One of the top priorities for anyone when traveling the world, or when traveling anywhere for that matter, should be to keep your finances in order.
Despite this, several people make crucial financial mistakes when traveling, and you would be smart to find out what these are so you can avoid them.
Here are the top five financial mistakes to avoid when traveling the world:
Mistake #1 – Not Budgeting Yourself
First and foremost, while not budgeting yourself may seem like a basic and almost trivial mistake, it’s also appalling at how many people don’t budget themselves while traveling.
Instead, they’ll just put everything on a credit card, only to be shocked by how big their bill has grown when they get back home.
Don’t make the mistake of going into debt and having to pay off large interest rates just to enjoy a week long or so trip.
In fact, don’t make the mistake of going into debt from travel at all if you can help it. The solution here is to budget yourself accordingly, and to only leave on your trip once you are absolutely sure that you can pay for everything by yourself.
Mistake #2 – Not Carrying Cash
The reason why it’s a mistake to not carry cash on your person is because credit cards are not going to be accepted everywhere you go while you travel.
Furthermore, USD cash may or may not be accepted either, which is why specifically you will need cash in the currency of the country you’re traveling to.
The best way to convert currency in this manner will be to use an online remittance service such as Remitly. It will certainly be a cheaper option than using a bank wire transfer or an exchange service at the airport.
Mistake #3 – Using Debit Cards Over Credit Cards
Credit cards are a more secure option than debit cards for the simple reason that debit cards are connected directly to your bank account. For this reason, using credit cards wherever you travel will be a smarter move than to use debit cards.
That being said, some people who are very wary of getting into debt may detest using credit cards. But a good solution to this problem will be to treat your credit cards like debit cards in that you’ll immediately pay off each transaction as soon as it’s available to be paid off.
This will also enable you to build up your credit rating and collect valuable rewards points that you can use later as well.
Mistake #4 – You Access Financial Accounts On Public Wi-Fi Routers
To say the least, you should be extremely careful about using public wi-fi routers, such as the ones at airports, libraries, coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, parks, and anywhere else you can access it.
At the very least, do not access any of your financial accounts online when you are connected to public wi-fi of any kind. It simply isn’t worth the risk for hackers and cybercriminals to access those accounts, and you’ll be wishing you hadn’t been so carefree later if it ends up happening to you.
Mistake #5 – You Don’t Keep Your Documents Secured
Everything from your credit and debit cards to travel documents to cash to personal identification and so on will need to be kept secured while you travel. If you have a safe in your hotel room, place anything in there that you don’t want to carry with you. There are also biometric wallets available as well that require your fingerprints in order to access.
Financial Mistakes To Avoid When Traveling The World
Obviously there are many more kinds of travel financial mistakes that you could make beyond the five we have covered in this article.
For instance, you may not be loyal to a specific airline or hotel chain and then miss out on rewards programs that could save you several hundred dollars.
You may also avoid using travel insurance, which could severely cost you in the long run especially if you have to cancel flights or wind up in a foreign hospital if things get particularly bad for you.
But the five mistakes that we have covered here today are without question five of the most common mistakes that travelers make, and therefore, you will be wise to avoid them.
