Studying abroad on a strict budget means every euro is valuable. Between transportation expenses, groceries, and trips in between class days, it’s easy to watch the money you squirreled away for your semester abroad shrink faster than you would like. So, keeping my budget intact has become something of a personal mission — not just to survive my summer term in Erfurt, Germany, but to make the most of it without panicking every time I check my bank account.
Managing my money well meant making preparations way before I even left for Europe. This includes pre-booking accommodations, sorting out possible banking needs in Europe, and figuring out what locals know that guidebooks do not. Here’s what I’ve been doing:
Mapping Out Your Trips
Task management apps like Todoist, Google Tasks, and Airtable are ideal for travel planning because they make it easy to organize scattered logistics like transportation tickets, accommodation bookings, and activities into a central digital hub. This way, I don’t have to dig through old emails and browser tabs every time I need a confirmation number. Doing this also makes it a lot easier to visualize my days at a glance, catch overscheduling, and check my plans against my actual budget in real time.
Booking Trains in Advance
Prices climb the closer you get to departure day, so locking in your train tickets as early as possible can help you save a lot of money. Because my plans involved hopping between several countries, booking through Eurail was the best choice.
Instead of buying a separate ticket for every single train ride, I only paid once for a pass that gave me a set number of travel days to use however I want within a certain time window (like five travel days within a month). Just note that even with a Eurail pass, some high-speed trains still require a small extra fee for a seat reservation.
Using Reddit for Local Recommendations
City and country subreddits are a gold mine for great tips on avoiding overpriced tourist traps. It’s also a great resource for finding where locals eat, since recommendations from residents tend to beat generic “best restaurant” lists, which are often just paid placements or outdated blog content.
Beyond food, these communities provide real-time, city-specific advice you won’t find in a guidebook, including which neighborhoods are worth staying in, transit hacks, seasonal events, or even scam warnings specific to that city.
Choosing the Local Currency
When a card machine or ATM asks which currency to use, picking local currency gets you a much better exchange rate than letting the merchant convert it for you. While seeing the price in your home currency sounds helpful, it almost always works against you.
When you let the merchant or ATM convert the charge, they set their own exchange rate, which typically includes a hidden markup of 3% to 10% above the real exchange rate. Choosing to pay in the local currency means your bank or card network handles the conversion at a much more competitive rate. Over the course of a semester abroad, with dozens or even hundreds of small transactions, that difference adds up fast.
Comparing Accommodation Prices
Checking a few different platforms (Booking.com, Priceline, Hostelworld, or even the property’s own website) has helped me save a good bit of money, since some sites run exclusive discounts that others don’t offer. I also often check cancellation policies when comparing, since plans abroad change often, and a slightly pricier option with free cancellation can help my pockets when my schedule suddenly shifts.
However, booking directly through a property’s website can sometimes beat third-party platforms, too, since some hotels and hostels offer a small discount or an extra perk (like free breakfast) to skip the third-party booking site’s commission.
Opening a Multi-Currency Account
With train delays or cancellations happening all the time, having a multi-currency account (different from a traditional bank account) can make the refund process much smoother. Once a claim is approved, the refund needs somewhere to land, and that’s where a multi-currency account — like Wise — comes in because it provides you with your own IBAN (an international bank account number). Without this, you would need an actual local bank account, which is tricky for study abroad students who don’t have a permanent address in the country they’re staying in.
Grocery Shopping at Discount Chains
Grocery stores like Aldi, Rewe, and Lidl (or in my case in Erfurt, Tegut) are everywhere in Europe and can cut your food budget dramatically compared to eating out. The quality of their goods and produce is generally solid, and it’s easy to find go-to staples like breads, eggs, and fruits that don’t cost a fortune.
I also think it’s a great way for me to experience local food culture up close, from regional cheeses to seasonal produce I probably won’t find back in Austin. Since most stores are small and easy to navigate, a grocery run rarely eats up much of my day, leaving more time for the experiences I’m studying abroad for.
This blog was contributed by Merryman Revell Creative Excellence Scholar Michelle Lavergne. Michelle is a Moody College of Communication graduate student participating in the Spice Communications Program in Erfurt, Germany.
