CleanSlate,
Thanks for the updates. What are your thoughts on managing your finances abroad? I wasn't planning on moving abroad until later in the year, but plans have changed and I'll need to get everything in order within the next month. Only a limited amount of cash can be brought in on the flight. Here's what I'm thinking, I'd appreciate any feedback.
- Open up a Charles Schwab account and use it as my "buffer". They have no foreign transaction fees, so I can transfer assets using online banking from my main account back home into it, and then either deposit them into a domestic bank, or withdraw them at a local ATM. I'll keep a limited amount of funds in it for any given time so if my debit card gets stolen for whatever reason it won't be the end of the world.
- Alternatively, use Paypal for payments whenever possible.
- Use credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. I'm using the CapitolOne Quicksilver card, but I might apply for another card. Does anyone think it's necessary to have at least 2 cards?
- For income generated online, accept payment in Paypal (?)
- Cancel/hold recurring payments: auto insurance, phone bill, etc.
Unrelated:
- I was planning on just buying a smartphone once I'm there. Most likely it will be cheaper, though the downside is it will take a while to configure.
- Make photocopies of passport
- Just in case, I'll be making scans of all my important documents and uploading them to the cloud (dummy gmail account or similar): Passport, rental agreements, flight tickets, proof of no criminal record, driver's license, etc.
- Similarly to the above point, backup the documents on separate flash drives and encrypt them with a password. Probably overkill, but takes less than 30 minutes and if I'd ever need them, they'd be a lifesaver.
Question: Why do you feel a VPN is necessary?
Thanks for the updates. What are your thoughts on managing your finances abroad? I wasn't planning on moving abroad until later in the year, but plans have changed and I'll need to get everything in order within the next month. Only a limited amount of cash can be brought in on the flight. Here's what I'm thinking, I'd appreciate any feedback.
- Open up a Charles Schwab account and use it as my "buffer". They have no foreign transaction fees, so I can transfer assets using online banking from my main account back home into it, and then either deposit them into a domestic bank, or withdraw them at a local ATM. I'll keep a limited amount of funds in it for any given time so if my debit card gets stolen for whatever reason it won't be the end of the world.
- Alternatively, use Paypal for payments whenever possible.
- Use credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. I'm using the CapitolOne Quicksilver card, but I might apply for another card. Does anyone think it's necessary to have at least 2 cards?
- For income generated online, accept payment in Paypal (?)
- Cancel/hold recurring payments: auto insurance, phone bill, etc.
Unrelated:
- I was planning on just buying a smartphone once I'm there. Most likely it will be cheaper, though the downside is it will take a while to configure.
- Make photocopies of passport
- Just in case, I'll be making scans of all my important documents and uploading them to the cloud (dummy gmail account or similar): Passport, rental agreements, flight tickets, proof of no criminal record, driver's license, etc.
- Similarly to the above point, backup the documents on separate flash drives and encrypt them with a password. Probably overkill, but takes less than 30 minutes and if I'd ever need them, they'd be a lifesaver.
Question: Why do you feel a VPN is necessary?