Money Matters
As I’ve mentioned probably an annoying amount, I am headed to London in just over a WEEK!!
So. Much. To. Do. From making sure I have all my travel toiletries, my passport, a winter coat, train paperwork, etc. I’m a bit anxious to make sure I get everything squared away before I leave the country next week. One of the things we don’t always think about is finances while traveling abroad. Especially since we all just use credit cards these days. But it’s smart to have cash on hand, along with your debit card for withdrawing cash & then of course your credit card. Believe me, the last thing you want is to be stranded in Europe with no cash and your debit card declines because they think it’s a fraudulent withdraw.
I thought it’d be good to list out some tips that came up in conversation with my teammates as we gear up for our London trip!
Use local currency. Whenever you use a credit card, accept THEIR form of currency & your bank will do the conversion rate. Otherwise the store makes more by giving you a bad rate.
NEVER do foreign money exchanges at the airport! It’s the worst rate.
Invest in a credit card that has NO international transaction fees. And make sure you tell them what countries you are traveling to during what dates.
Plan cash withdrawals wisely- If you pull out money abroad, most banks will charge a small flat fee and then on top of that a % of the total you take out.
Don’t pack all your cash into one location in your luggage.
Try to spend your coins first. In Europe there are many coins worth more and you could actually have quite a chunk of change.
Don’t convert your money back- instead save it for when you travel again. I found out I have almost 40 Euros already for this coming trip- score!
Do your research- Especially due to Brexit, knowing the climate of each country’s currency is important. The current currency conversion for US Dollar to Euros is 1.09 which is AMAZING. The pound is $1.23, which is still better than when I was there in 2012 and it was nearly double.
Now I know you are asking, how much money will I need Sarah?
As a general rule of thumb, plan on budgeting between 50€-70€/day for Western Europe and around 30€-50€/day for Eastern Europe. Don’t forget the United Kingdom uses the Sterling Pound which you’ll need to budget between 45£-100£/day. The amount of money you'll spend per day will vary greatly though based on your budget/activities so that’s why I give a wide range. Just know not all of this money needs to be in cash! And these tips go beyond just EU countries.
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