Going abroad with hardly any money!

LegacyUser

Not a dreadful problem, just touch frustrating. My girlfriend and I were planning to go to NZ for a year in September, with her sister for the first 3 months. However, she's now decided to go in mid June and I can't save enough money to make that deadline, which is fine, so I'll go in late August. However, she wants to go to Malaysia for two weeks beforehand.

The problem is that she'll be just out of college (she's 27, went back to do a two year course) and has €5000 in savings. €600 has just gone on the (single) ticket, €500 on the visa, then maybe €500 in Malaysia, she'll be unemployed for 6 weeks before she leaves Ireland, which is another €600 that she'll spend.

So far we're at €2200 and that's without setting foot in her destination. Wild parties, sightseeing and hostels will blow through another €1000 in a month and then she's nearly down to her last €1000 before she even starts looking for a job.

It's impossible to make her see sense and either delay until late August (to save more money) or just go for three months (she'll enjoy it more). We'll be staying in Sydney (for the year) and finding a job will be difficult enough. I have a nasty suspicion she'll run out of money and have to come home after a couple of months. I've spelled it all out to her and she won't budge. She'll be wasting €5000 that she's been saving for years and will barely enjoy any of it. What can I do?

MagicMarker

You've warned her, that's all you can do.

If she does waste it all, then she'll come back knowing the real value of a ''dolla''.

Civilian_Target

Agreed. Remember, they won't usually let you into AUS if you don't have 2000 EUR in the kitty...

traffic_cone

Tell her to cop on!!

You must have €1000 in your bank account to enter Australia and also proof of a return plane ticket.

She will ruin both your holidays if she demands a schedule change so suddenly.

LegacyUser

traffic_cone wrote: »

Tell her to cop on!!

You must have €1000 in your bank account to enter Australia and also proof of a return plane ticket.

She will ruin both your holidays if she demands a schedule change so suddenly.

You guys need to buy a vw van or the modern equivalent. Its also possible she wants to dump you and this is the only way she knows how. Sorry, dude. I have a suspicion I might be right on this one. Move on.

Victor

Unregistered wrote: »

You guys need to buy a vw van or the modern equivalent. Its also possible she wants to dump you and this is the only way she knows how. Sorry, dude. I have a suspicion I might be right on this one. Move on.

Isn't this a bit of a stretch?

LegacyUser

Victor wrote: »

Isn't this a bit of a stretch?

No. I know someone who did it even if they were only willing to admit it a few years after. The Irish are very...passive-aggressive?...is that the phrase I'm looking for? Anyway, we don't like hurting people and are all sorts of complicated. ...and it wasn't me that did it either. Some of us just don't like hurting people. At times.

Tony Broke

She has 5k!

Like whats the problem, life is short man!

Whats she going to do with that precious 5k?

Buy a Yaris

No jobs here, so what are the alternatives?

Oz visa is not 500e and you dont need 10k or silly money like that to make it in OZ.She's still young and money is meant to be spent, you need to stop watching the news and get some perspective.

She's not wasting anything, because 5k is **** all, let her have some fun.

LegacyUser

Tony Broke wrote: »

She has 5k!

Like whats the problem, life is short man!

Whats she going to do with that precious 5k?

Buy a Yaris

No jobs here, so what are the alternatives?

Oz visa is not 500e and you dont need 10k or silly money like that to make it in OZ.She's still young and money is meant to be spent, you need to stop watching the news and get some perspective.

She's not wasting anything, because 5k is **** all, let her have some fun.

If you don't recognise that 5k can be a lot of money to a lot of people then I dare say you are the one who needs to get real and are very buffeted, youthful dude.

You can do an awful lot with 5k and it means an awful lot to the vast vast majority of this planet. Wise up to the reality of the world you're living on, young man!

Mr Benevolent

My brother went to Oz with €7k. He ran through it in 3 months and would've come home if it wasn't for having family over there. He still had to pay rent, naturally enough.

€5k is very useful in the real world, but when combined with plane tickets, visa, travel insurance, hostels, trips, living expenses and nights out in a new country it won't last any time at all.

LegacyUser

6000euro is easily enough to suvive in Sydney for a couple of month until you find a job. About jobs, don't be to fussy and be prepared to work hard with long stressful hours. When your on the road mate, as long as you have money coming in for your accomodation, food, (I dont mean noodles every night), and beers on wages day. You will be fine. I only spent £3500 of my own money and earnt the rest! To live a reasonable life in OZ, you need to earn in the region of £19000 to travel about. Then off to New Zealand, if you like walking and hiking, you don't need a much dow there. Then spend your tax returns in Asia and some of your savings before your sunset days of returning home.