Creative Ways to Celebrate Your Birthday While Overseas

Year-end travel bookings are fast approaching! How can you celebrate your birthday without disappointing your guests? Fret not! It is possible to embrace the strangeness of celebrating while overseas.

Take a moment to plan your virtual party. From virtual party games to virtual potlucks, here are some fun and budget-friendly ways to honor your big day while you are overseas!

#1: ENJOY A MOVIE NIGHT

The Netflix Party app allows you to watch a movie simultaneously with multiple viewers. It lets one person start and stop whatever you are watching for the whole group to stay on track. What’s more? It gives you a chat room to discuss what you are watching.

#2: HAVE A VIRTUAL POTLUCK

Nothing beats a party filled with food. If you and your relatives or friends love cooking, pick a cuisine or a theme for your potluck. Allow everyone to showcase their dishes while you are at a virtual party. Everyone can eat together and describe their creations in entertaining ways. The most creative entry will win!

#3: OPEN THE VIRTUAL VISITING HOURS

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Who can decline to a party when the visiting hours are forgiving? Post a message that they can come any time from “0:00am to 0:00pm”. You can set the Zoom meeting to a recurring one to allow visitors to drop by any time. Just send them the link to your party and be ready to say: I am so glad that you could make it! This is especially helpful when you are separated by different time zones.

#4: PLAY CHARADES

Virtual parties can have a variety of games such as Bingo and Charades. When attempting to host a party via video meeting, embrace the technical glitches that can happen. No activity is better suited to this platform than charades. Pick a topic that the majority enjoys such as the famous singers or iconic Singaporean food.

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

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Best Places To Withdraw Cash Overseas

Armed with five currencies in our arsenal, my friends and I decided to go to an Indochina trip. We foresaw great expenditures ahead! This is why we decided to divide the expenses throughout the months leading up to our trip. Our airline tickets and accommodations were all taken cared of. However, there were hidden expenses that we overlooked. This burnout my cash.

Now, I turned to the local ATM to replenish my funds. My friends, on the other hand, used credit cards and exchanged their American dollars. Which of us got the better deal? Well, this has been an ongoing debate ever since.

MONEY REMITTANCES

Say that you have an emergency and you do not carry extra cash or plastic cards. How will you solve the immediate situation? For starters, you may have someone from home wire money to you.

Within a day, you can get money from well-known international companies such as Western Union or MoneyGram. These two charge variable fees depending on how much money you are sending, how the recipient will access the money, and where it will be sent. The most economical price entails the slowest service.

The only downside is that remittance fees can run from 1 to more than 10 percent! Generally speaking, faster services entail more expensive fees.

CREDIT CARDS

What will you when your hotel bills skyrocketed without warning? You may consider using credit cards for large purchases like this. I am referring to airline tickets, car rentals, and fancy meals too.

The most attractive advantage to using credit cards while traveling overseas is that purchases are exchanged at the interbank exchange rate. Usually, this is the best rate you can get for a currency exchange. While most credit card issuers ask for conversion fees, these fees are usually lower than what you must pay in currency exchange counters. Furthermore, there are a few cards that do not charge for foreign transactions!

The only downside is the idea of paying hefty late payment charges when the credit card bill arrives earlier than you. So, make advance payment arrangements.

DEBIT AND ATM CARDS

Debit card was my weapon of choice when we went to Thailand. It is a quick way to get cash exchanged in the local currency. I stress on its convenience as major cities and airports have ATMs available everywhere. Moreover, you will get the same interbank exchange rate when you withdraw with your debit or ATM card as you do with your credit card.

The only downside is that you will be charged a service or conversion fee for every withdrawal you make. Fortunately for me, there are several UOB ATMs in Thailand!

JUST A RECAP!!!

Image Credits:pixabay.com

The best ways to exchange currency include using your credit, debit, or ATM cards. As much as possible, use your financial institution’s ATMs to get lesser conversion fees. Before leaving for your travels, ensure that you have your money exchanged in at least two different currencies. When you are back home, see if your bank will buy back your foreign currencies.

Source: smartertravel.com

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How To Effectively Send Money From Singapore To Overseas

Whether you are a concerned parent who needs to send money to your Singaporean child abroad or an honorable foreign worker who needs to send money back home, you must employ some strategies to remit.

The act of sending funds is called remittance. Remittance service involves the transfer of money to an individual that is a resident of another country or an individual that is temporarily staying outside of Singapore. To remit funds effectively, you must choose an appropriate type of service, determine the total cost, and confirm all the details.

SWIM THROUGH A SEA OF OPTIONS

The advancement in technology increased the options for global money transfers. To regulate this, the Monetary Authority of Singapore issues license to qualified remittance services in Singapore. You shall not engage and support the services of unlicensed people.

MoneySense advises the public to remit funds by approaching a licensed remittance agent or an established bank. Nonetheless, here are the common options to remit:

a. Cash to Cash

If your recipient does not have a bank account overseas, an ideal option is the cash-to-cash basis. In this service that is operated by Western Union and SingPost, you walk-in with the cash and let the company deliver it to the recipient of a particular destination. Since your funds will be converted to the country of choice, the service fee and exchange rates can vary.

b. Telegraphic Transfer (thru Banks)

Bank wire transfers move funds from one account to another – no matter where the other bank account is. Although this is usually the weapon of choice, it can be the most costly due to the high service fees and exchange rates. For instance, DBS Overseas Telegraphic Transfer charges about S$20. Payments made through this service usually arrive within 1-4 working days.

Please take note that some banks offer services that will let you remit online or through their Smartphone App.

c. Online Services

The most convenient option of them all is thru online money transfer services such as the renowned PayPal. Paypal enables you to send and accept moneys online without revealing all your financial information. In fact, you can send money to almost anyone with an email address or a handphone number.

What is nice about PayPal transfer is that there is no minimum amount and it charges as low as 0.5%.

FIGURE OUT THE TOTAL COST

The total cost to send money is determined by the fees charged by the service provider, the daily exchange rates, and the total funds that you need to transfer. These factors can vary and fluctuate frequently. Thus, you must collect and compare these information as soon as possible.

VERIFY ALL THE TRANSACTION DETAILS

Once you determined the most economical and convenient option, you must confirm that the provider will be able to promptly deliver your money to your desired recipient. Furthermore, you must verify all the information and get everything in writing. Keep all the receipts, emails, and documents in case something goes wrong.

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

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4 Useful and Money-Saving Travel Tips for Memorable Adventures

1. PRIORITIZE AND BE MINDFUL OF YOUR EXPENSES

Rather than spending more money on high-end accommodation, why don’t you spend more on fun activities such as skydiving? Spend it on once in a lifetime experiences that can only happen on the place you are at.

Save up to 58% on your travel expenses though HomeExchange.com. It is a popular website where people rent out their own home and find a place to stay while they travel. With this system, you will get a local feel and get to be toured to places that you will have never visited if you travelled by tour packages.

2. BLEND IN

Do what locals usually do and you will find yourself immersed in interesting conversations with them. Do not be afraid to try the cheap street foods that the locals are queuing for (unless you have an upset stomach).

Image Credits: Simon & His Camera via Flickr

Image Credits: Simon & His Camera via Flickr

I have a friend from Serbia who wants to bargain in Hong Kong flea but her district features can be a prey to vendors who want to take advantage of their customers. So, she let her Chinese friend help her bargain in the local language. It worked.

3. TAKE THE LOCAL TRANSPORT

Instead of flushing your money by taking taxis all around town, try to ride the local buses or trains. It will not only allow you to save a great deal of money but it will also give you memorable experiences. It is not everyday that you get to sit to locals carrying their fresh produce from their harvest.

4. INITIATE A CONVERSATION WITH YOUR FELLOW TRAVELERS

Converse with your fellow travelers and the locals to get credible information on which places to go to or which places do they enjoy the most. Chances are, you may find yourself in untouched places of beauty where only a few people go.

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