What is one of the crucial aspects of growing up? When did you know you were becoming an adult? For some people, growing up means moving out of your family house. Others say they knew they were becoming adults when they got their first job. Not only was navigating life abroad an indicator that I was becoming an adult, but becoming financially responsible when living abroad solidified my transition from teenagehood to adulthood.
Although I had some experience budgeting money as a college student and when I went to China with $500 and had to be conscious about how to spend my money, it wasn’t until I had to live in France for a year and had $20,000 from getting the Gilman Scholarship and the Demers Language Fellowship that I had to be conscious about my spending. I had to take my time with financial planning and learn about budgeting, and I had to take extra steps to ensure that I could have everything I needed while living abroad and being financially conscious. Before we delve into the five ways to be economically conscious, let’s discuss what it means to be financially conscious and its role when living abroad.
What does it mean to be financially conscious?
According to comparethemarket.com.au, being financially conscious is “ the extent to which a person is conscious or aware of their ability to change their financial outcomes, including their willingness to act, and their sophistication when it comes to money matters.” In simple terms, it means you control the money, and money does not control you. Being financially conscious means you are an active actor in how you spend, whether you choose to spend on items or not. The idea of being economically conscious puts the power back in the hand of the spender and removes you from this hole of letting money, bills, and debts control you.
As a college student, I was always worried about paying my bills on time. Before I even pick a shift at CVS, I will calculate how much I will make to pay my bills. Living paycheck to paycheck made me feel like I did not have power over the money I was making. Someone else determined how I would spend my earnings without considering what and how I wanted to spend my money. The money was my intangible financial planner. When I received $20,000 in scholarships to study abroad in France, I was so excited to have more than enough money to live by finally. However, as I started thinking about managing the money while living abroad, I had to change my relationship with money. Having more money than I ever had at 20 forced me to change my mentality about money. I started calculating how I would spend however I wanted because I now had more than enough, a mistake many people make.
We often think that having more money means spending however we want and whenever we want without thinking about what will happen when that money runs out. We let money dictate our spending habits and buy things we don’t need. We start consuming products because we can and do not necessarily need them, which is a very dangerous mentality when you are a student on a study abroad scholarship. A previous post discussed the many financial opportunities a student can have to study overseas. Being a recipient of those scholarships is excellent. However, you may only benefit from winning those beautiful scholarships if you are financially conscious. Getting a scholarship is terrific; managing it is a test that will solidify you as a spending agent and ensure you live well while living abroad for a semester or an academic year. Those who choose to move overseas permanently, too, need to be financially conscious because the economy and spending behavior are different from country to country. Hence, let’s discuss the five ways to be economically conscious when living abroad.
Exploring Traveling and Financial Planning
It is no secret that traveling has excellent benefits. This blog advocates for young people to travel and discover themselves through traveling. As a female solo traveler of seven years who credits traveling for my self-development, I view traveling as a tool with many benefits, including financial development. In recent years, there have been calls to add financial literacy in high school curricula to educate young people about managing finances, getting credit cards, having good credit scores, and investing. There is not a young generation who is indebted like young Americans. Because we, young Americans, apply for credit cards and have student loans, many of us need more preparation to enter the world of finance. Since many of us need the proper education on managing our finances and being financially conscious, we need help managing money regardless of how much we have. If it wasn’t for traveling and living abroad, I don’t know what other ways I would’ve learned to be financially responsible.
When we travel or live abroad where we don’t know anyone or do not grasp how the local society works, we start to pay attention to things we did not pay attention to when we were in our comfort environment. As young people with parents responsible for the house’s finances, we are not directly hit with financial decisions until we leave for college or move out. Even those of us who go to college are under an umbrella of protections like our school advisors and financial aid office advisors so that we do not confront financial burdens. For that reason, the vulnerability of being in a foreign country, society, and culture brings out our awareness of everyday aspects of our lives, including our finances, regardless of how much we have in the bank. In a previous post, I discussed how I managed money when I went to China. I had to be financially conscious because I only had $500. However, having less money is not the only reason you should be economically conscious because, as Biggie once stated, “mo’money, mo’problem.” When you have a lot of money, your desire to spend a lot increases, and when you live abroad, you need to be financially conscious so that you do not lose everything you have and cannot live adequately in a foreign land. Here are five ways to be economically conscious when living abroad.
Living Abroad Financial Guide
- Weigh your needs vs your wants.
The number one thing you need to assess is your needs versus your wants. With all the stress of living in a foreign land and dealing with integration legalities, you should not add money to your list of worries. Therefore, many scholarships are given to young people who want to study abroad or have an internship abroad to alleviate financial burdens because they will face other burdens. Therefore, when it comes to managing your finances, it thus crucial to asses your needs versus your wants.
Everyone has three inalienable basic needs, especially when you live abroad. The three categories include rent, transportation, and food. You cannot avoid your needs, such as paying for rent, academic supplies, and transportation. When I was budgeting my 20,000 scholarship, the first thing I set aside was my rent money. Because I received CAF, a service to help students pay rent in France, my total rent bill was about €2,860. I had €5,000 in my French bank account, so I paid rent in full for the ten months I lived in Rennes. With the remainder of the money, I focussed on food and transportation. Solving my rent obligation gave me one less thing to worry about. Aside from my rent, I analyzed how far my university was from my apartment and how feasible it was to move on foot and by bus around the city. I did not need a monthly pass because I lived in the city center, and my SciencesPo Rennes was 10 minutes from my apartment. I bought a KorriGo card and loaded it when I would go grocery shopping. The great thing about KorriGo was that it was a regional card of Brittany, a region of the Northwest of France. Having this card means you can use it in other Brittany cities. The third thing I did was have my “provision.”
In Congolese cultures, we make monthly grocery “provisions.” When doing “la provision,” we buy necessary things in big bulk so that we don’t have to waste money buying them every week. We buy big bags of rice, fufu, a big bottle of cooking oil, and salt and pepper. Because we eat cassava leaves, I buy ten and conserve it in my fridge. Doing so saved me multiple trips to the store or spending another money every time I went grocery shopping. Everything else fell into the want category by taking care of my needs and ensuring that my needs were met. I could then spend on my wants because I had already found solutions for my needs. Being financially conscious by prioritizing my needs and having leftovers for my wants ensured that I lived stress-free while living abroad.
- Cook for yourself
Following the previous point of doing “la provision” as part of caring for my needs, cooking for yourself is another way to be financially conscious. It is no secret that many foreigners spend their time eating out when they visit other countries. No one goes to Paris or Tuscany so that they can cook for themselves. Food is a significant part of traveling and being a tourist, so, understandably, you indulge in their cuisine when you visit a foreign place. It is a great way to boost the economy of the country you are visiting. However, there is a difference between being a tourist and living abroad. You are no longer just a tourist when you live abroad for a study abroad program, an internship, or trying to build a new life in that country. You must navigate between being a tourist and integrating as a local when living abroad. Therefore, you do not need to eat out every night. Cooking for yourself helps you save a lot of money.
There are two significant benefits of cooking for yourself. The first benefit is that it helps you spend less outside. When you cook, you ensure that you have fewer daily expenses. You can cook a large quantity of food and stock them in different bowls for different days of the week. Cooking and planning your meals helps you save money and time, especially if you live abroad for studies or internships. Another benefit of cooking is that it is a great way to care for yourself abroad. Cooking is therapeutic and a great way to practice self-care, which is needed in a foreign country. By cooking and being mindful of what you put in your body, you make healthier choices that contribute to your overall well-being, especially abroad.
I faced a lot of challenges when I lived in France and Belgium. Cooking was how I practiced self-care and calmed myself down after a stressful day. It was a time when I practiced many of my favorite meals, chatted with my mother about family recipes, and tried making local dishes that I saw on Pinterest. Not only did cooking help me stay organized and was great for my well-being, but I saved a lot of money. I reserved going out to eat on Friday nights or when I was traveling to different cities.
- Enjoy free attractions
Enjoying free attractions is another way to save money and be financially conscious. One of the highlights of living in France and Belgium was going to places I saw in movies and never thought I would be able to go to in person. Spending a day at Versailles, going to the Louvre, or shopping at the Champs Elysees were dreams that came true. What made them better was that I did not have to spend money to enjoy those places. If you are a young person or a students, you benefit from free attractions, especially if you live in Europe. In your financial plans, you can set a little money aside to enjoy many attractions because they are accessible for free. Young people can discover beautiful places and take Instagram-worthy pictures at some European attractions.
One of the questions students and young people looking to travel often ask me is how much they must save to go to places like Versailles, Belgium’s Royal Palace, and others. My response is that unless they want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower or Duomo di Milano, which requires you to pay, you do not have to pay for entry to many attractions. You must pay to visit the Eifel Tower because different floors are open to the public and the queue is very long. Although you have to pay, the prices are cheap and affordable. You can check out the prices here. Besides paying to go to the top of places like the Eifel Tower or an exclusive part of the Louvre, as a young person below 25 with a valid European residency card, you can enter many places for free. Taking advantage of free attractions allows you to be financially conscious when you live abroad because you know you don’t have to break the bank to experience beautiful attractions. By enjoying free admission, you can focus on spending on things that you need. As a young professional or a student, the option to enjoy free attractions alleviates the mandate to spend too much on unnecessary spending to show your Instagram friends you are cool and have a lot of money to waste.
- Plan out your trips
People expect to travel to other places when they live abroad. Europe is a traveler’s dream destination because of how accessible it is to move around the continent. However, you need to be financially conscious and not carelessly travel without considering how adding different trips will impact your life abroad. As someone who lived in France and Belgium, I benefitted from the accessibility of traveling to other European countries. Unlike in China, where I couldn’t afford to visit another city besides Shanghai, where we were studying, while in France, I made sure I planned trips throughout France and outside of France.
In France, I had to assess my needs versus my wants. Traveling outside France was among my needs because I had family outside of France that I wanted to visit. Therefore, I had to plan out my trips months in advance. Because I was a student, I had to check out my academic calendar to know when I would have breaks to travel to different places. With Europe having different holiday seasons, like a week off in late October to early November and an Easter week-long Break or the Assumption of Mary, I could plan my trips weeks in advance. Planning my trips allowed me to buy cheaper tickets than I had waited to buy at the last minute. There are excellent options to ensure you travel and discover European countries at a more affordable price. For example, the Eurail France Pass allows you to plan your trips and travel all around France to plan your trips during breaks and go around France for a cheaper price.
- Never leave your bank account empty.
The crucial point of being financially conscious when living abroad is having more than enough to live in an uncertain environment. Therefore, it is vital to keep your bank account in check. Many students who study abroad do not get a job or have a monthly source of income to supplement their income when they live abroad. When you win major scholarships, those are your only source of income; therefore, knowing how to manage them is crucial to your time living abroad. Having $20,000 did not give me the right to spend carelessly when I knew I could not earn a living in France or Belgium.
When I was overseas, especially in Belgium, our contract did not allow us to make extra income because I received the Fulbrigaveere giving us monthly stipends that they felt were appropriate based on the basic needs that I mentioned above: rent, food, and transportation. However, my master’s program ran from September 2020 to September 2021, but my stipend would only be from September 2020 to June 2021, meaning I would need to support myself out of pocket for three more months after my Fulbright program. Not being able to make extra money while simultaneously getting the Fulbright stipend, I had to be conscious about every financial decision I made. Since I had to spend a lot of savings before receiving the Fulbright because I had to pay my savings on hotels and transportation, I did not have enough money to live with after getting the Fulbright stipend. My pride and ego would not let me ask my mother for money. Therefore, I had to save more money while getting the stipend. I could not spend carelessly. Whenever I had extra money left after spending on my needs, I would put money in my savings account. I was adamant about boosting my bank account every chance I got. I could not afford to deplete my bank account, and you shouldn’t either.
As a young professional or student studying and living abroad, your finances are crucial to making or breaking your abroad experience. Traveling has many advantages but also comes with a lot of uncertainty. Having money to facilitate your daily life is why thousands of study abroad scholarships exist. These scholarships alleviate financial burdens and help you focus on other things. You must be financially conscious regardless of the amount, whether $500, $5,000, or $20,000.
You should never let money dictate how you spend. You are the agent who can choose how to pay, when, and where to spend. Following the five ways of being financially conscious when living abroad allows you to be financially aware. When you assess your needs against your wants, you understand your priorities and learn to focus on what is essential to ensure a smooth stay when living abroad. By taking advantage of free attractions and cooking for yourself, you learn to save and enjoy things without sacrificing your finances. You can post those Instagram thirst traps in some of the world’s more revered places without breaking the bank. Therefore, become financially conscious the next time you decide to study abroad or permanently move overseas.
Until next time, have a tremendous financial rebrand and be more financially conscious!
Xoxo,
Cy!
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