Knowing this it should be no surprise that after the first currencies had been introduced, money wasn´t something people were handing out generously. And that does make sense, since the financial situation defines who we are, what we are able to do, and how life follows. Yet, it is up to oneself to take action, and play an active role in creating life.

For Your Heirs

Everything that people do is done due to a certain motivation. Then why should this be different when it comes to money? The most important thing before you do anything else with regard to personal finance is to answer the “WHY?”. What is this all for?

As mentioned before probably everyone has a certain instinct for saving. That is why it is even more important to ask yourself what you want to save the money for. If you strive to buy a new car, or to keep the standard of living, that´s good for you, it makes sense.

Nevertheless, I see folks all the time that have no focus, that just want their fortune to grow bigger, and bigger. Usually not a bad idea, but if you are decreasing your standard of living just to have money available that you don´t need, sorry, and then I consider you not being the smartest person.

This is not a story that I am making up, in fact, I know people – aged 70 and above – that refuse to take their medicaments on a daily basis (as they should) just because it would cost them a few dollars more per day. I could tell similar stories; you would probably not believe them. However, this is not what this article is about. Just make sure to have an aim when saving money.

To be more dramatic:  Let´s say you save money in order to travel the world when you are retired. One day before retirement you die. Sounds weird, but it´s nothing impossible. Honestly, I don´t want to scare anyone, my only goal is to make you aware for the fine distinction between the common behaviour of saving money, and a wrong school of thought.

Set Your Personal Priorities

Now, take as much time as you need, and figure out what are the things that are important for you. You will see that there will also be a lot of things you spend money for despite the fact that they have a very low significance. Those are the cost factors we want to highlight in this part, as they can most likely be removed without any consequences.

You should know why you save cash.

I for example would not need I bed to sleep on (no joke), but I would freak out not having a large display, and a fast computer to work with. This is a cruial part that I can only initiate, you have to do the rest on your own.

Is It Worth It?

Whenever removing something from your expenses you should – even though it might sound weird – ask yourself if it is worth it. From time to time I catch myself selling stuff that I would still need just because I am in my money-saving mood.

That´s not a serious illness, however, it´s sometimes a little bit annoying when you want to save money and then do something stupid, like selling the computer that you would actually desperately need. (Weird, right?)

Here I’m presenting to you the finest selection; some of them do contain advertising. However, even the tools that are usually to pay for are free to try, so you can only win. Probably the only hard part is finding the right application that fits your needs, limiting to 1 or 2 tools.

Financial Health: CNN Money
If you ever had the desire to measure the health of your finances – this is something for you. You don’t need to sign-up for anything; it’s just ready to go. From housing payment to retirement’s savings, you can see if you are spending the right amount of money.

Automatically shows the right amount to invest in the stock market depending the overall your income.

Clear and fast results with CNN's alternative.

Yahoo! Finance
The number 2 in the search engine market offers a variety of high quality calculators for different purposes. Additionally, they provide a bunch of information, and advice for the ones interested in finance.

Yahoo! Finance is not only a site with different tools, but it also offers news including stock quotes, stock exchange rates, corporate press releases and financial reports, and popular message boards for discussing a company’s prospects and stock valuation.

More than just a few tools: News, Guides and more.

ClearCheckBook
This handy little online tool can also be used via mobile phone to check your current transaction summary, overview of spending, and saving, and a whole lot more. You don’t need to enter personal data, and  all the information entered as well as the account can be deleted at any time.

It’s free, the companies costs are basically covered with donations. Import and export features are available to down- or upload important transactions.

Attractive layout, powerful features.

MoneySavingExpert
You might have already heard about this site. Even thought I think it’s a little too fancy, they offer some great and useful stuff. In addition to the tools you can see that they are also publishing interesting articles and a lot more. Definitly worth visiting from time to time.

Takes some time to fill in all details: The Budget Planner

You can check out their tools here:

• BudgetCalculator
• CallChecker
• Tool Box (see “Tool Box” on the right)

More Tools

It’s not possible to cover all financial applications that are available, here are some more: Geezeo, Rudder, BalanceTrack, Quicken Online, Buxfer, Wesabe, Cake Financial, Thrive, Mint, GNUCash, Moneytrackin, Pear Budget, Manage Me, Smarty Pig, MoneyStrands, BudgetPulse, Yodlee, AceMoney, Invoicera, Billing Boss, MySpendingPlan, Billster.

Privacy And Personal Data

Especially on the internet, privacy and the security of information is a big topic. As long as you do not enter any of the sensitive data (bank account, credit card, name), you do not need to be afraid of any of the tools.

Knowing of at least 2 cases where people got fired from a company shows me that this is a topic that should be discussed actively. First of all, neither Twitter, nor Facebook is something private. You are smart enough to know that, but I promise you would not want to take a look at the live feed of my friends at FB. Some tweets – that is the act of posting something on Twitter – are just more insane.

Wrecking Own Career

It’s no surprise that companies, as well as colleges, and universities take a look at online profiles of their applicants. Knowing that should make clear that vulgar language, inappropriate content, or other nonsense – as I see it every single day – is not career-enhancing. Make yourself aware how much damage one little message could cause, even if it’s just a misplaced message from one of your friends on your profile page.

Don’t get me wrong, social networking is – as the term itself says – a way to maintain and build relationships. Done in the right way it can be very effective, and useful, but unfortunately some do not have a clue how to use such tools.

It’s literally hard not to find the above-mentioned vulgar language, inappropriate content, or any other nonsense. How do you see that? Are people that you see online aware of the risks?

Probably the best example that proves my statement is a recent incident involving singer Chris Brown. Even though he is a famous person, and Twitter not a private chat, he had no concerns writing what he thinks.

Chris Brown's Twitter account is no more.

Just hours after publishing these statements: account deletion. Probably an order from his advisors, however, it clearly shows how one can mess up. Fans and followers might not like this decision. Writing about what you think is for sure a part of this kind of sites, nevertheless, one should know when to keep quiet. Again, social networking: responsibility and adequate use of language are recommended.

Time Is Money – Not On The Internet!

Social networking sites depend on the user participation. Thousands of new tweets, messages, and so on are being published every second. One is literally flooded with new, and most likely irrelevant information.

Additionally, most of the time it is impossible to check if a statement is correct or just a lie. Nobody wants to know about a certain disease, or depressions a person has. Be careful when searching for information on those sites.

Note: If you want to be ineffective, just open Twitter and wait for the next tweet to distract you from work. I’m not actually recommending this idea, it’s actually a better not to get in touch with Twitter, or Facebook while working.

Once you are in, it's really tough to quit.

Use Wikipedia, or other well know resources to find information online, not those two social networking sites. That way you will find more relevant information, and you don’t need that much time to check its trueness.

Hidden Costs

Since both, Twitter and Facebook, are offering a way to use their services via mobile phone, mobile usage has become a popular way of communication. In most cases using social networking sites on the computer is cheaper than on the mobile phone since internet flatrates are very common nowadays.

So once you want to start twittering, check your mobile phone contract to see how much it would cost you to do so. After all, the hidden dangers of those sites shall not be underestimated.

Burning money: Better check, seriously.

An unlimited plan is probably the best option in case you use twitter a lot via mobile phone. However, make sure to check what using certain services on your cell phone, such as Twitter and FB, would cost you. Skipping this part can cause big trouble.

Use The Force Of Twitter And Co

There is a large gap between the two sites and how you can use them. Darren Rowse from Problogger wrote a very interesting article that covers pretty much all information needed to use Twitter as an effective tool. In fact there are even more possibilities: from hiring people via Twitter to receiving valuable feedback – almost everything is possible.

Facebook, unlike Twitter, is a great tool for branding. Not only building a business brand, but also a personal one. Let’s say you want to work for a non-governmental organization.

Now, would there be a better way to promote yourself than by uploading photos of you volunteering somewhere in Africa? I guess not. Of course this method does work when you have tons of other images showing you drunk.

Facebook – Business and Private

Using Facebook for business purposes (see also here) is different from the private usage. I am applying the following rules on my private account:

• I only accept people as friends that I have talked to in real life.
• Images can only be seen by friends (not by their friends).
• I only post important news on my wall (e.g. event I’m attending).
• Never have I used an application on Facebook and I’m not going to.
• Profile can only be seen by friends, not personal information is entered.

I admit that sometimes it is really difficult to draw the line between private and business, it’s even harder if you are a well-known personality.

On the other hand there are probably less than a handful of people that can allow themselves everything without any consequences on their job or business.

You And Social Networking

What are your experiences with sites like this? Are you using them for your business, or just for fun?

A false present can ruin a friendship, whereas the right gift can make your darling come back to you. As you can guess there is a wide range of options that you have, keep that in mind.

Most children are easy to handle when it comes to christmas presents.

What I am going to show you in this article is how to get gifts that are not expensive but very thoughtful. And that’s basically it, it’s all about the message that comes with the present, not the money invested.

What’s the perfect gift?

Honestly, a general statement can’t be made at this point. However, there are a few things that could help you find a great present. If you don’t know this person very well, you should probably talk to friends of him/her or just get a christmas card. The more you know the better.

Think Outside Of The Box, Be Creative

If you don’t really know what to give take half an hour an think about what the person likes. It’s definitly not about the things that are obvious. Maybe the person did mention something by the way.

“I am going to start art school…”, and statements like this are a very good basis. Nowadays you have a variety of options to find out more about a person. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and so on are just a few options.

Easy one: Facebook group membership shows interest in a certain topic.

Let’s say you give that mentioned person some kind of equipment needed for art school. First of all you hereby confirm that you even listen to details, secondly, you are most likely the only one giving such a present. Jackpot!

And due to those 2 point the gift doesn’t need to be expensive at all, but will be cherished. Indeed, be aware that you should be the only one / the first one giving a certain present. Nobody wants a gift twice, and you giving the second one can be a disaster.

How Not To Do It

On the other hand, if you just buy anything expensive you can even be the big looser. Don’t be that naive to think that a very expensive present will always work out.

Thoughtful gifts are priceless…

Quite the contrary, it sometimes can be a bad idea. Remember that the message behind the present is the number one criteria, always! Of course a teenager is more likely to cherish a video game more than anything else, however, we are talking about gifts in general.

What about these ideas?

“Last year I got a special gift from my son. He gave me a coupon for a meal and 2 tickets for a basketball game. While I was at the stadium he was working at home, cooking a great meal. Not expensive at all, however, very thoughtful.”

“We received a great gift last year that I just thought was the most wonderful idea. We received a 6-pack of Microwave Popcorn and a $5 gift certificate to Blockbuster. It didn’t cost much, but it was a full night of entertainment for us!”

Christmas Cards / Christmas Gifts

Eventually, when thinking about the right present you have 2 options. In general one would send a christmas card to the ones the are not really close to someone, and give gifts to close relatives, friends and so on. Christmas cards are a great way to maintain a relationsship to someone without overdoing it.

Just one example of beautiful christmas cards.

It’s cheap, easy, and plays a part in contributing to make the receiver happy. It’s generally not a big deal, nor a great effort to write such cards – you can’t really mess it up. But do not tend to write standardised phrases on it.

It doesn’t need to be a poem, but try to write a personal note on each of these cards. Most of the time, during Christmas, the Red Cross is offering christmas cards. With a purchase you support a certain cause, a decent reason to buy it there.

As a matter of principle, 99% of the large online retailers offer weekly, or even daily deals to their customers in order to boost sales. This is,  without a doubt, a great chance for everyone to save money on different products.

The online thing you have to know is the time they offer a specific product. Now you can visit their websites on a daily basis (which is no bad idea for sure), or just subscribe to their newsletter.

• Amazon – Today’s Deals
• Office Depot – Weekly Deals
• Best Buy (see deals “This Week’s Deals” on the front page)

Some of they sites need you to enter the ZIP code, then they will even show you the best deals in stores near you. Of course there are tons of sites that gather all the information of the online retailers and show you all the latest deals.

Yet, I don’t like such sites at all. I can tell you why: Those platforms also consider it a great deal if shipping is free, which is on Amazon most of the time the case. Honestly, I warmly recommend to either check the retailer’s sites regularly or subscribe to the newsletter.

This way you can also make sure to receive the latest deals the moment they are offered. If you rely on a third-party site then you first of all see the offers with a certain delay and might even miss some of those great deals.

Why Amazon Makes Me Happy

I already told you about their great customer service in another article (see here). Still, I am impressed by this site. For example the best deals. They offer great deals for every product categries. In addition, you can see the “Deal of the Day” and also upcoming deals.

You know for example that there will be another great offer in x hours and x minutes. Again, if you don’t want to visit the site that often you can subscribe via email, text, Twitter or RSS. Call me “Money-Saving” addict – I just love it!

In this article I am going to tell you how to stay in a safe area, without spending a lot of money. You should not have any lack of comfort.

Of course if you are new in a city and you have already friends or relatives there you would contact them. Since this is not the caste most of the time, we have to find other solutions.

1. Youth Hostel / CouchSurfing

First of all you need to find a temporary place to stay, in order to check out some apartments and manage a few things. In other words: You should not just book an apartment before you actually arrive since you never know how the people that live there are in real life. Obviously it’s a good idea the check out the place, neighbourhood (and perhaps roommates) prior moving in.

There are two options available: Youth Hostel and Couchsurfing. You can basically find a cheap youth hostel in any city, however, maybe CouchSurfing is something for you.

CouchSurfing Community: More than 1.5 million members worldwide.

CouchSurfing is a community site where members looking for accommodation can search for hosts using several parameters such as age, location, gender and activity level. Home stays are entirely consensual between the host and guest, and the duration, nature, and terms of the guest’s stay are generally worked out in advance to the convenience of both parties. Unless you just want a stay it’s totally for free. Certainly, you need to trust the people you stay with.

2. Permanent Place To Stay

Your permanent living situation comes at last. Unless you don’t want to stay in a youth hostel for a longer time period, it’s now the time to find an apartment. There are 3 things you should worry about: roommates, price, location. I definitly recommend to make the roommates the number one criteria, if you plan to spend there more time than just for sleeping. If you find nice roommates, they might give you inside information on the city and you can save some money.

Face-To-Face Interview w/ YourSelf

Before finding the cheapest place to stay for your requirements, you need to answer yourself a few questions:

• Do I need internet access at home or can I use it at work?
• Do you really need a 24-hour fitness center?
• Do you want to live near your workplace or are you going to buy a car? What about public transport?

Take A Closer Look

Google Maps is free available at maps.google.com

If you’ve answered them, then you can use Google Maps to narrow down the areas you would like to live in. Now look up some offers on the internet, e.g. on Craigslist. You can as well pick up a local apartment publication. The next steps are basically self-explanatory, you make some calls and afterwards visit the locations.

Drive through the neighborhood at night and/or on a weekend. You should make sure there aren’t a lot of people loitering in the parking lots. Check that there is adequate lighting in the parking lots, common areas and breezeways.

Now that you have gathered a lot of information about the different offers break it down in terms of monthly costs. Compare the different apartments that still, after those kinds of tests, meet your criteria.

Don’t worry, I am going to tell you exactly what is needed when you travel. Those goods are sustainable, useful, and definitly no waste of money. Most importantly they are not a burden, but a blessing.

Call Me If You Can

I guess nowadays even people that are not tech literate at all agree that a mobile phone is definitly one of the few electronic devices that you should always take with you, at home, and especially abroad.

It can as well be a life-saving tool in case you are in an emergency. Today cell phones are more like mini computers, you can use them to search the web, send emails and so on. However, there are big differences between cell phones. Which one is best for me? Can I use this or that one?

First of all a quadband mobile phone is a suggested. It’s basically a cell phone that supports four frequency bands, meaning that you can use it nearly all around the globe. Most of the latest cell phones are quadband, however, you can still use Triband, which only supports – yes, that’s right -three frequency bands.

I would recommend to research, before you go abroad, which standard fits your requirements. As mentioned in the “Saving Guide” I myself am using a quadband phone, the Motorola RAZR V3 to be more specific.

Netbook

When travelling a lot you want to be as “light” as possible, but on the other hand have a powerful device that you can work with. Usually, I suggest to focus on one of the tiny Netbooks/Subnotebooks that are flooding the market. I, for example, am using an Eee PC 1005HA. (Somewhere between $310 and $350, which is pretty fair)

Both, solid and powerful - the Eee PC 1005HA

The big advantage is that the battery will last for several hours, while you still have the possibility to do pretty much everything you would do on a regular desktop PC. The small display is nothing to worry about, after a few days you will get used to working on it.

Anyhow, I would not force you to get an Eee PC since there are a lot of other manufacturers that offer similar products. For me the battery and the wheight are more important than e.g. the graphics card. However, everyone has to decide on his own. Still, it’s a cheap product that will definitly last for many years.

The Cheaper Alternative

If you don’t have the money for such a netbook, you can as well only use an USB (~$17) with some useful portable applications: Firefox Portable, Skype Portable, OpenOffice Portable, Thunderbird Portable, VLC Media Player Portable, GIMP Portable.

No matter if you have a netbook available or only an USB, using one out of those two is the best way to stay in contact with everybody, your friends and family.

PrePaid Creditcard

Usually I would not use a credit card at all, but in a foreign country it can be very effective. On the one hand you don’t have to change your money to the respective currency, on the other hand you can only use the funds on your card, not more. And by the way, you don’t have the anual fees at all. You can purchase the card here.

MasterCard Travel: One solution to make payments abroad less complicated.

Probably the best thing about such a prepaid card: You can’t spend money that you don’t have. Once the money is gone you can’t spend more and have to make another deposit in order to continue shopping.

When you make sure to carry those 3 things with you, Mobile Phone, Netbook or USB and Prepaid Creditcard, everything is going to be fine. That’s basically all you need, everything else can directly be managed abroad.

Due to the fact that there are several rumours and many lies circulating online, I dediced to put together an article that should help you on your way to save more money when buying an airline ticket.

First of all it’s not the worst idea to subscribe to the newsletter of several airlines. This way you can make sure to receive bargain ads the moment the are published. Sometimes airlines offer special deals to subscribes only, so make sure to pick out a handful of email newsletter that you subscribe to.

This is a minimum requirement, it does not guarantee that you will get a bargain. There are probably thousands of subscribers that are just waiting for the right offer, sometimes you have to make a decision within minutes wheather you buy that ticket or not.

Price vs. Flexibility

Accordingly you have to be very flexible, not only in making a quick decision, but also regarding dates and airports. In general you can save a lot of money if you avoid to fly on the weekend. Ticket prices, especially in the United States and Canada, are very strong connected to the season.

For exampe in the U.S. after Labor Day on September 1, prices usually drop. You should also consider switching airports. In larger cities there are sometimes 2 airports, one most likely cheaper and less crowded.

Flexibility: Most airlines just offer a few destinations.

I can totally understand that, while wanting to save money, most people only take a look at the budget airlines. That’s basically no mistake, but you should as well see what regular airlines offer. You might be suprised, but sometimes they offer better deals. Also, it makes sense to search for cheap tickets several times a day. It’s definitly no waste of times since there are real, however not really big, differences between morning and evening.

Pre-Plan Your Flight

3 weeks before you actually want to fly is a good moment to start your quest for the cheapest ticket. Remember that the closer you are to the departure the higher the prices are usually. There is normally no big difference in booking a flight 3 weeks or 3 month in advance. Airlines usually increase prices in the last 21, 14, 7 and 3 days.

“Cross-Ticketing”

Also know as “Back to Back Tickets” is a controversial way to grab cheap flight tickets. Having said that, I would like to inform you that of course airlines don’t like this, additionally there have also been some lawsuits regarding this method to buy airlines tickets.

Basically you buy two seperate tickets instead of one roundtrip ticket to make use of discounts offered while avoiding certain restrictions. On the other hand sometimes one way tickets are cheaper. As you can see you should keep both opportunities in view.

Still Travel Agency?

Well that’s the big question. While some folks still insist on booking with their prefered travel agency, others claim to find the best tickets only online. Of course agencies have to make a profit, and of course they offer a personal service that you won’t get anywhere online. However, the opinions are divided. That is why I recommend to try both ways and see which one works for you. You should not book immediatley, try both in the first place. Have a nice flight.

Yet, I am always shocked when I see how some people waste their time as if they would live for another thousand years. They sleep several times during the day, have no real schedule, they are…just like me a few years ago.

Running Out Of Time

Yes, I myself had no idea what to do all day long. Basically I was a studying at the University and had no real duties besides from learning, which only took a few hours a day. Of course I wanted to earn some money on the side, but the motivation was not really that strong.

How Much Do You Waste?

After some time I was just wondering what I do all day, eventually I made a list and wrote down my daily activities. I nearly fainted, here’s why:

• Random naps during the day – 5 hours
• Wasting time on YouTube, Facebook and Co. – 2 hours
• Checking email inbox several times a day – 0.5 hour
• Other distractions (phone, grabbing food) – 1 hour

If you count that up, you will see that I somehow managed to waste 8.5 hours every single day. That’s about 255 hours a month or 35% of the year! 35% THE YEAR! I could not believe that, from then on I changed a lot of things. First of all I read a lot about time management and on how to work productiv. That helped me to create a schedule that worked very well for me.

Don't panic, but make use of the time you have.

I helped myself and added a filter to my router so that I can’t access YouTube and other suspicious websites. Whenever I start to work on something, I turn my phone off in advance. However, there are still times where I check my inbox 3-4 times a day, but it’s nothing compared to the past where I did that ten times as often.

Remembering that you only have a limited amount of time in your life is the best known tool I know to make sure not to waste time for things that are not important for you.

86,400 $ For You, Every Single Day

Just think about it, what would you do with that money? You receive that amount every day, but you can’t keep it for tomorrow. The money that you don’t take just fades away. Secondly, it may happen that – without any prior warning – the bank closes your account. What would you do?

In fact, most of us would use it for things that we dreamed of, and nobody would like to save something since you can’t really save it. Guess what, you actually receive 86,400 every day, but seconds. The seconds you don’t use can not be refunded or be saved up, life might be over any time.

Of course I won’t tell you what to do with your life, I only want to encourage you to take a look at what is wrong. Just do what I did, write down a list and think about how you can improve every single point. It probably takes some time to change your habits, don’t resign if you can’t make it in the first place. Good luck, I’d be happy if you tell me about your success stories!

Basically I want to make it with 8,000$ a year, without actually having an effect on the quality of life. Since I am about 2 month away from the day when I start working there, I started planing this hopefully adventurous journey.

First of all I made a list of things that I will definitly need there, such as a place to stay, food and so on. In the next step I sorted them according to the costs. Since I wanted to meet new people and really experience a lot of things there, it is absolutely not necessairy to rent a large apartment with pool and a butler.

A tiny room in a shared apartment is what I aim for, especially because this is a great way to get to know people very easily. As you can see I have also set priorities, thats crucial. The housing and a car, for example, are not important at all for me.

An Adequate Accomondation Is Key

The number one tool to find apartments, you might already know that, is of course craigslist.org. You can fnd classifieds for every large city in America and around the world. It is also a good way to find out what people charge in different areas of a city. Naturally, I just pick out a few good offers and print them out, so that I can contact the owner when I arrive. I would never make a deal in advance since you never know how the people are, if you like them, or if the apartment is really the same mentioned in the online classified.

Also, there are a lot of scammers out there, be aware of them! I know some colleagues of mine that lost 1,000$+ on such scams. In addition, it is also not really essential to sign a contract. In fact, that is comfortable for both sides, since they can – if it comes to the worse – just seperate from each other.

Back to my point. I want only to have a tiny room in a shared apartment, it should not cost more than 400$ a month, including internet, which is absolutely necessairy for me. I made a research on craigslist and it seems that the price is pretty realistic.

In case a room can not be found immediatly, there is the option of staying in a cheap youth hostel for several days or even trying out CouchSurfing, which is for free. If you find a couchsurfer in your city – should not be a big problem in larger U.S. cities – you could also ask about good offers regarding rentals. Most of the time it will be possible to get a discount if you stay somewhere for a longer time, which is relevant in my situation.

Healthy And Cheap Nutrition (Yes?)

I admit that especially in the United States it is sometimes difficult to overcome the temptation. Fast food restaurants are almost everywhere, nevertheless I am convined that it is much cheaper to eat healthy. That might not sound possible on the first place, but if you take a closer look at what you get for your money at McDonalds, you will see that it is not really an attractive price. However, the plan is to buy in bulk, to buy food in quantities that will last at least one week. That way I can benefit from the discount I get on the quantity, and  I can effectively plan my meals for the whole week, this will save precious time.

Sightseeing

Everything is possible. So why not try to visit some interessting places without exceeding the limit of 8 grand. The CouchSurfing Community is basically made for that purpose, that means I will try to not waste money on hotels, or hostels. The only thing that I have to pay for is the flight. I could take a bus, however, travelling for days is not funny at all.

Additional Expenses

Of course I can not list all the costs. I do not know how often I will go to the barber, or wheather I am going to buy a drink here, or there. For that purpose I guesstimate to need 500$, which is an amount that I am not likely to exceed. Even tough those expenses seem to be very low, if I do not watch my finances, they could threaten the whole challenge. I want to enjoy life while saving money.

That said, I plan on going out several times a week and attending different events like basketball games and so on. Why not having a lot of fun… Eventually, the key for success is budgeting. When having a plan of the estimated costs, it is easier to handle money on such a stay abroad.

Hopefully everything works out very well. For sure there will be some issues that can not be solved instantly. However, I am going to tell you how everything was. Let the challenge begin!