Student Bloggers

Studying in London in the fall of 2023 was the first time I had properly lived on my own. Coming from a small university in the US, I was used to dining halls and meal plans. Spending real money to go out to eat was a rare treat. But living at the Princess Elizabeth House in London was different – instead of dining halls and meal plans, I’d have a kitchen and a stipend from my home university (real money, not dining dollars!). Plus, I’d be a tourist in a bucket list city full of music, theatre, food, and fashion – and on top of all that I’d have to pay for transportation!

I was worried that my stipend might come up short, but by the end of my three and a half months abroad, I found that it had covered all of my food and transportation costs almost perfectly! (I chose to use my earnings from my summer job to cover fun experiences and souvenirs.)

What was my key to keeping on track with my expenses? What helped me the most was my budgeting spreadsheet! During my first couple of weeks abroad, I drew up this tool to help me record how much I had spent, and to keep me on track within the parameters of my stipend.

Every Sunday night, I’d open my bank app to see how many dollars I’d spent on food and transport, add up those numbers, and allow the spreadsheet to tell me how closely I’d adhered to my weekly budget. If I went over my goal one week, I could easily see how much I should save the next week, and if I went under, I could see how much extra cash I’d have for the next!

I’m sharing this spreadsheet with you in case you find tools like this to be helpful – on the second page there are guidelines for how to fill it out. PLEASE NOTE that the conversion rate is between USD ($) and pounds sterling (£) as of May 2024, and that these rates are apt to change slightly! Should you or a friend need to use a different exchange rate, I’ve included instructions for changing that too.

A few bonus bits of advice for budgeting while abroad:

• Save receipts for at least a week to remember where you ate or shopped on which days!
• Use the app or website associated with your credit/debit card to find the amount you spent in USD – don’t let the conversion rate fool you into thinking you spent less than you did!
• Use a credit card that offers travel rewards. I applied for one right before I went abroad and wound up getting a lot of my train and tube travel reimbursed by redeeming points!
• Make the most of student discounts – especially for travel! There’s an option for a student travel card for the London underground and bus system that saved me a couple hundred dollars during my time abroad.

Have fun messing around with spreadsheets. I made a second one for all the concerts, plays, and musicals I was interested in seeing. I didn’t get around to seeing them all, but the spreadsheet helped me prioritize by location, cost, and interest. Give it a try!