What You Should Know About Your Money Before Moving Abroad

Thinking of moving abroad? We need to talk. There are some things you need to know about your money before you start packing your bags.

I promise it’s all insightful tips and tricks. So let’s get into it!

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Access To Your Money

I’m going to be very blunt about this – accessing your money from a foreign country is not easy.

I don’t mean, “It’s not as easy as walking into the bank back home and withdrawing your paycheck.”

I mean, it’s not easy. It’s a pain in the butt.

Banks do not make it easy for you to access your money when you’re in a foreign country. Sure, it’s your money, but it doesn’t always feel like that when you can’t touch it.

• People tell you to set travel notices so your bank knows when you’re out of country – but not all banks have that. In fact, my bank removed that feature.
• No matter how many times I’ve informed my bank that I’m not in the US right now, it hasn’t made a difference. To be honest, I don’t think they even made note of it.
• Making changes to your account while abroad is almost impossible. So if you need to open another account or anything of the sort, I strongly suggest you do that while in the US.
• Often even routine purchases get flagged as suspicious. Transferring money from one linked account to another can set off all the bells and whistles.

Life abroad is great and all…until you can’t touch your hard-earned money.

So keep this in mind, and if you’re traveling back to the States for a brief visit, try to stop at your bank and communicate that you’re living abroad. Ask them to make a note in your account. Also, update your contact information so that when a purchase gets flagged, they’ll contact you right away so you can confirm purchases.

Another thing you may want to consider is adding a trusted person to your account, that way they can deposit checks for you if needed.

Transferring Money From The USA

When I first moved to Perú I did a lot of research about the best way to send money from my US bank account to Perú so I could buy groceries. I needed a way around using a debit or credit card, because here most people pay either with cash, or with a local app called Yape (it’s kind of like Venmo, but Venmo doesn’t work outside the US).

Plus, as you may know, your credit/debit card can get all attitude-y on you when you leave the US and they’re likely to lock your card.

I’ve found Remitly to be the best of both worlds. You can send money in just about any currency, and at two different speeds. It’s pretty easy to link and verify your account. Plus you can manage it directly from your phone in case you need to send money to a local bank account in a hurry.

Taxes

In case nobody told you, just because you moved abroad – if you’re a US citizen – you still have to file your taxes. Even if you’re not currently working for a US-based company, or at all.

Quick disclaimer, I am not an expert or an accountant, so please don’t ask me any important questions about this. All I can say is make sure you check whether you still need to file your taxes (you probably do) and stay on top of it.

Pro Tip: If you’re self-employed, I recommend setting up a separate account in your bank account and setting your tax money aside every month so you don’t accidentally spend it.

Another important thing to note is if your company isn’t withdrawing your taxes from your paycheck every month (e.g. if you’re not a W-2 employee), you may need to pay a portion of your taxes every quarter. I really recommend you do the research on this according to your job and your needs so that you don’t owe any late fees because you didn’t pay taxes all year.

Taxes can be a total headache trying to figure this all out on my own, so I use TurboTax for my taxes. I appreciate that they walk me through every step and make sure I don’t miss anything. It makes filing taxes abroad so much easier.

Online Shopping

Where I live, there isn’t really a lot of online shopping. I’ve never ordered clothes or shoes online to be shipped to my doorstep in Peru. But, as anyone who’s lived abroad may know, sometimes you just want to restock on some faves when you return home or family comes to visit.

That’s where online shopping really comes into play. Though if you live abroad and Amazon ships to you – more power to you! For me, I’m mostly ordering online when I’m restocking my faves or getting presents for friends and family back home.

I bring this up because online shopping can be expensive, and like most people out there – your girl loves a good deal. But coupon hunting can be daunting and time-consuming.

This is where Rakuten and Beni come into play.

Rakuten is a Chrome extension (there’s an app for your phone too!) that helps me save money online by finding coupons and giving me cashback. If you sign up and shop through this link you too can get cash back and a sign-up bonus just by activating the extension when you do your normal, everyday online shopping. It takes all the work out of coupon shopping and puts money back in your pocket.

Beni is another Chrome extension that helps you find secondhand options for clothes, accessories, and more. It helped me get a brand-new pair of pants (with tags!) for about half off! I didn’t have to do any of the searching for the item I wanted, I just went directly to the retailer and Beni prompted me to look on Poshmark and secondhand sites for the same item.

That’s about all I’ve got for you today. So…

What did you think of this money post? If you found it helpful, let me know in the comments so I can put together more posts like this for you. Let me know your money advice for traveling abroad! I’m always looking for more tips and tricks.

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P.S. Looking for a fun activity to play while traveling to your next adventure? We put together a great freebie that you can play with your seatmate on a plane, train, or long bus ride, download your free trivia here.

Playing trivia is a great way to participate in fun activities with your friends and family, even when you’re 4,591 miles apart or constantly on the go. It helps you keep your long-distance relationships growing and is sure to provide lots of fun!