How Much Did I Spend While Being Abroad? (VIDEO)

As my study abroad program has come to an end, I feel a variety of things. I'm sure you have read about so many people's different experiences about coming home after living abroad for months and the different emotions and challenges they faced. Although here, I am going to write about a not so much talked about topic—the finances of going abroad.

For me, finances were an important part of deciding where and how I was going to study abroad and I couldn't find very many helpful resources that gave me an idea of what my finances would actually look like abroad. There are lots of budgeting sheets and expense projections out there but they all seemed so vague to me. This summer I decided to record and categorize every purchase I made so that after the program was over, I could help other people get an idea of what their expenses may look like as well.

Watch the video to see a detailed explanation of how I kept track of all my expenses, what I spent the least and most money on, and how things totaled up. I hope you find this video helpful as you prepare for your study abroad!!

Key things to keep in mind:

• The exchange rate varied between 1 euro = 1.07 dollars throughout the summer and even hit super close to parity (1:1) at one point!! 
  • All the amounts in the excel sheet are in US Dollars (aka post conversion) 
• Everyone spends their money differently, this is just my own personal experience so don't expect yours to be the exact same! Also, don't feel bad if you end up spending more or less because everyone has a different experience and you can't compare yourself to others in a financial sense. 
• You only have this opportunity once, so try not to let money hold you back but also spend wisely on things that matter and that are within your means.

Here is a copy of the spreadsheet I used. Feel free to copy it and play around with the numbers as a resource for yourself!