.
Notably, I decided to take a different path and do an online university instead. Whatever works best for you.
Takeaways
Tom was a great guy to interview, and I hope he checks out the blog and reads his answers!
The key takeaways I got from interviewing Tom were:
Before buying something ask yourself: ‘Do I really need this?’
Discounts are great, but not buying is still cheaper than buying on a discount
Simply being conscious about what you’re spending is an easy way to get started with budgeting
What did you think? Is university worth it for you? Let me know in the comments!
Most students look at me like I’m crazy every time I suggest getting into investing - that’s because they believe all the myths people tell them (hem hem broken education system).
Investing is not complicated.Youdon’tneed a lot of money to get started with. And you won’t lose all your money.
It’s not very practical and it can be very vague. And too many times it ends up with you researching everything you just read.
The thing is, it’s not easy as a student to see what a portfolio should look like. Not many people share what exactly they’re investing in (FoxyMonkey has a great post on his own portfolio). It’s true; every person invests differently and it all depends on your risk appetite and what you’re interested in investing in.
So here I’m going to take you through the individual steps to start investing as a student, and will encourage you to do research and shop around, as with all investing posts. However, we’ll also be following the steps of Katie, a normal (but still cool) student who wants to get started in the investing world.
(Remember that I am not a financial advisor and cannot be held accountable for any investments decisions) (Neither can Katie)
Vamos!
1. Make a plan
The number one reason people don’t start investing: ‘I don’t have money!’. Wrong! You do have money (yes, even students!). What you need is a plan.
Start by following the 15% rule: allocating 15% of your income to yourself (here’s a guide to get started). From that 15%, figure out how much you want to use for investing. This really depends on your priorities and where you want to put your money first.
You’ll be putting this money into index funds. Index funds are basically a basket of funds which track the market, and will have the same return as the market every year. This will be done through a Stocks and Shares ISA that gives you an allowance of £20,000 every year completely tax free. That means you won’t have to pay tax when you declare your investments.
As you put in some money every month, the amount will accumulate every time forming a nice nest egg. You can then use this little egg as an emergency fund, for a big expense or simply to save for the future – the decision is all yours. And if you suddenly you decide you need the money right now, you just sell your assets and the cash is there in 3-5 days. So chill.
Of course, remember that the market fluctuates over time you could lose money as well as gain some. However, in the long run, you’ll be gaining.
Our friend Katie is very excited to start investing. She earns £500 a month. 15% of 500 is £75. She decides she’s willing to put £50 every month into an index fund to start building her emergency fund. Now she has a plan.
2. Sign up to a platform
You’ve got your money, now you choose which platform to put it in. How to choose? Look for the one with the cheapest costs and which appeals the best to you. Here’s a list:
This is the part that frustrates me. No one wants to recommend a specific investment platform, so they just say do your own research. Personally, I use Vanguard for index investing. Which one should you use?
I recommend picking 3 from the list and signing up to them (the lower the costs, the better). No money, just signing up. Try them out and see which one you like the best: easy to understand platform, good customer service and a good choice of index funds – those are things you’re looking for. Vanguard is popular because of the extremely low costs, but maybe you prefer something else because it’s easier to understand.
Only you can say, which is why it’s good to try out several platforms. I also recommend going on Reddit threads and seeing how other people invest and what they recommend, you can really learn a lot.
Katie tries out a few. She visits their websites and even signs up to a few demo platforms (another good way to test a platform). Eventually she goes with Vanguard (what a coincidence). She signs up: sends them a photo of her passport and proof of address. Once she’s in, she opens up an ISA (the steps are detailed on the platform) and adds £50 – the first month. This means she has £50 in cash in the platform. She hasn’t invested any of it yet.
3. Invest
Once you’ve signed up to the platform of your choice, it’s time to choose what to invest in. Yes, we said index funds, but there are different types of index funds which track different markets. You could track the FTSE 100, Emerging markets, Global index funds and others such as small cap index funds(small companies). Check the info on each fund: it tells you their past performance, what fees they charge and how risky they are.
What I recommend: something global. You don’t want to invest only in one area, since it’s more likely to fluctuate (especially Britain with Brexit and all). Pick a few of the global ones and read through the info pdfs of each one. It will tell you the level of risk, the fees and what exactly it invests in. Pick 5 and try to narrow it down to 1 or 2. That’s where you’ll be putting your money!
Katie looks around Vanguard and decides she wants to go global (we have a clever one!). Vanguard offers Global index funds (called LifeStrategy 100% Equity) at 0.22% cost and with a risk of 5/7. She invests her £50 into the index fund. Yay! She then sets up a direct debit so that every month £50 go into Vanguard global index funds.
4. Practice
It’s exciting to see your money grow every month. You can now sit back and relax, your money is working for you as it earns interest and accumulates over time
But it’s good to keep practicing and keep being interested. You are now an investor: look at what’s going on in the news, check out how other people invest and where else you could do with your money. But of course, only if you want to. What’s great about passive investing is that it’s exactly that: passive. The fact that you’re investing in the first place already a huge step.
After a few months of investing and seeing her nest egg grow, Katie decides she wants to take the next step and really learn more about investing. She signs up to The Economist (which is £12 for the first 12 issues btw!) to keep up to date with the world, she checks out how other people invest on Reddit forums and she looks around for other ways to make her money work for her: maybe a side-hustle, a different index fund, etc. She’s pretty excited; she knows that as long as she keeps her 15% rule going, her nest egg will grow and so will her knowledge.
It’s not easy to get started with investing when it looks scary and risky, but once you understand what the steps are and how simple it can be, you realise how important it is to start investing now. Be like Katie: take the first step. Start researching, looking around and asking on forums. The amount of knowledge out there is astounding, you just need a little push to find it.
Have investing doubts? What’s holding you back? Lemme know below!
Thanks to them you sometimes get to eat free, get some nice cheap clothes and from time to time some free money. Exactly what students need.
And yet most students aren’t aware of those discounts! Some actually pay the full price of clothing or actually pay the Spotify membership in full! Crazy!
If you want to save some proper money, I recommend following the steps in this post to find the best student discounts. We start off with the right cards to get and finish with the best websites to keep up to date – the amount you’ll save will blow your mind.
1. Cards
Get these cards and use them. You’ll be surprised at how many places will offer you discounts if you parade your NUS or uni card in front of them. These cards can be used for clothes, food, bars, transport, etc. To make sure you’re never missing out on a discount, you can show these cards to anyone and ask. I tell you: worth it.
The National Union of Students offer the latest NUS Extra card that will give you some sweet discounts in many of the major high street shops. It costs £12 for one year, and apparently you save an average of £500 a year using it!! Very cool.
University student card
Yep, your own university will help you out. Thanks to that little card, I’ve had a ton of discounts in bars, restaurants and random places like zoos. Whip it out, show it and you get a discount.
This one is an app and you can also get the card. All you have to do is show your profile on the app while checking out in a retail shop and you can receive 10-50% discount! There’s no shame in asking around – we’re all trying to survive her. This applies for both restaurants and retailers.
As the name says itself, great for anyone aged 16-25 who takes the train a lot. Thanks to this little card you can get 1/3 off any train fares. You do have to pay £30 a year though.
The benefits a student debit card has are pretty amazing. First you need to go open a student bank account at the bank that offers the best benefits (you can compare here). Some offer some cool benefits such as a free £80 gift card, 1 year of Amazon Prime and some great overdrafts. You get those the minute you sign up and will get more if you graduate with the same bank.
2. Specific discounts
So you’ve now got your cards. Now it’s time to look into stuff a bit more specifically to gather even more discounts. They may take a bit more time to use or research, but most are totally worth it.
For most of them you’ll need a NUS card or UNiDAYS. Which is why I’m making sure you’ve got those before getting more.
Now you’re a proper discount pro. You’ve got the cards, you know which specific discounts you want to use and you’re saving a lot of money. The next step is to keep up to date. Student deals and offers are constantly changing and adjusting to seasons, so it’s good to keep up to date and see what else is happening. To do this I recommend signing up to newsletters (actually checking those emails!) and regularly checking the websites. You can also download the app if they offer it (like UNiDAYS).
I’m always asking how other students survive and take advantage of discounts. You can check this awesome previous case study with Victoria where she explains exactly how she budgets and does all the rest.
What she says: walk around. As you’re walking to uni, or going to the gym, take a look around you and look for discounts. Look at where they’re advertised on windows and what kind of deals they offer. You really do find the best ones there.
Every Thursday I will also be posting student case studies, so make sure to follow those if you want to find cool new discounts and offers!
Others: I’ve asked around on reddit and even Tumblr and people mostly follow the method described above. You don’t need to go all out coupon clipping and doing everything you can just to save £2, but from time to time it’s definitely worth it. Just show your NUS/university card and ask if they do discounts – you’ll be surprised at how many you can find.
So what do I do with all this money I save? Something you’re probably asking yourself. And I will tell you: Pay Yourself. Apply the 15% rule and use that money for yourself. Every time you get your income, take out 15% and put it in a separate savings account. This will literally change your life. And here’s a guide to getting started: Why The 15% is Your Key to Freedom.
Another awesome interview! This time I talk to Dillan from the US who’s currently studying in Scotland. He tells me how he invests his money and other money tactics :)
I’ve always dreamt of going to one of these and when I found out there was one going on in Barcelona I bought the tickets immediately.
And just… WOW. 10 talks of 15 min and they were literally amazing. One woman was proving how dogs can smell cancer and how we can use this in hospitals. Another was on using video games to help patients understand their illnesses.
But my favourite was a video of this guy who was arguing why AI is going to save humanity. (you can check the video on the TED website).
His argument: Robots are going to steal all our repetitive and monotonous jobs. But no one really likes those jobs anyway, they are not ‘fulfilling’ jobs. Taking away those jobs means we will be forced to be creative and strategic, bringing much more ‘fulfilment’ to our lives and therefore saving us.
I absolutely loved it - I felt it had a lot to do with the FI mentality.
Anyway, I very much encourage you, student or not, to go to a TEDx conference in your city. It cost me 30€ and it’s absolutely worth it.
Remember, the best investment you can make is an investment in yourself - and this is a great opportunity to do so.
I’ve been there too: the feeling of wanting to do everything, of wanting to be great at everything I do and saying yes to every opportunity that comes my way.
But this leads to a lack of satisfaction, of continued stress and lack of productivity.
Society tells us the MORE we do the BETTER. But as McKeown says in his book ‘Essentialism’, LESS is BETTER.
Less means: - Focusing on one thing at a time - Being the best at a few things, instead of trying to be good at many - Choosing your prioritY (not several priorities)
Being able to focus on that one thing we care about allows us to put all our energy into it, producing more satisfaction and making us more productive in the long run
So now I ask you: What’s your number one priority in life?
I’m very excited to be bringing you Financially Mint’s first student case study! I’m hoping to be publishing these every week so students can compare and see how others deal with student life.
The first one was done with my great friend Victoria (or Mackers, as I like to call her). After a night out in Glasgow, I whipped out some questions and recorded her answers. Some awesome answers!
If you’re interested in free coaching and what to answer these simple questions, please contact me(you don’t have to use your real name if you don’t want to ;))
So without further ado, let’s hear from Victoria!
1. Name and university
Victoria at the University of Glasgow
2. Did you take out a student loan? If so, how much are you getting?
Victoria took out a maintenance loan with SAAS. As you probably know, university is free for Scottish students in Scotland – so Victoria doesn’t need to take out a loan to pay for tuition (yay!).
She tells me she receives £475/month as a maintenance loan.
3. Is the loan enough? How else do you support yourself?
It’s just enough to cover rent and a little bit more. Her rent is £400/month, so she has 2 jobs to support and earn the rest.
She works as a waitress and tour guide. More on that below.
She doesn’t spreadsheet and calculate every little bit, but she always puts aside money for rent first.
After that she sees what’s left and as she says she ‘thinks ahead’.
Actual budgeting is a little more useful, but I know she is already pretty careful with money. To start budgeting properly (it only takes 30 min per month), check out this Student Guide: Budgeting
5. What are your tips to save money?
Walking. Walking instead of taking ubers or taxis.
Cutting down on drinking. Sometimes she’ll only have one drink at the bar. Sometimes that’s all you need.
As mentioned before, she works as a waitress and tour guide. Since their both not permanent jobs, she works whenever she has time, which is about 2 days a week for her.
What she recommends: get a seasonal job. For her tour guiding job she only really works over the summer. She earns an astounding £30/hour. Great way to save up money.
7. Do you make money in any other ways?
Her parents don’t financially support her, but Victoria says she does odd jobs for them here and there and might get a few £50 (or she steals there food hehe).
Surveysandmatched betting are some others quick ways to make money, but read my reviews before getting started… make sure they’re worth your time.
8. How do you find student deals and which ones do you use?
Emails.
She signs up to the newsletter of certain shops and restaurants, and gets emails whenever there’s a cool discount on. She mentions Yo Sushi, Urban Outfitters and Asos.
She also might discover discounts through friends, or even just walking around and checking out the windows. Pretty cool.
9. Ever thought of getting started with investing? What’s holding you back?
I’m always insisting on students to get started on investing, so of course I had to ask this question. Her answer: Not knowing where to invest and how much is a safe amount.
Sometimes she puts away some money and 2 months later she needs to take it out again for some reason or the other, so she’s not sure how much to put out in the first place. Do you have that experience?
If you do want to get started, read the following posts:
10. What are some things you struggle with most at university?
She tells me she struggles most with timetabling, time management and actually doing all the work. Basically being able to have a balance between university, library, gym and a social life.
If you feel the same way feel free to check out these posts:
Victoria is studying at uni to learn. She says she’s hoping it will give her a job in the future, but at the moment she’s focusing on enjoying her education. She knows that we’ll probably be working 40 or 50 year long lives, and is willing to put in 4 years to get a proper education. She also says she loves meeting the people there and acquiring essential life knowledge.
It was amazing to interview my friend and I think a lot of other students can learn a bit about how others are doing. What do you think of Victoria’s methods? Do you agree with her? Reblog and lemme know :D
