Watching Your Money Correctly When Abroad
September 9, 2008 by Jeff
In my last post I discussed things that you need to consider money-wise before leaving on your trip. This included having enough cash for the first few days, looking into credit cards and NOT taking travelers checks.
Today I'll discuss other things that you should consider money-wise prior to leaving on your trip. These are things that although don't seem important can actually save you hassle, stress and even money!
Study the Currency Before Leaving
Obviously before leaving on your trip you'll have a bit of the other countries currency. A great tip is to study that money before leaving. Determine what the 5, 10 and 20 dollar (or other currency) bills look like. This will ensure that when you think you should get 25 back you actually get 25 and not 15. It's very easy for someone in another country to try and give you the improper change because you don't know the language.
Pay where you can see numbers to ensure correct change
Another great tip to ensure you get the correct change is to try and see the cashier when paying. Seeing the numbers usually make a lot more sense to people then some foreign language numbers where you might not even know how to count to 25.
Converting to your currency correctly
When paying for things like souvenirs most people like to compare these prices to the price that they'd pay at home. A good thing to get used to is converting to your home currency easily. When traveling to Japan I know that 100 yen is approximately 1 dollar Canadian. Do I care that it's actually less then a dollar? NO! I just want an approximate number. Same goes for going to Europe. The EU dollar is approximately 1 to every $2 Canadian. It's not perfect but it's easy to convert and that's the key because you don't want to be trying to figure out some complex math that you'll need a calculator!
Exchange / Withdrawal larger sums of money
When going to the bank or bank machine take out larger amounts of money. You'll often be charged a bank access fee when taking out money. Therefore, it's much wiser to take out a larger sum of money to avoid having to get charged the bank access fee multiple times. Simple tip but can save you a bit of money.
Get A Money Belt
Finally, get yourself a money belt and wear it around. This is very important in places where tourist are preyed upon for money. You can simply place your passport, valuables and cash in the money belt and have it under your pants hidden from everyone. Once in public NEVER go inside it for any reason as this will alert everyone that you're wearing a belt that contains a good amount of money.
So what have I missed in terms of traveling to a different country (abroad) with money? Are there anythings that you do prior to traveling to prepare yourself? Let us know if you do and leave a comment!
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