Money Matters (31 days to go!)
Someone out there in internet-land asked a while back what we were going to do in terms of getting at our money while we’re traveling. We’ve done some research, and here’s our plan:
We’re going to take each of our bank’s ATM cards and one credit card. We’re setting up our ING account (which is an amazing on-line bank that has higher interest because they don’t spend a lot of money on offices–it’s mostly internet based) so that we can transfer money into both bank accounts. One bank uses MasterCard and the other Visa. The idea of taking both cards is that in case we’re in a place that only takes one or the other, we’re covered. We’ve checked with our banks and have found out all about the lovely fees they’re going to be charging. There’s a fee for using a different bank’s ATM, a foreign bank fee, and I’m sure there’ll be fees at each ATM. We’re going to take out larger sums of money when we get to each place so that we have some cash in the right currency. The credit card is for emergencies as well as any bigger purchases like plane/train tickets, elephant rides, etc…. We’re planning on leaving here with some cash (we haven’t decided on whether or not we’re going to exchange some money before we go…we probably will just in case), and also possibly some travelers’ checks. From what I’ve read travelers’ checks are pretty difficult to change, but in the end I think it’ll just make me feel a little better to have a couple hundred dollars worth of them just in case–but we’ll see.
I’ve also read that it’s not a good idea to check bank accounts and other secure websites at internet cafes because the poorly paid cafe worker might swipe your info and your money. So, we’re going to rely in large part to our home contact to transfer money from our savings to our checking. We’re not keeping everything in the checking accounts both so that it gains interest and also so that if our cards are stolen we won’t be wiped out (hopefully). You can also set up the ING account to automatically transfer money into your other accounts. We might do this as well… I guess we haven’t completely worked out all of the details!
But we’re getting there. Things are coming together quickly, which is good since we’re leaving quickly. I have lots more to update, but I’ve got run some more trip errands!
Tags: Finances, money, Pre-Trip Planning
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