How to Minimize Cost While Studying Abroad?

How to minimize cost while studying abroad? How can you study abroad with less money? It’s not easy to manage things such as education, work, and other expenses due to high costs of living abroad. Here are some tips to reduce the expenses and spend less money while studying abroad:

Make a Budget

When you are studying abroad, it’s important that you make a proper budget and spend according to it. Studying abroad can be expensive because of not just the tuition fees but other expenses too. You can manage other expenses such as accommodation and food if you do budgeting. You may get some funding or loans from the university to pay for the expenses. However, if you will not manage it wisely you might end up spending the money quickly. Hence make a budget and spend the money according to it. There are many mobile apps for budgeting on day to day basis or you can always take help from google docs/ google sheets online. You can learn how to minimize cost while studying abroad only when you start learning the nature of your day to day expenses.

Use Public Transport to Study Abroad with Less Money

It takes time to adjust to a new place with different cultures, systems, and new people. You might feel that it’s difficult to use public transport because of too many people using it or because of any other reason. However, if you use it, you can cut down your expenses. Using a taxi for traveling can be expensive especially if you are doing it daily. Local trains and buses are great options for students. Countries such as Japan, United States, UK, Australia and others have an efficient public transport system.

Get International Student Identity Card

The international student identity card is a must for any student. The card is issued in around 130 countries all over the world. Through this card, students get discounts on products and services. It can help a student save a lot of money because they can get discounts on various services including recreation services such as movie tickets, passes for any concert, music shows, restaurants and much more. The card is valid for around 1.5 years and it varies from country to country. The price of the card also varies from country to country and it can range from $ 4 to $ 20. It must be in every student’s wallet if they want to get discounts and cut down their monthly expenses during their foreign study program.

Try to Get Funding

Different organizations provide student funding. The applying process can be a little daunting but you can end up getting loans, scholarships, and aid. There are specific websites which can make it easier for you to apply. You must search wisely and apply for funding to different places as much as possible. This can help you to manage your costs and expenses while studying abroad hence making your life easier to some extent. You must carefully write about why you are studying abroad and what are your career plans and what will you be doing for society and how you think this degree may help you. Mostly funding applications require you to answer such questions, make sure that you do it properly.

Find a Part-time Job

You can always work while studying to earn some cash even if you get funds from university or home. You can do a part-time job in free time. Students do work for 16-20 hours per week according to their university schedules in different countries. However different countries have different rules and regulations. In some countries working on a student visa is not allowed. Go check your visa conditions before applying for the job to avoid problems later.

Learn to Cook

You can try cooking yourself. This saves you a lot of money while studying abroad. It is always cheap if you eat at home rather than eating out. You can try learning local dishes which can help you minimize expenses and also taste a different cuisine.

Live in a Cheap Accommodation

Remember your goal. Your short-term goal is to get a degree from a foreign institute, not to live a luxurious life over there. So, you must minimize the costs associated with living i.e. rental cost. There are so many ways you can manage this. For example, a shared living with a class fellow or country fellow will be much cheaper.

TA and RA Opportunities

Many professors offer opportunities for teacher assistants or research assistants for PhD students. From day one, you must engage yourself actively with professors. Networking is the key to win the heart of your professor. Mostly professors offer stipend for these positions of TA and RA. This way you can make a good earning to meet your expenses while studying abroad.

Seek Guidance from Seniors

These are some easy ways to minimize cost while studying abroad. As a student it will make your life easier and you can study abroad with less money. However, you must always constantly seek guidance from your seniors on how to reduce cost of studying and living abroad.