Using money overseas, I need some suggestions!

I know an Internet site that is by Martin Lewis and he is an expert on money issues includes traveling. He suggests that some debit and credit cards have high charges so it is better to take the ones that have the lowest charges. I went on a trip to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and when I got home I saw on my bank account quite high charges every time I used a cash machine and when I bought my son a new pushchair in a shop. I like to take a small amount of local currency for each country that I am going to like Mexico. One dollar notes are something that I like to keep a supply of because they are useful in some countries. I take my debit card but do not like to take a credit card. I haven't used traveler's checks in years because cashing them meant high charges like when I was in Sweden. Good luck finding the best deals on debit and credit cards and getting the foreign currency that you need.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

I went overseas to Japan last summer for a month... I don't know if this will help you any, but this was my experience: I took with me two debit cards, $200 dollars in the local currency, and about $100 in my own for exchanges. I found that the post offices there did exchanges for money, either in person or through their ATMs. Now, they DID charge some kind of fee for all the withdrawals I did, but I never found out how much (it was a small amount anyway, so I didn't care).

I think it depends on what country you're going to, but my suggestion is: take a good amount of money with you in the local currency, but store some of it in several places on your person and in your bag/luggage. That way if someone steals your wallet (heaven forbid), you might still have a few bills left to help pay for that day while you try to get that back/find a solution.

I would NOT recommend traveler's cheques. Most places don't accept them and they're a huge bother. Call your credit card company and ask what their international rates are and if there are any programs that you can sign up for that will reduce your conversion fees and international fees. I know that Visa is very good about that and I ended up with very minimal charges.

Whenever I go out of the country, I usually take about~$500 in cash with me. I convert about half of it at the airport when I arrive and convert the rest as I need it. It's easy and cash is, pretty much, a universal thing.

If I recall correctly, you're going to visit a boyfriend? If you both have paypal accounts, you can always transfer money to his paypal account from yours or do a bank transfer if your banks' rates aren't insane. I've had to do that a few times while visiting friends, and it's actually quite convenient.

Good luck! It's not as difficult as it seems.

I was traveling in Korea and tried to cash a travelers check at a large bank (small ones would not even attempt to cash them) and was told they would be glad to do it with a 30 waiting period. Now when I travel abroad I exchange at the airports. There is a fee but they are usually more reasonable that other places.