|
By
Victor Tinnish
Harlaxton College Web Design Student
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
One of Dustin Whitis’ first transactions in the United Kingdom was a £100 withdrawal from an ATM in London.
“I think of it as $210 out of my checking account,” he says. “I like to take out half of what my planned budget is for the entire trip.” That’s a smart move when you’re just getting used to the whole ATM
exchange rate disappointment, he agreed.
Thinking of £100 as $210 may be a little hard at first, but if you don’t, “you’ll just be upset at how much everything costs,” Whitis
said. “When I spend the money I think of it as dollars.”
“Exchange rates kill you,” he says, referring to his many visits to the ATM here in the United
Kingdom.
Students of Harlaxton College all have different approaches to their budget while they plan for trips and travel. One popular tactic is to have access to online banking to better manage and budget for the semester.
In order to deal with the discouraging rate of exchange for Americans here in the United Kingdom, Whitis has formulated a simple budget plan
that enables him to better manage his money while it lasts.
Whitis, 21, a junior from Columbus, Ind., has worked hard in saving his money so that he would enjoy his time while studying here at Harlaxton College and traveling to new countries.
He saved money for the past two summers, feeling he had to budget accordingly while traveling overseas because
with poor exchange rates, he said, “it's like you’re paying double.” Realizing that all the hard work has paid off and given him the ability to travel
to countries such as Hungary, Spain, Ireland and the Czech Republic. Whitis has found it smart to have individual trip budgets.
“I try to keep myself within the present budget that I set to the trip that I was looking to go on,”
he said.
Sometimes trips aren’t as easy to afford as they originally seem, he said. If
you procrastinate in booking a trip the price may go up.
With about four weeks left in the semester and his bank account close to empty, Whitis said, “I’ve spent just shy of five grand.”
Satisfied with his experiences and his almost-bare checking account, Whitis's budget made each trip enjoyable and affordable at the same time,
he said. "I’m glad that I was able to find a balance within my budget.”
Along with the ability and freedom to travel to various countries within and around Europe, comes the responsibility of planning and budgeting to ensure everything goes as planned. For some students,
parents or other relatives gave them money to ensure a great semester abroad, but for others, obtaining extra money was much more of a chore.
Peter Hanscom, a sophomore from Frederick, Md., can attest to this as he has not had the best of luck when it comes to his Harlaxton
budget.
“My dad told me that he would periodically deposit money into my account while I was abroad,” Hanscom says, but for whatever reason he hasn’t always been able to get money that way.
While some students closely watch their bank accounts, others claim to occasionally visit their bank’s
Web site to check their balance.
“I got my bank account to $13,” Hanscom said. “That was a little rough.”
Hanscom admits to following the “You got to live it up” motto while he is studying abroad. This, however, doesn’t mean that he can dismiss maintaining his diminishing bank account. Most students found that the best way, and one of the only ways, to plan for their time here in the United Kingdom is to have access to online banking.
A majority of the students said that their main source of cash was from their debit cards that were linked to their checking accounts. Debit cards that are linked to a checking account allow the use of a parallel savings account that can hold most of your money and gain interest all at once. All you need to do it slide over money into your checking from your saving.
Also, having a credit card for backup purchases seems to be a trend here at Harlaxton.
For one student in particular, Gary Cure, this wasn’t as apparent. “I had cash
on hand and no way of getting it on any card,” he said, referring to how he managed his money when he first came to Harlaxton.
At first, some students may not have had much of a structured budget, but they eventually adopted one as needed after their mistakes and mishaps.
Cure didn't have a budget plan for his money when he first came to Harlaxton. But as the semester went on, Cure realized that having only cash on hand wasn’t good enough and he opted for a separate credit card to use for his expenditures.
While studying at Harlaxton, University of Evansville students have the ability to utilize a work study program, much as they would back home. Work study students get paid every two weeks, Dean of Students Matthew Andrzejewski said.
If work study doesn’t interest you, then you can try out for an R.A. position, Andrzejewski
said. “They get $500 a semester.” You can apply to be an R.A. even if you’re not a U.E. student, so it’s quite flexible.
For Whitis, being flexible was a very smart move as he planned and budgeted for his trips.
“It is important to know how much money you have for the semester, so you can
set predetermined limits for each trip you go on," Whitis said. "This will allow
you to go on every trip you want to while still having a good time abroad.”
|
Dustin Whitis enjoys a tour of the underground catacombs in Budapest, Hungary, because he allotted himself enough money to spend on an exciting tour.
Peter Hanscom's empty wallet
shows that he should have had a better budget while traveling abroad.