1. 3. Budgetingandmanagingyourmoney.Explainhow youmake the bestfinancialdecisionsyou
can in orderto reach yourgoal of an abroad experience.Tell ushow youwentaboutmakingyourplans
to getto college andto studyabroad!
Justa plane ticket toanothercontinentcancost about$1,000 and more.That’swhy I made sure to save
all my moneyandcut downon spendingbeforeIcame to Chile.
Travelingisanawesome experience butrequiresmoneybudgeting. BeforeItraveled,Iworkedata Jazz
festival,multicultural centeratmyhome universityanda kid’ssummercampand savedall the moneyI
made.I alsocut downon a lot of my spendingandevencutoff myphone service twomonthsprior.On
top of all that, I applied andreceived astudyabroadscholarshipatmy universityandthe Gilman
International Scholarship. There isalotof study abroad scholarshipsyoucantake advantage of if you
applyand sendina strongapplication,alwayspursue them! Ievenhadadvisorscheckmyapplications
before I submittedthem. Receivingthesescholarshipsinadditiontothe Academic WorkStudy
scholarship,financial aid,andgrantsI usuallyreceive,coveredmywhole tuitionstudyingabroad and
helpedme withmytravelingexpenses. Iworkedhardacademicallyand physicallytobe able tohave my
studyabroad programpaidfor and to have moneyhere totravel. Itis worthall that hard work!
My firstbigchallenge inChilewastofigure outhow much a US dollarisworth. One US dollaris now
worth589 ChileanPesos.The costof livinghere isa justa tad little thaninthe UnitedStates.For
example,youcanbuya coke with500 Chileanpesos.How muchisthatin USD? You guessedit right;itis
a little lessthanadollar. Now,before Ispendmoneyonanything,Iconvertthe currencyinmy headto
sumup howmuch USD I wouldbe spending. Doingthis,keepsme fromoverspendingandstayingwithin
a budgetso I am able touse mymoneyonother things. Ialwayscheckmy bankaccount everyweekto
make sure I stay on track. I onlywithdraw moneyfromanATMwhenIam outof cash andI then
withdrawalot because Iam charged $5USD everytime Iwithdraw.
Everyday I spendmoneyontransportationbackandforth to myuniversityandalsotoplacesaround
town.I wouldsayI spendabout$1-5USD dailyontransportation.There are alsodaysI travel and spend
moneyonthe bus or plane ticket,foodandspendingmoney.Recentlytosave alittle whenItravel,I’ve
useda website calledcouchsurfwhere youconnectwithpeoplewho live inthe townyouwanttovisit
and theyletyoustay intheirhouse forfree if they’re available. While doingthis,Ialwaysused
precautionarystepswhere I wentwith friendsandImade sure to check outtheirprofile onthe website
and readreferences otherguestsattheirhouse have leftaboutthem.I’ve done thistwice sofarandthe
hostshave beenveryfriendlyandveryinformative aboutplacestovisitintheirtown.Thisalsosavedme
a lot of money onhousing.
Because travelingcanbe expensive,myfriendsandIalwaysaskotherpeople whohave traveledto
those placesforadvice,we doresearchand planout ourtrips andbudgethow much itcosts. For travel
advice,myfriendlovestouse atravel bookcalled,Lonely Planet.It givesyoulocationstovisitand
advice ontravelingaboutcitiesinanycountryinthe world. Ialsohave to pick outwhichtripsI really
wantto do because unfortunatelyIdon’thave the budgettodo themall. My final advice isthatstudying
