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Tips »Personal Finance Tips While Traveling Abroad
Personal Finance Tips While Traveling Abroad
A lot of people travel abroad for business, pleasure or on an overseas student
program. Whatever is the purpose of your visit, you have to be very careful
about your personal finances and proper planning is very essential. Here are
a few tips that might prove useful to you.
There
are few options for the method in which you carry money.They include:
-
It is
best to carry enough money in the currency of the country you are visiting
(so that you have enough money when you reach the place) and also in the currency
of the country you are staying (so that you are not without any money on your
return). There is always a limit on the foreign exchange. You should just
keep enough money for necessity and not too much.
- Plastic
money is safer than cash. So, keep international credit cards which are not
only easy to carry but are also accepted everywhere. They are the most convenient
method of payment. It also helps the traveler to defer payment and also gives
him a favorable exchange rate. You should however check to see if all the
details on the card are correct and take note of the date of expiry of the
card. You can also do a survey and choose the company which offers the least
fees and charges on the card, when used abroad. So, choose a ‘traveler
friendly’ credit card. You should take note of your credit limit. You
can also keep one credit card to a limit and another spare card in safe keeping
for use if you lose the first one. It would also be best to get the phone
numbers of the credit card company and the banks in the country/countries
that you would be visiting so that you can contact them in case of an emergency.
- Debit cards can also be used for payment. The debit cards are the cards
given by the banks or financial institutions. So, this will be useful in drawing
cash from your account at the ATM. You can also use it to pay for your purchases.
The few disadvantages are that the card might get lost. It might not be compatible
with the local ATM, You might forget the pin. You might suddenly realize that
you do not have enough money in the account. Since it is technology dependent
you may have these problems. Also, some special fees may be charged for international
transactions. Sometimes the ATM’s may also run out of cash when
you need it the most.
- You
can also have a pre-paid debit card. This is not in any way connected to you
bank account. You can buy it by paying a certain amount of money. So, it is
a good option. The only difficulty will be when it is lost it will be difficult
to replace it. This also has some fees you have to pay like – the
purchase fee, international transaction fee, cancellation fee etc.
- The other
method is taking traveler’s checks. They are very safe
and are not expensive. The only disadvantage is that you have to get it converted
to cash at exchange bureaus which might not be easily available. So, you have
to find the exchange bureau to convert it to cash.
Following are some precautions you need to take while traveling with regard to
personal finance.
- You should
always keep the money and all important papers and cards safe. The best method
would be to have a money belt or some other bag which you can keep strapped
on to you.
- Make
sure to keep all the receipts of all your purchases, safely. This might be
useful when you want to check the card statement when it comes for payment.
- Take care that there is no double billing. You might have booked your room
at the hotel with a card but might decide to pay by cash. The hotel might
already have billed it to your card.
So, taking
cash is the best option, but not always possible. Traveler’s checks
can be used everywhere. Cards can be used only in some places. Both traveler’s
checks and cards will mean that you will lose some amount in exchange rate.
Traveler’s checks charge a higher rate compared to cash exchange rate.
As you are charged by the cards after a certain lag time, you will not be
able to negotiate on the conversion rate.
It would
be best to have a combination of all methods of carrying cash – cash,
traveler’s checks and credit and debit cards. This will mea that you
have all the options open. If one does not work, you can use the other, according
to need and convenience. So, follow these tips and enjoy your trip abroad.
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