A. Money for Your Trip Over
B. Financial Arrangements While Abroad
C. Budgeting While Abroad
It is assumed that you understand the payment plan for Swarthmore's Semester/Year Abroad Program,
the provisions of which apply to all Swarthmore students who wish to receive Swarthmore credit for study
abroad. If you have any questions about this, please bring them right away to either Steve Piker or Rosa Bernard.
Each of you has had experience in managing aspects of your financial situation. The first, and main,
thing to know about your financial situation while you are abroad is this: just about certainly, things
are going to work very differently from how they work at home. There is an awful lot of variability in
this regard from place to place. Here are some considerations which should be important and useful to
you wherever you are heading.
The first and main thing: Your program, or the international students office of your host university, has had a lot of experience with these matters. Ask these good folks for guidance on how best you should organize your finances while you are with them. Further......
A. MONEY FOR YOUR TRIP OVER
It's a good idea to carry, anyhow, a couple of hundred dollars (cash if you want, traveller's
checks are more secure) for expenses you may run into before you establish your regular financial
arrangements for the semester. Some say it's also a good idea to arrive with a small amount of
host country currency in your pocket. The Office for Foreign Study can instruct you on how to
obtain country currency, if you want to do so. Doing so will occasion some inconvenience for
you. Just about certainly, upon your arrival you will find currency exchange booths in the
airport both before and after you clear customs.
B. FINANCIAL ARRANGMENTS WHILE ABROAD
1 Bank Accounts. Often, it will make good sense
for you to open a bank account while abroad. For a lucky few, your current U.S. Bank will have
branches where you are going to be, and arrangements can be made before you leave. This is not
likely. Much more commonly, when you get there you will follow the advice of your program, re
choosing a bank. You can open your account with what remains of your coming over cash or travellers
checks. Two ways of getting more accessible money into your account quickly are: a) Bring money in
the form of traveller's checks. b) When your new account is open, find out from your bank about
how a wire transfer of funds by someone (e.g., a parent) back home can get money into your account.
Please remember: If you present your new overseas bank with a check - even if it is an institutional
or bank check - it may be weeks before it will clear and you will have use of the funds overseas.
2. Credit Cards and ATMs. Both can provide easy ways to access
host country cash while you are with your program. If you're hoping to use ATM machines, ask your
program about their local availability, as well as surcharges. Re credit cards…the most
versatile, but also the most expensive, is American Express which (so they say) has no upper
limit on the amount of host country currency you can get (at their offices, with a card and
a personal check and a passport). American Express cards carry a host of other services as
well. For Master Cards and Visa cards, you will have a pre-set upper limit on how much cash
you can access. Please N.B., if you are using ATMs or credit cards abroad, it's only going
to continue to work if someone is paying the monthly bill in U.S. currency, or if a credit
balance is maintained for you.
3. Security. While you're abroad, your money is safest if it's in a bank. If you are going to have more than small amounts of currency with you, all except what you need for daily expenses in the short run should be in the form of traveller's checks, or should be securely stowed in, e.g., a program safe. If you carry significant amounts of currency with you or leave it unsecured at your lodgings, you're asking for trouble. And about travellers checks, please N.B., from whatever company you obtain your checks, the refund procedures will require you to have a record the numbers of the lost or stolen checks. Make sure that you keep the record of your check numbers somewhere other than where you are keeping the checks; and, to be on the safe side, leave a record of the check numbers with someone at home whom you will always be able to reach.
C. BUDGETING WHILE ABROAD
You may or may not have obligatory expenses while you are abroad. You certainly will have discretionary expenses.
1. Obligatory expenses
Some programs provide you with lodging and all of your regular meals. If you attend one of these programs,
you will not have to do any budgeting for room and board, you will simply have to take yourself to the
stipulated sleeping and eating places at appropriate times (and sleep and eat), e.g., fully catered plans
at British universities. This is the situation that on-campus students have at Swarthmore. Other programs
will require you to make some or all of the payments for food or lodging, or both. In all such cases, an
amount of money adequate for these payments will be provided for you in advance, either by the program
or by Swarthmore College, or both. In some cases, e.g., programs in the United Kingdom, break period(s)
expenses for room and board are not covered by Swarthmore College. If money for board and/or room
expenses is advanced to you, it is imperative that you understand clearly in advance what your obligatory
expenses will be, how much money you have to meet them, and how long this money has to last. For example,
you may attend a program which provides breakfast and dinner, and gives you a cash allowance to buy your
own lunch. You have to work out the relationship between the size of the allowance and the number of
lunches over the time period involved. Or, lodgings are provided for you, but you are required to provide
all of your meals for yourself out of a cash allowance. Or, you are expected both to rent lodgings and
pay for your meals out of a cash allowance. In all such cases, it will be your responsibility to work
out the relationship between the cash allowed to you and the expenses that you personally are obliged
to cover, for the time period involved. And a word of caution: the people who work out these
allowances know the local situation well, and they have been doing it for a long time. They know
reliably how much money is required to maintain the standard of living that is intended for students on their
programs. If you overspend the allowance, don't expect it to be raised.
And, some programs may require of you a refundable room/security deposit. Security deposits are not covered under the Semester/Year Abroad Program, you must pay this out yourself. Check with your program regarding amount of deposit and conditions for full refund when the program is completed.
2. Discretionary expenses
Everyone will have some of these, e.g., toiletries and other personal items, gifts, recreation and entertainment,
shopping, travel. This comes out of your own pocket, just as it does while you are at Swarthmore. A few important
points here: First, it's important to know at the beginning of your stay abroad how much you can spend, total, on
discretionary expenses. Second, for 'musts' (e.g., toiletries), make it a point to learn where natives of your host
country shop for these items, and do your shopping there. Be willing to purchase local products, which are comparable
to those you use at home. If you are at all budget conscious, stay away from outlets that cater to tourists and the
upper classes of your host country. If you follow this advice, this means in most cases that you will be purchasing
your 'musts' from outlets that do not accept credit cards. If, for 'musts', you shop at stores that accept credit
cards, just about certainly you will be paying much more than you need to; and, possibly, more than you can afford.
Third, especially as regards recreation and entertainment, don't expect or intend to be able to replicate abroad
what you do at home. Either it won't be available, period, or you will pay an arm and a leg for it. Rather, intend
to learn to enjoy what, locally, is enjoyed by your hosts and, insofar as possible, participate with them in their
leisure time activities. If you are someplace where cost of living is significantly higher than here (e.g., most
European countries), pick and choose. Thus, an evening at Sadler Wells in London or the Opera in Paris will set
you back a bundle; but all over England and France, including in London and Paris, there are numerous local
groups, many of them amateur, who perform delightful classical music at modest costs, sometimes free. And,
especially in Europe, make it a point to learn where your International Student I.D. Card can do you a lot
of good, re prices. Rules of thumb: if you are attending a university, the recreational practices of university
students from the host country will usually be affordable by you. If you are staying with a host family,
the social activities thereby available to you will usually be affordable by you. If you participate in
program-recommended activities, these normally will be affordable by you. If you make a bee line for those
places in your city or locale where lots of Americans hang out, and if you entertain yourself in the manner
of these compatriots, expect to spend a lot more.
3. How much money?
If you are going to have obligatory expenses, as described above, it should be clear to you before you go what
they will be and how you will be provided with the funds to meet them. For discretionary expenses, normally
your program can advise you very specifically about this. This advice will be informed by the standard of living
that the program deems suitable for its participants. If you can afford to spend beyond this on, e.g., travel
beyond what the program provides, shopping, meals out, recreation, this is up to you.