J-1 to USA - Managing/Sorting Finances

oB1

Im heading to Orlando, FL June 5th for 3 months on the J-1 Visa - and will be bringing a lump of cash with me, i have been planning this trip for months, but it only dawned on me now, How should i sort bringing/using my money over there?

I will obviously have to set up a bank account over there, for my salary to go in to, but when entering the country i will need money to live off for the first couple weeks, before my salary starts to come through, to put down payments on rent & services and, in case of emergencies etc.

How should i, logistically speaking, bring this money over with me? - should i just go to the post office, and get all my Euro changed to dollar, put it in one big envelope and stick it on my hand luggage, then lodge it when over there? (Bit nervous about that)

Or should i leave it in my Irish bank account, take SOME cash with me, and use my Visa debit to withdraw when over there? - would there bit sh*t exchange rates, and fees? ... probably..

Not sure if traveler checks are used any more, or where i would even get one!

Had also thought about loading it all on to my credit card, and use that... but that's probably just the same as using my Visa debit..

Any advice/previous experience would be great to hear from!

ProudDUB

Definitely bring some cash with you, but having the rest of it on plastic would be safest. However, most Irish banks enforce a daily spending limit, and daily ATM withdrawal limit, when you are traveling outside the euro zone & you are using your debit card. The credit card companies often have them too. (This is to protect them if your card is stolen while you are traveling, and the thieves go on big spending sprees with your plastic.) These limits can be as little as $100 per day. That is not much use to to you of you want to withdraw a decent enough chunk of money to put a deposit on an apartment or whatever. So contact your bank and/or credit card companies, and find out from them how much access you will have to your money on a daily basis while you are in the US.

lil_lisa

As mentioned above, pop into your bank and discuss with them. They should even be able to increase your limit if necessary. With my Irish credit card, I don't pay any fees to use it here for non-atm transactions. You will probably pay fees for the atm transactions and cash advance fees, but for use day to day, it might be a good option.

Again, discuss with your bank on what they provide and charge for.

oB1

ProudDUB wrote: »

Definitely bring some cash with you, but having the rest of it on plastic would be safest. However, most Irish banks enforce a daily spending limit, and daily ATM withdrawal limit, when you are traveling outside the euro zone & you are using your debit card. The credit card companies often have them too. (This is to protect them if your card is stolen while you are traveling, and the thieves go on big spending sprees with your plastic.) These limits can be as little as $100 per day. That is not much use to to you of you want to withdraw a decent enough chunk of money to put a deposit on an apartment or whatever. So contact your bank and/or credit card companies, and find out from them how much access you will have to your money on a daily basis while you are in the US.

Thanks for the advice

Yeah, i have been to the states multiple times, but never longer than 2 or 3 weeks at a time, so money logistics was never an issue, just change it at the post office and bring it with me, when i was stuck for more, id just access it from an ATM, but the $100 daily limit did apply there.

In this case, i will probably have roughly $4,000, so putting that in my back pocket while travelling wouldn't be the best idea i think.

oB1

lil_lisa wrote: »

As mentioned above, pop into your bank and discuss with them. They should even be able to increase your limit if necessary. With my Irish credit card, I don't pay any fees to use it here for non-atm transactions. You will probably pay fees for the atm transactions and cash advance fees, but for use day to day, it might be a good option.

Again, discuss with your bank on what they provide and charge for.

Good idea, will pop in to my branch one of the days, and see what they think..

Im starting to think, setting up an account while over there, and then just transferring it over will be a good idea.