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More Money Coming!

March 28th, 2017 at 12:12 am

My husband told me today that we will be getting about $105 from his recent travel reimbursement. This was the trip where he bought some friends dinner to the tune of $140. That meal isn't specifically being reimbursed, of course, but it will offset that expense a bit. I didn't think he was getting anything extra.

Our college daughter was home for spring break last week, so we did a little clothes shopping, went out to eat a couple times, and celebrated her birthday with cake from a bakery. And now the funds left that we budgeted through the end of the month are getting slim.

I did jump ahead in the budget a bit and bought tickets for my husband, daughter and I to see a local Sherlock Holmes play in early April. Those three tickets were $55 total. And we will be seeing Beauty and the Beast in the theater this coming weekend. This much more than we usually spend on entertainment in a short period of time. But thankful that we can afford to do so when we find something that is of interest for all of us.

I listed four CDs on eBay today in a lot. Not sure if they will sell or not. I think I may have listed them for sale in the past, but I don't have a record of it on my account any longer. So if I did it was more than two months ago. I figured I would try one more time. Smile

I've been doing pretty good at accumulating Swagbucks, but I'm going to need to spend my time getting my garden planted soon. I'm going to do zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, lettuce, snow peas, onions, cucumber and strawberries. I'm going to do the strawberries in a pot on our screened in porch to keep the birds away! I'm not real optimistic about them, but my younger daughter insists since she didn't like them when she was younger and didn't get to eat any!

Oh, I thought I'd ask those of you world travelers what you think about exchanging currency before a trip? How much of the total expected costs would you want to have in the foreign currency? 20%? 50%? The teacher leading the trip can exchange for a lower fee at her bank. We know some cash is likely a good idea. She would need pounds for the two days in London, and euros for the remaining ten or eleven days. She also has a no foreign transaction fee debit card that she will likely use as well. I think we may also add her as an authorized user on one of our credit cards, as an extra back up option.

Posted in Spending, Sales, Surveys, Rebates, Family, Healthy Living, Income, Budget | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “More Money Coming!”

  1. snafu Says:
    March 28th, 2017 at 02:41 am 1490668860
    1490668860

    We don't exchange currency here because our bank's exchange rate is too far off the internet listed exchange. The one bank that didn't change foreign transaction fee in the past, now charges $ 5. per transaction and the overseas banks likewise charge, each different and different rates depending on specific site. We opted to use our main bank's ATM and when I returned, I asked in person for a rebate as a gesture of 'Good will.' I was surprised to see it was rebated. We used CC for hotel/Air bnb accommodations, they gave a better rate of exchange of our pathetic [CND] currency than any other option and of course we were paying as were made on-line reservations.

    There can be potential for unexpected delays on flights and international airport problems so allowing DD access to a CC is sort of an off set for 'Murphy's Law' in my opinion. She's responsible and I doubt you'll have a problem.

  2. Pnwmom Says:
    March 28th, 2017 at 02:43 am 1490669030
    1490669030

    We are in the same boat trying to figure how much to exchange for our upcoming trip to Europe. All the countries we will be in except Croatia, use euros.....since we have mainly traveled to the Caribbean and Mexico, where US dollars are accepted, we are not sure ourselves, how much to bring. One of our credit cards has no foreign transaction fees so we will likely use that too. We will be on a cruise, so most of the "cash" we need will be for lunches that a few of our excursion's we have booked aren't included and maybe a few souvenirs and tipping our drivers and guides.

  3. snafu Says:
    March 28th, 2017 at 02:46 am 1490669198
    1490669198

    I forgot to say most expensive currency conversion is at the airport, 2nd most expensive is the hotel/concierge service. Regular bank's ATM is likely best bet. DD can ask bank's staff for assistance at the machine if she feels insecure.

  4. My English Castle Says:
    March 29th, 2017 at 12:21 am 1490746876
    1490746876

    I never exchange ANY money here, but I usually have 20-50 GBP hanging around in our travel wallets. I always only exchange at ATMs inside of banks--not the ones outside which have been known (as here) to have skimming devices on them. I have never had a problem, but I do think it's a good idea to have two cards. Plenty of ATMs at the airport etc, but inside the bank, as my guru snafu agrees.

  5. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    March 30th, 2017 at 03:39 pm 1490888375
    1490888375

    We tend to just use atms because I am wary of carrying so much cash around. We also tend to charge whatever we can and deal with the fees because it's just easier.

  6. Pnwmom Says:
    March 30th, 2017 at 05:39 pm 1490895557
    1490895557

    I second what MEC said about exchanging inside the bank ATM.....my youngest was in Italy last year on a study abroad and said she always went inside.

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