10 Helpful Budget Management Tips For Expat Workers

Have you ever thought about how a majority of over 230 million global expatriates are leading a successful life abroad? The question is in the financial context. Of course, not all expatriates have symmetrical jobs, nor do they share the same reason for becoming expatriates. Albeit the majority of them, however, have the same reason to work in another country: to support their families financially through different means including online money transfer to India.

One of the answers is that they successfully manage their finances in their overseas life using different methods.

You will find a few easy and effective tips and methods to manage your budget successfully as an expatriate in this blog.

A brief background about budget management and why it is necessary for expatriates.

Bear in mind that a successful financial life hardly depends on the health of your income. It is neither dependent on the kind of job you have, its longevity, and other associated things.

Successful financial management comes from within and is largely dependent on your financial attitude.

As an expatriate, your primary focus is to earn a living in a foreign land and support your family back home. No matter how much you earn in a foreign currency, it will ultimately be insufficient if your, and the ones you send money to India from abroad, financial attitude is not correct.

Look around, and you will find many households that are managing their finances effectively despite meager incomes. Why is it so? Simply because they have understood the tips and act upon those.

Therefore, it all boils down to managing your finances attitudinally.

What is budget management?

Budget management is the art of keeping an eye on and tracking your income and expenses in a manner that not even a single penny is spent without you noticing it.

The three basic budget types are as under:

Balanced budget
Surplus budget
Deficit budget

As the self-explanatory titles show, a balanced budget is one in which your income and expenses do not overlap, and they run parallel to each other.

A surplus budget, on the other hand, is one in which your income exceeds your expenses.

A deficit budget, however, is one in which your expenses exceed your income, and you run into a financial deficit at the end of each month.

What are the important tips to follow to have and maintain a balanced budget?

Although, ideally you should vie for having a surplus budget which is not an easy task but not impossible either. With the following few tips, you can achieve a surplus budget in a brief time.

Make a budget

The first step is to create a budget to track your income and expenses. This budget plan will help you frame your expenses for different things in life both in the present and in the future.

Contribute to separate savings account monthly

You normally think that the surplus amount you have in your checking account is your savings. Not necessarily. An effective savings mechanism is to open a separate savings account and contribute to it every month.

Record your spending regularly

For a better discovery of your monthly spending habits, record your expenses regularly and then visit the record at the end of the month to see and analyze how you spent your money, on what, and in what amount.

Draw comparisons in prices

The start of your expatriate life can stretch you financially as you do not have any idea about the low-cost markets in the city. But as you begin to take root, it is better to move around and see where you can find quality stuff for a relatively low price.

Beware of your taxes.

Taxes are a complicated thing. If you are not aware of them completely, you may end up paying more than you are entitled to. Not knowing the mechanism fully can subject you to double taxation. So, stay updated about tax and associated finance policies.

Always use a local bank account.

Using a local bank account can help you slash service charges that an international bank account will incur. It is also an effective way to stash money in a tax-free way.

Get insurance

Make sure to get health insurance as soon as you land in a foreign country. Some may not see it as an effective way of saving money but getting your health insured can help you save a hefty amount you would spend otherwise on your health.

Lead a simple life

Pomp and show can potentially destroy your financial management in a discreet way. You may think that an expensive gadget is your need, but this thinking can actually be misleading given the fact that your need may be fulfilled optimally by another relatively low-priced gadget.

Find a company for sending money back home that offers cost-effective ways of doing so

Many credible online money transfer companies will offer transactions for a low fee with live and competitive currency exchange rates. Both of these are effective tools to save more in the process of transferring funds across borders.

Do things yourself at home.

Ordering food from outside can be pretty convenient but it exacts a heavy financial toll on you and can disturb your budget. The better alternative is to do laundry, cooking, and all else you can do yourself at home.

Following these simple tips will help you save money as an expatriate and manage your finances better.

ACE Money Transfer – taking care of your remittance transfer needs holistically

An effective way to save money as an expatriate is to use ACE Money Transfer for your money transfers to India, given the low fee the company charges but offers live and favorable currency exchange rates, 24/7 service access, speed, safety, around 350,000 pickup locations in over 100 countries worldwide, and much more from just one stop.