The likelihood is that you’re no stranger to seeing people take oversea roles. They don’t take the road abroad for better career prospects. People choose to leave the country so that their family can have a better life. Some people live in the USA for expenses of less than $10,000 a year. You can save money while working overseas.
Hard as it may be to step out of the comfort zone, they do it. What about you? Are you thinking of fleeing your home for an overseas opportunity? Do you think about moving to a less expensive country will make you save more money?
First of all, you need to budget as per the lifestyle expenses of the country you moved in to. Check the prices and make your budget.
Budgeting your money is essential. You’ll be tempted to buy electronics or clothes that aren’t necessary.
Say no to spending and say yes to saving money. After reading this article you’ll know exactly what to do to live a simple lifestyle as an expat.
Do your homework before you rent to save money while working overseas
Rent is one of the most important things to consider when moving abroad.
Up to half of your paycheck can be taken up by rent, which is why you need to do some research before moving away.
Apartments are generally overpriced. Track down a place to live that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Find out everything there is to know about the location and the quality of the apartment.
Property may not be cheap in the inner city but on the outskirts of the town.
As a rule. The more you move away from the city center, the cheaper it’ll be to rent.
I’d also say that you go alone and see the rent and other accommodation opportunities before you move in with your family.
Let your spouse and children stay a little bit longer in the home country. This proves short term cost saver as well.
Keep leisure activities at a minimum
Leisure activities are meant to reduce overall stress and provide a sense of purpose.
The most popular activities to participate in our shopping, fine dining, guided tours, and nightclubbing.
You need money for these pursuits. After meeting your financial obligations, you may not have enough money left to spend on pastimes.
Don’t put your hard-earned money into buying expensive things or partying. They’re unnecessary expenditures. You should save money first and have fun later.
The money you spend here and there adds up. If you want to see your bank account balance rise, make an effort and don’t spend too much money on having fun.
Be careful when sending money home
At times, you’ll want to send your loved ones money. According to the experts, foreign currency is more valuable, which can be particularly helpful if you need additional funds in an emergency.
The only problem is that international money transfers have their fees. It’s recommended to compare providers if you want to get the best exchange rates.
If you send more, you can save more money when completing a transfer. Choose an international payment company which has a lower cost structure.
I send payments to my parents in India, we use Remitt2India and Xoom. With Xoom, you can send money within few minutes, whereas Remitt2India takes days.
Most importantly, wait for the desired currency exchange rates. Email alerts will tell you when it’s the right time to make a move.
Give up buying coffee for a while
If you’re like everyone else, chances are that you can’t function without coffee.
It’s understandable if you’re addicted to caffeine. If you drink coffee for a long time, it’s hard to kick the habit.
Keep on drinking coffee, but stop paying visits to the local coffee shop. Make your coffee, why don’t you?
You can save a great deal of money this way, not to mention that you’ll enjoy tasty coffee. Plus, you’ll love coffee-making.
Save money on international calls
To save money while working overseas you need to reduce the international communication cost. Good news, with every passing year cost of communication, is coming down.
We can now talk to our friends and family overseas free of cost.
Here are a few of the ways you can talk to them for free
- Use your work conference number– if you have a meeting number from Webex or live meeting or moo, etc. You can use that to set up a family meeting where people could join the conference and talk to each other.
- Use WhatsApp call – WhatsApp allows its users to have free video calls. We talk to our parents in India using this service. Voice quality is as good as the domestic calls using my AT&Y service
- Computer to computer free calls – Use Slack or Skype to talk to your family member overseas for free
Save money while working overseas by using reward travels
One of the barrier to save money while working overseas is the cost of transportation to and fro from your home country to your work country. Yearly travel easts into your savings.
We have been covering travel hack a bit lately. I haven’t paid air ticket fees in the last 3 years. We availed free trips SMB, I, and our son, which were worth more than $10,000, in aggregate, by signing up for rewards cards.
Travel rewards cards with high signup bonuses are the perfect weapon to score free travel, almost every time you need to fly back and return to and from overseas.
You don’t need to do anything extra, just paying for items you buy anyway will do wonders if you apply those spending towards the minimum spend requirements of travel credit cards.
You get an insane number of signup bonus miles and points. All you need to do to be profitable in paying down the entire due by the end of the month.
Readers, if you are living away from your family or know someone who lives overseas, what other advice you’d like to give?
Plan your meals around your grocery store’s flyer.
Make your own when you can.
Avoid stress-spending.
Remove your credit card numbers from your online accounts.
Do holiday shopping right after the holidays.
Join up with a volunteer program
Prepare some meals at home.
Try generic brands of items you buy regularly.
Switch to term life insurance
Rent out unused space in your home.
Try to fix things yourself
Keep an idea notebook in your pocket.
Look for a cheaper place to live
Look for a cheaper place to live
Take public transportation.