How to Manage Your Money While Travelling the World

Photo courtesy of West Coast Cruiser
You’ve made your plan, you’ve got your ‘to-do’ list, your tickets and passport are in your bag and your suitcase is packed, now all you have to do is get exploring. Yes, travelling the world is something on everyone’s to do list, and if you’ve taken the jump then you’re rightly in for a fantastic time.
But, with months ahead of you spent visiting some of the most amazing places across the globe, have you got all of your money sorted? This may sound like a weird thing to ask, because, of course you’ve got your money sorted – after all, how else are you going to get around the world?
However, money is one thing that affects most people when travelling. In fact, billions of pounds are wasted annually by British travellers through obvious money mistakes. But with a little help from some careful planning, and an arsenal that includes everything from Think Money prepaid debit cards, travellers’ cheques and some good old cash, you’ll be extra prepared when it comes to your travel money.
Below we’ve highlighted what you can do to manage your money when jetting across the globe.
Pre-Paid Cards
If you’re worried about losing money, carrying vast sums of money with you or even losing your bank cards, then a prepaid debit card is a great way to work around this while travelling.
These work exactly the same way as your ‘normal’ debit card, meaning you can just purchase items, goods and services directly with the card. However, there’s one major difference – the card isn’t connected to your bank account.
This means that all the money on the card is whatever you’ve prepaid, and if anything should happen to it, you won’t have to worry about anything happening to your current account.
Cash
Depending on where you are in the world you may not have easy access to an ATM machine, or you may not be able to pay by card in shops as easily as you can back home. Because of this, you’ll probably still need to take some cash, so it may be worthwhile to pick up a secure cash bag.
Of course, you could use your prepaid card to withdraw money while out and about, but as previously mentioned – if ATM machines are few and far between, so will your ability to purchase things.
Budget
This may sound pretty straight forward, but the amount of people that go away without planning on what they’ll be doing is actually quite high.
Figure out first and foremost where you’re going and whether it’s an expensive or relatively cheap place. Factor in whether you’ll be eating out during your time there or not, and whether you’ll need to get a lot of transport day-to-day. This should then inform how much you should be spending daily, giving you a base rate of what to take with you – then add on any trips or expenditures you expect to make on top of this.
Once you’ve done this, you should be aware of how much to take and how to budget daily. Also make sure to tell your bank if you do take your regular cards with you, as this will help to ensure that you’re completely covered while travelling.