How to Manage Your Money When You Travel
Just because you are traveling doesn’t mean that proper money management should stop! It is just as important to manage your money when traveling as it is when you are at home. Here are a few easy ways you can manage your money when you travel.
Say No To Exchange Booths
While you will want to have some of the local cash on hand when traveling abroad, you should definitely say no to currency exchange booths. While they may seem quite convenient, located in airports and around popular attractions, they will charge you high interest rates and exorbitant fees. Using these services are poor ways to manage your money while traveling. Instead, try to plan ahead and withdraw currency in your home country before your trip. You can likely get better exchange rates and lower fees from online exchange sites or your own personal bank.
Know Your Exchange Rates
In a perfect world, you will make the perfect currency exchange before your trip and have all the cash you need while traveling. However, you may find that you do need more money while you are abroad. So what should you do? One thing you should definitely do is be aware of the current exchange rate so that if you need to convert some cash, you know what a good rate is. Use tools like the ANZ currency converter to make sure your exchange is fair.
Use An App
When you are traveling abroad, chances are all the prices on items will be listed in the local currency which may be foreign to you. Using an app, you can easily convert these prices into your native currency can help you know if a price is good or not, preventing you from overspending!
Check Your Budget
Before you travel, make a budget for yourself. While you are traveling, be sure to check your budget frequently and compare it to your spending. Be sure to stay on track! When you stick to your budget throughout your trip, this is the absolute best way to be sure you are managing your money well.
Watch Your Accounts
If you are using your credit cards or debit cards while abroad, you should check your accounts at the end of each day, logging on to the respective websites to ensure that there are no fraudulent charges. When you are traveling in an area that you do not know, you may be at risk of an unknown vendor stealing your information. Staying on top of your accounts is the best way to prevent this from happening or catching it quickly if it does! Rather than use your cards abroad, you should also consider purchasing a prepaid travel money card which you can load with foreign currency and use freely as if it were a credit card. However, it is not linked to any of your personal accounts making it a safer option.
Knowing exchange rates, avoiding high fees, planning ahead and staying on top of your accounts and charges are all essential to helping you manage your money while traveling. All of these tips are easy to do and will ensure that you have a fun, stress free and financially sound trip!
