On Budgets and Air Travel

Hello!

In order to get the boring stuff out of the way, I'll first talk numbers:

This is the estimated expenses for my program, as provided by the International Programs & Exchanges (IPE) office of the UW:

Program fee/tuition: $4,500

Books & Materials:  $150

Housing: (included)

Food (some food included in homestay): $600

Local Transportation: $200

Roundtrip Airfare: $2,000

Program-related Expenses (passport, visa fees): $140

Program-related Personal Expenses: $500

IPE Fee: $250

Health-related expenses: $705

• UW Study Abroad Insurance (required) $111
• Travel Clinic - Standard Visit $169
• Immunizations $425

Total Estimated Cost: $9,045.00

To give you an idea of my personal financial situation, my AGI for 2010 was $17,613. This included the first 6 months of the year when I was employed full-time (and, as was the case, in a higher-paying job than I am currently) as well as the grants and scholarships I received for Fall quarter 2010. Currently I work 25-30 hours per week at above-minimum wage and I have my entire tuition and part of my living expenses covered through financial aid, but my AGI for 2011 will be significantly less than it was in 2010. 

As you can see, the Study Abroad program will cost more than half my entire annual income. (Significantly more than half, when you consider I can't work while I'm in Morocco.) 

This is one of the many reasons why I didn't even apply to study abroad programs in the past. I didn't think I could afford the trip, the tuition or the time off of work. (I've been consistently employed at least part-time since the age of 16.)  My early experience with college financial aid was frustrating; like many of you, my parents make enough money that I was disqualified from need-based aid and usually given a package that included a few smaller scholarships and tons and tons of loans.  From those early years I still carry about $14,000 in student loan debt. (Just writing that makes me a little anxious, to be honest.) I know that I have still been comparatively lucky. Many of my peers have upwards of $25,000 in loan debt, and many may have been "poor enough" to qualify for need-based aid but still struggled to reconcile the demands of a college education with working to support children or just to pay rent and buy a few groceries. Qualifying for Pell Grants might seem like an enviable thing to a middle-class kid taking out loan after loan, but surviving in America while living at or below the poverty line is no picnic. 

I think there are a number of things wrong with the financial aid system, but that is another blog post for another blog. Once I turned 24 I no longer had to claim my parents' income on the FASFA and paying for school became exponentially easier. The fact that I'm able to work only 25-30 hours a week still feels like a miracle. (At one point during my Sophomore year I was balancing 3 part-time jobs and, during one memorable week, clocked in 72 hours between them all while taking finals. Yeah, I slept very little and cried a lot that week.) There are a number of other factors besides age that can qualify you as an "independent student" (Emancipation as a minor, military service, marriage or having babies are the main 4.) If you don't qualify, however, all is not totally lost. 

Here are some tips for choosing study abroad programs with money in mind:

-Homestay: As you can see from the IPE budget, my program includes a homestay. The cost of this is included in the program fee, but is significantly less expensive than programs that put you in dorms or in apartments. Look for programs with homestays. You'll save on food, lodging and you'll be far more likely to experience life in the country you visit as a local and not just a tourist. If you're in a language program like me this is practically essential. 

-Regional variations: Look at countries with lower costs of living than the US. This site  can help with that (the link is to a Seattle/Casablanca comparison but you can change the entries.) I know Western Europe is great and beautiful and has lots of programs for people who speak only English, but it is also crazy expensive. There are ways to live cheaply in Europe and there are less expensive parts of Europe, but I would encourage any one looking to study abroad cheaply to consider other regions, unless it is essential to your field of study. 

-Airfare: The estimate for my trip was $2000. I paid $1443. This brings me to my airfare advice extravaganza!  

DO:

-Start hunting early. Airfare is usually cheapest 3-6 weeks before the date of your flight. There are exceptions to this, of course, but the earlier you start looking (and the more places/times/flights you check) the better. 

-Consider airports. Many airports are monopolized by one or two airlines, so flying in and out of them can be more expensive. Getting a cheaper flight out of an airport that is a train/bus ride from your destination can save you tons. I'm flying into Casablanca instead of Fez and then taking the train. I think the train ride is about half (maybe as little as one third) of the cost that the extra flight to Fez would have been, plus I get to ride a freaking train through Morocco and see beautiful sights. Win-win. 

-Layovers! No one likes to hang out in airports as much as I do. On this trip I have layovers in NYC and in Madrid. In NYC I'll be meeting a high school friend for dinner and in Spain I'll have 28 beautiful hours to wander the city, try to remember high school Spanish and stay in a super cheap youth hostel. I'm saving a ton ($229 vs $89) by flying out of Madrid a day later, plus I get to hang out in Spain for a day. Win-win. Kayak is a great site to help you compare prices on various days and other travel sites. Try booking your flight in pieces rather than all at once, but keep in mind that if you do this you probably have to go through security all over again so leave lots and lots of time between flights. Also, many cities have multiple airports (Paris is a good example of this) so be prepared if you need to use public transportation to get to another airport in the same city/country. Leave enough time, learn enough of the language and try to have some local currency ahead of time. 

-Pack light! Airlines are starting to charge for extra bags and extra heavy bags. If you can spare it, leave it at home. 

-Consider professional help: Many schools have partnerships with local travel agencies (the UW has one with STA on the ave) and if you're really struggling or computer-phobic, see if these agencies can help you. Often they will have programs for students on financial aid, which allows you to book your flight and pay for it when your aid is disbursed. 

DO NOT:

-Skip the airline ticket insurance. $80 seems like a lot when you buy a ticket but if something goes wrong that will save your life. The first time I tried to study abroad a war broke out and I wasn't able to go. It took me a month of arguing with the airline on the phone but I eventually got $1100 of my $1300 ticket refunded, which was better than nothing. 

-Buy a one-way ticket and decide to worry about the rest later. I met a girl in Amsterdam who'd flown one-way from Australia and was going to travel & work for 6 months and then buy a ticket home. 3 months into her trip she was down to her last 10 Euro and jobless. I met her in our hostel because she needed money for a phone card to call her parents for a ticket home. They didn't have the money to send to her, so some guy walked up to us and offered to let her stay on his couch for free. I don't know what happened to her, if she made it home or if she's still in Amsterdam going home with strange men (more on that in health and safety tips.) The point is that a way home is one of the most important things you'll need, and, unlike the cash you're bringing/expecting to earn, can't be stolen, spent frivolously, or subject to change based on local work visas or economic downturns (and one-way tickets are usually more expensive anyway.) 

While you may not share my geeky glee for the thrill of hunting airfare bargains, hours of frustrating searching can save you hundreds of dollars. 

One thing to keep in mind is that many types of aid will not cover airfare (the Gilman does) and some that do (like the Gilman) will come with the stipulation that you fly only US-based airlines. (My Gilman grant is for $4500 and so the airline restrictions don't matter as the money will entirely be applied to tuition.) My advice is to plan on coming up with the money for you plane ticket all by yourself. For one thing, you'll probably have to pay for your ticket well in advance of your trip/aid disbursement anyway. This also gives you an idea of what you should be saving for and how much you'll have to save before you book your flight. If family, friends, or the feds want to give you money for your trip, that's great, but you can always use that to cover program fees or living expenses in-country. Don't count on it for airfare. As far in advance of your trip as possible, estimate the expense of airfare (estimate high and don't forget taxes, airport and luggage fees) and make that number your savings goal.

Every one saves differently. For me, cutting out many social expenses (meeting friends for drinks at home instead of in a bar, for example) made a big difference. I was able to save up the cost of my plane ticket, first by examining how I spent my paychecks and then by eliminating some of the expenses I felt I could live with out. 

If you're in college you probably already know how to live cheaply, but a site like Mint can help you look at the patterns in your spending to identify places where you can make cuts. Try to give yourself a formal plan to save enough money- by increasing your income or decreasing your spending or both- and give yourself a deadline. 

Let family and friends know as far in advance as possible, so that they might consider Birthday/Holiday/Graduation/Just because they love you gifts of cash or necessary trip-related supplies (more on that in an upcoming post on what to pack.) One great thing that my sister offered to do is to make her contribution in smaller pieces on a monthly basis, so that I'll still have money coming in later on in my trip. While every one's family circumstances are unique, and in these economic times most of us are struggling just to get by, I've been continuously surprised with the generosity of the people in my life when it comes to an opportunity like this. 

Ok, that's enough about money for one day. I'm planning on updating this blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until I leave, and then on a weekly or bi-weekly basis once I am in Morocco. 

Please, as always, comment or email me with questions, criticism or anecdotes from your own travel experiences.