Week 7 of my Study Abroad Trip in Haifa, Israel

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a great week. This week was very busy for me. I had a presentation on extremist right-wing terrorism and domestic terrorism for my terrorism and responses class. Additionally, I am finishing up my application for the Critical Language Scholarship which will enable me to study Arabic abroad in Jordan this upcoming summer after my time here in Israel. The application is challenging because it is composed of many essays that have 200, 300- and 500-word counts. If there was no word limit, I would write around 1000 words. So, it has been difficult for me to narrow down what I want to say in my essays.

Today, I would like to talk about the importance of budgeting yourself while studying abroad. I have never been very good at keeping myself on a budget. It seems like there is an endless amount of random expenses that pop up every week no matter how carefully I plan. I recommend making an excel sheet where you keep track of your weekly expenses so that you can make a budget that is realistic for your spending habits. If you create a budget that does not reflect your spending habits, you will not stick to it. For example, if you know that you enjoy eating out several times a week, it is not realistic to make a budget that cuts eating altogether or only allows for it once a week. Thankfully at UNR, they offer a financial coaching service that is there to help students with their finances called Nevada Money Mentors. Before I decided to study abroad, I participated in the Nevada Money Mentors program and learned how to create a budget and hold myself accountable to it. I have spent much more money in Israel than I originally anticipated. I would say that the prices of goods here are very close to or more expensive than what you would pay in the U.S. Another factor that you may want to consider when creating a budget for your study abroad trip is traveling to and from other countries/cities. Traveling to other places is a big part of studying abroad and most people travel at some point during their time abroad. This can add up very quickly and I recommended checking several websites such as Student Universe, Expedia, Google flights and Skyscanner before purchasing any flights. I would like to thank everyone for reading this week and I hope you all have a great week!