Week 2: Budgeting While Abroad Bali Edition

    After being in Bali for 2 weeks, I realized that my money was going faster than I intended. I came to the conclusion that although a meal was only like $6, and the cost of jewelry and other small things was definitely less expensive than back in the U.S., it all added up! Coming to Bali, we were told to have some cash with us so we could go to a "money changer" who would exchange our U.S. currency for Rupiah, the currency here in Bali. My first time going to the moneychanger, I decided to only change $100 U.S. dollars. This way I would be able to see approximately how long $100 would last me. It didn't last me quite long. 

The first city I was in was Sanur, a beach city. There were several street vendors selling shirts, jewelry, dresses, and more. Of course, I wanted to check out the clothing and see what was there, but I didn't realize then that if you looked at something and asked for the price, it would most likely end up with the seller trying to bargain for a price that you would be willing to buy the item for. Those first few days in Sanur, I ended up spending more than I would have liked on items so I realized that if I wanted to buy something, I had to be certain of it. 

When looking at eating out, it is all relatively cheap in price when compared to U.S. meals. However, meals add up. I soon began to realize that iced coffee tends to be pretty pricey in comparison to water, fruit juice, or tea. So what I began to do was use iced coffee as a treat that I would get on days that I wouldn't be eating out instead of getting coffee with my meal. I would also try to pick meals that I knew would be filling rather than simply just because I wanted that meal. For example, for breakast I got an iced cofee and a chocolate croissant because I absolutely love those two items. Within a few hours, I was already super hungy so I ended up eating lunch a bit sooner, and dinner soonrer, and even had to get another snack by the end of the night. I realized that I was definitely not full that morning and that that wasn't the most nutritious breakast option. I knew then that by having meals that are more filling, I would be able to spend less on meals and instead use that on other days when I could have coffee and croissants as a treat. 

Something I decided to do towards the end of this last week was count how much money I have left in Rupiah and try to set a daily limit and see how long that money would last me. Most days, meals are covered so I took some time to divide the money that I have left and budget it. I do not want to use an ATM machine to pull out more cash since I am trying to only spend the cash that I brought with me, so hopefully this will help. Overall, expenses are part of a trip abroad, but being aware of where your money is going and how to make it last the most is an important skill to have.

By: Carolina Lopez