Budgeting Advice

Given all the unexpected costs that I have come across in the past month, I thought that I should go over budgeting and estimation of your study abroad costs.  Before going abroad, there was an incredible amount of uncertainty with whether or not I could actually afford everything.  Now that I’ve been abroad for over two months, I have a better idea.  Despite this, there is always some uncertainty.

Since this is a boring post, I need at least one picture. Photo from: moneymanagement.org

Following is a collection of advice for budgeting your study abroad or travel experience.  Please do not treat this as an exhaustive list and search out additional information.  Also, I unfortunately do not have any loan information as I have not taken out any loans.   Please consult a study abroad advisor for this information, as they are probably the best resource for this.

While I can’t speak for other study abroad programs, I know that UCEAP gives a cost estimate for each of their programs.  While this is a great starting point, it may be beneficial to tailor this estimate to your actual plans.  For example, this budget may not include any additional travel expenses.  In this case, it may be best to make your own spreadsheet to calculate costs.

In order to get cost estimates for your program on the UCEAP website, go to Programs > (Select country of interest) > (Select your university/program of interest) > Cost.

Don’t get hung up about knowing actual prices of each item.  Make a reasonable estimate based off experience, quick google searches, etc. and then round up.  Where there is more uncertainty, make some conservative assumptions.

How did I afford it?  Combination of financial aid, scholarships, and savings from working throughout the semester and during summer.  Otherwise, I would have taken out loans.

Note: All currency is in USD unless stated otherwise.

About My Scholarships

1. Gilman Scholarship
   Receive up to $5k (I received $3.5k).  Can receive an extra $3k if studying a critical need language.  Info here.
   Must be a US citizen undergraduate student.
   Must be recipient of Federal Pell Grant during study abroad term.
   Especially for students traveling to nontraditional locations (basically anywhere outside europe), studying nontraditional majors (this includes STEM fields), first-generation, or transfer students.
   Must commit to a follow-on project: This blog for me, can also volunteer in some way to help your study abroad office, etc.
   My personal statements – These are not meant to be perfect models, just examples that can potentially help give you some ideas for starting off your own scholarship essays.

2. UCEAP Scholarship
   Primarily based on academic merit and/or integration of UCEAP program into academic or career goals.
   Consideration given to students with financial need or from underrepresented majors (this includes STEM fields) as well as first-generation students, transfer students, and veterans.
   Receive up to $2k (i received $2k)

Expenses to Consider When Estimating Study Abroad Costs

1. Tuition & Program Fees (for me: ~$7.3k)
   Should compare this to cost of tuition/fees at your home university.  This is roughly equivalent to the cost of tuition/fees at UC Berkeley for me.

2. Room & Board (for me: ~$1.6k)
   Again, compare this to your monthly rent over at your home university.  For me, this is significantly cheaper than the cost of rent at Berkeley.  You should also check to see if there is a compulsory meal plan.

3. Flights To/From Country of Interest (for me: ~$1.2k)
   In general, buying earlier and/or roundtrip is better.  I held off on getting my return flight, as I was unsure of my finals schedule and wanted the chance to travel after the semester if possible.

4. Food
   Should be fairly easy to calculate within a week of being abroad.  Total estimated cost = Cost of average meal x number of meals per day x number of days per week x number of weeks abroad

5. Costs Incurred from Back Home
   I still need to pay for some things back in the US even though I am not currently residing there.  One of the larger of these expenses for me is graduate school applications.  Grad apps are roughly $80 per application, so they can add up quickly.  For me, five grad apps will cost me $420 altogether, which is a substantial percentage of my budget.

6. Travel
   This includes plane tickets, visa costs, entrance/exit fees, internal transportation, accommodation, shopping, food, and activities.  Some activities are more costly, such as getting a diving certificate in Thailand.
   For me, since Singapore is such a great country to fly out of, nearly all my flights were <$180 roundtrip.  However, there are many additional expenses that come along with traveling.

7. Murphy’s Law
   I cannot stress enough the importance of having a nice cushion in your budget for unexpected large expenses.  This is more or less what inspired this post.
   In the last month I have had the following unforeseen large expenses:
   – My laptop short-circuited, costing me a little under $300
   – One of my federal grants decided to take away $71.  And then $414.  Ouch.  (Lesson learned: don’t expect your financial aid to stay constant)
   Other unforeseen large expenses that some of my friends have had to deal with include:
   – Bribing corrupt cops while traveling (as little as $5 for some, as much as $600 for others)
   – Getting robbed by someone on a motorbike (cash, credit/debit cards, iphone, all contents of purse)

8. Initial Costs
   This includes things like a phone & SIM card (bring an old phone and charger if you have one), room essentials, school supplies, textbooks, and so on.

9. Incidentals
   This includes laundry, miscellaneous activities while in your country of interest, shopping, etc.  UCEAP includes this in their cost estimation – you can probably just use that.

10. Health Insurance / Travel Medicine Costs
    Your program should have information on health insurance costs.
    Travel medicine costs may include malaria pills (if you so choose to get them), vaccinations, etc.

11. Going Out with Friends
    This can be quite costly depending on location.  If you this being a major part of your budget, you should buy duty-free at the airport.

12. Costs for your Return
    This might include first month’s rent, taxi from airport to where you’re staying, etc.  Might also include shipping items back if necessary.

Miscellaneous Advice

1. The most important thing that I wish someone told me before – do your research on banks.
   I thought I did this well enough beforehand, but I’ve been suffering from my poor bank choice since I arrived abroad.  Prior to leaving for Singapore, I researched what banks were available locally.  Since Citibank was available in both the US and Singapore, I went to a Citibank in San Francisco during my lunch break and asked if it would be possible to open a US account and then have it transfer over to Singapore.  I was led to believe this would be relatively easy, but upon arrival in Singapore was told I could not have a Singaporean Citibank account.  Apparently Singapore recently put in place new restrictions for opening a local bank account.  These include large minimum sums (I believe it was $10k for Citibank?) and proof that you will be in the country for at least five months (could be done with Student Pass, but I was not issued that until end of August).  Long story short, I am regularly charged with a substantial fees.  I always get charged for withdrawing foreign currency – this is $5 per withdrawal for some, but for me it is a percentage of how much I withdraw.  If I want $165, it’s a $7 fee.  If I want $280, it’s a $9 fee.  Also, I get charged if the ATM is a non-Citibank ATM, which would be most.
   On the other hand, some of my friends have been very happy with their Charles Schwab bank accounts.  Apparently they can withdraw foreign currency from ATM’s at the real exchange rate and without any fees.  I am looking into switching over to Charles Schwab right now and would highly recommend any traveling student to consider it as well.

2. Occasionally check to make sure budget is reasonably accurate.  Update when you find more accurate figures.

3. Bring some US currency
   This can help you get better exchange rates on visas, etc. when traveling.
   Also, you can exchange it over for initial costs and avoid ATM withdrawal fees.

4. Check budget before making any big purchases

5. Haggle whenever possible

6. When traveling, try out the local food.  It’s usually cheaper.

7. Check baggage limits
   These depend on the airline and there can be hefty fees if you go over.
   If I had gone over 50 lb on my way to Singapore, it would have been $150 for oversized baggage per flight.  Since I had to transfer in the Philippines, that would’ve come to $300.
   For shorter flights on budget airlines, baggage limits may be around 15 lb.
   If you’re traveling a lot, don’t be scared to pack light.  You’ll probably buy some clothing while there which may be cheaper and you don’t really need a fresh shirt everyday.

8. Look up exchange rates before changing money.  Better yet, get a bank that won’t charge you for using ATM’s abroad.
   Money changers aren’t all made equally.  I’ve gotten some terrible exchange rates because I didn’t look up the actual rate beforehand.

9. Bring your student ID to get student discounts
   This may not apply everywhere, but it’s worth having on you for when it does!

Scholarship Advice

1. Quality over quantity
   Search out scholarships that are particularly relevant to you where it be for your field of study, location of interest, etc.  That way you have a better chance of actually receiving the scholarship and will have more to say in your personal statement.
   Also, scholarships that offer larger sums are worth more of your time.

2. Write a good personal statement and have several different people revise it 
   You should then tailor this to each scholarship that you apply to.

3. Check UCEAP’s website for a list of scholarships
   You can access their scholarship information directly here.

Estimating Travel Expenses

1. Cross-reference sites that include fees/taxes such as: skyscanner, hipmunk, kayak.  * Make sure that it is displaying in the currency you want it to be in

2. Check online forums for estimates of taxi, train, bus, internal flight costs.  Google searches with terms along the lines of (‘bus from yangon to bagan’ or ‘taxi from airport to bus station in surabaya’ should link you to these)

3. Google search travel blogs for price estimates.  You can do this by going to More > Blogs after typing in your location of interest into the Google search bar.  I usually type in ‘(location) travel’ and then Google search blogs.  These blogs will also give you ideas of things to do.

4. Get a general idea of accommodation prices from wikitravel, hostelworld, etc.

5. Check for entrance/exit fees and visa costs!  Get multiple entry visas if you’re entering a country more than once.

6. Check conversion rates (google can convert directly if you search something along the lines of: ‘convert 100 usd to sgd’ or ‘convert 100 us dollars to singapore dollars’)

7. When able to, ask locals about how much a taxi from A to B should cost you

8. Be aware that things are constantly changing, especially in places with growing tourism.  Check the dates of forum posts, blog posts, etc.

9. Get group discounts &/or split between more people whenever possible

Potential Resources

1. Berkeley Study Abroad Office in Stephens Hall or on University Ave.  Check the drop-in advising hours of the advisor for your program & country of interest.  If you are unable to make those hours, send an email to the appropriate advisor.

2. The study abroad office should provide contact information of students who have already participated in the program at your university of choice at the time of your orientation.

3. This blog – feel free to ask any of the participants questions!