Money. Is it arbitrary to say that money makes the world go round? Well, for study abroad students, money lets them go around the world. For those who study abroad, not everyone is lucky enough to have parents who will pay for everything. Many others and myself had to use savings and work to afford our adventure. Students whose parents are able to pay for the entirety of their abroad experience are very lucky. During my time abroad, my parents graciously gave me some money when I was struggling financially (mostly during fall and spring break). But saving money of your own is very important for studying abroad, though it can be hard.
Personally, I felt more rewarded knowing that I paid the majority of my expenses and that many people would commend me when they found out that I was mostly supporting myself. My parents were already paying for my tuition so I felt as though it was my duty to provide some money. The summer prior, I worked full time, and during the school year, I worked part time. Spending my own money was a lot harder than spending my parents. I would not call myself frugal, but falling along the lines of being a conscious spender.
There are many different methods people use to save up money for periods of time. A dollar a day can make a big difference after a year, you put away one dollar a day and that adds up to $365 in your pocket. Saving $10 a week adds up to $520 at the end of the year. One method that people use to save money starts off with $0.01 for the first day and the amounts for the days after are double the amount in the account. After 30 days you would have $5,368,709.12. Realistically, I doubt any college student would succeed in this attempt, but another version of this could be putting the dollar amount of the day number in the account. For a month with 31 days in it, you can easily gain $496.
Spare change is perhaps my favorite way to save money. Finding coins and putting them in a jar can really add up. Being abroad, I had 36 euro in coins after two weeks. Throughout the year, I would dip into my coins and pull out a euro or two. By the time I left, I still had a decent amount from the coins I had collected all year.
Now, another way to save money is to cut down on expenses. You know that coffee you buy, the one that costs $4.75, a day? Well that coffee is not needed so often. Say you buy that coffee three times a week; that’s $171 in just three months. If you cut down that coffee to only once a week, you would save $114. This can be applied to so many things such as eating out, the types of groceries you buy, and makeup/beauty products. Cut unnecessary expenses if you can.
Lastly, if you are working, take a portion of your check and set it aside with every paycheck. If you set aside just 10 percent of your check, you can easily save away a decent portion of money. Just think of how much you want to end up saving before you go away and calculate the amount you would need from each check.
More so, saving money is all about being motivated and willing to set aside money. If you cannot resist from spending the money you save up, maybe involve someone else to give you the willpower. Being motivated is key; you have to be goal-oriented or else you will not succeed. If you need a goal, think about all of the adventures that could be waiting for you that will only be attainable with the money you saved.
