Are you ready to fly off on your next big adventure?
While travel can be exciting, it can also be expensive. Still, managing your finances while travelling shouldn't be much different from managing them while at home.
You can make transactions even from the other side of the world similar to making them from your preferred financial institution's branch - thanks to the latest technology.
Here are six tips that will let you keep track of and manage your finances while travelling.
1. Making Your Smartphone Your Best Friend
You can easily keep track of and manage your finances with your smartphone. Most banks have apps to make check deposits, money transfers and check your balances. It's similar to carrying a financial branch in your hand.
If you want to invest on the go or do day trading, most of the apps have push notifications and alerts to inform you when prices change or reach a certain level. You can take immediate action through such apps under such circumstances.
2. Have An Overview Of Your Bigger Financial Picture
The average person may have 2-3 bank accounts, 4-5 credit/debit cards, a brokerage account, and more. These figures may swell further for those with extra properties to pay off.
According to the property experts from Maxiron Capital, getting an overview of your total assets and spendings can be difficult unless you sit down and calculate all the numbers. They explain “if you can't do your financial calculations daily, you can take advantage of apps that can help you manage your money in and out. These apps will help you have all the transactions and balances in one place. With smartphones providing the financial help that used to be face to face, everyone has the potential to master their money on the move.”
Easy to set-up and secure, these apps act as your own financial planner and money manager in your own hand.
3. Notifying Your Bank About The Trip
It's highly recommended to take your bank books and debit/credit cards with you when you travel.
Call each bank before you travel and inform them which countries you will be visiting and how long you will be out of the country. The bank will place a "travel notice" on your account. That way they won't think transactions made while travelling is fraudulent.
Even with the travel notice, the bank can consider a transaction be to fraudulent - especially unusual activity and money you spend on big purchases. They may block your card under such circumstances. That's why you need to have a backup bank account when travelling abroad.
4. Have Means Of Communicating With The Bank
In case a bank blocks your card thinking that it's a fraudulent purchase, you should immediately call them to let them know you authorised the purchase.
Once you confirm the transaction wasn't fraud, the bank will unblock your card. Most financial institutions have a live chat facility on their websites. This facility can be helpful to you in such situations. But some banks will need you to call them to unblock the card.
You can use the Skype app to call any number from anywhere at a lower cost, so there’s always a chance for you to save money further. Although email will also work, it's the least effective communication method. A phone call or live chat is a better option in this regard.
5. Automating Things As Much As Possible
You should automate things as much as possible when you decide to travel abroad.
That way you won't have to worry about where money should be transferred and which bills need to be paid. Set up "automatic bill payment" so that you automatically pay credit cards, utility bills, mortgage payments, and car payments.
Money transfers between your accounts can also be automated. Some banks may have more automation features than other banks. Check with your bank to see what functions could be automated.
5. Getting A Travel-Friendly Credit And Debit Card
Getting a travel friendly credit and debit card is another important tip to manage your finances while travelling.
You shouldn't waste money on withdrawal fees from the bank account or bank's ATM when you are travelling long-term. Each withdrawal cal cost at least $10 or more. You don't want to waste that kind of money every time you make a withdrawal.
The financial experts from Robinson recommend getting a bank account that doesn't charge any foreign withdrawal fees. They say “most banks provide credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. The foreign transaction fee is around 3-5% of the total amount of purchase. Even such a small percentage can hurt your wallet when you plan to make big purchases while travelling abroad. So it pays to shop around and find a card that won’t hit your budget every time you make a withdrawal.”
These are important tips that will let you keep track of and manage your finances while travelling. So the next time you take off for the trip of a lifetime, do it with the confidence that your money will be well managed.
Do you have any money saving tips we’ve missed?
Let us know in the comments! |
