When I decided to move again in 2018, I had no clue how to budget for a move to Europe. 

After moving internationally two other times (from the US to Vietnam and then to Japan), I just thought that things would fall into place and that the responsibility of getting myself settled would magically happen as easily as it had the last two times. Mainly due to employer support, the kindness of others and the benevolence of the universe.

Delusional… 

Though in retrospect and after talking with other teachers in my cohort, this mindset seems pretty common. And, to be fair, things really do seem to work out eventually – even though there are a lot of growing pains with realizing one’s responsibility in expat adultness.

I tried to plan a basic budget by thinking of things that people had warned me about. In all honesty, this really only included rent and a deposit. (I think it is clear, I am no financial expert and am just sharing stories along my bumbling path.)

In retrospect, I should have done more research to see the cost of utilities, internet, hidden fees, what-ifs of not finding a place after the first month of school support ran out (real possibility and did happen), etc. I just did not know the questions to ask because these were not issues that I had encountered in any other international move.

I think this is the hardest part about moving overseas: every country has different settling in norms. I did not think to ask, so I was not expecting the cost; I did not fully envision different outcomes, so have felt that I have been hemorrhaging money. 

And, yes, there are A LOT of unknowns that I feel one cannot catch, but can be prepared for financially. While I think planning a detailed budget for us financial newbs who are moving is a lesson in frustration, and maybe even futility, I do think that having a general plan or budget limit is a good thing. A must.

So what have I learned so far in regards to moving without a budget, or a very sparse outline of one on paper?

Lessons learned with moving (hopefully):

1. Ask more financially related questions. 

Not just about the job, work load, community, but realistically about the boring day to day of costs and timeline (also a cost) of electricity, gas, internet, finding a place and extra fees involved in getting everything set-up. 

Every step along the way, there were extra fees and not just with settling in. I would have asked more about payment timeline because it was a bit of a surprise (though not completely unexpected) to find out I would not be paid until being there for a month, with no settling in allowance. This would and should have gone into my general plan of how long I would have been without a paycheck in order to more realistically plan how much to save for the move.

2. Save more than you think you’ll need… and be prepared to spend it!

In Italy, just for housing, I found it normal that there is a 3+ months of deposit, plus first month’s rent (building fees are separate, but should have been factored in), plus the possibility of an agency fee for someone who practically does nothing [insert rant here] that equals about another months rent. Needless to say that it came to a lot more than I have ever spent to find a place. This wasn’t including setting up utilities and an actual place to call “home”. On the good side, I also didn’t get scammed, which is pretty common here. 

Another piece of good news, I had saved the money for all of this… I just did not plan to spend that savings on the move. Plan to spend the money after saving it! 

3. Be prepared to hemorrhage money for a bit and put savings on hold.

This last one… I have gotten pretty down about. For the last two years especially, I felt I was doing well. I had taken finance books advice to heart, started to spend less, invest about 25% of my pay per month, had savings, no debt, and was feeling smug in my ability to stick to a budget. 

Yet, here I have been feeling like I was taking a giant step back because I haven’t been able to do any of those financial steps forward for months.

My wise friend A said that I needed to just be kind to myself, I had a hard time hearing this until November when she said it again. She also reminded me that I had said I had saved, and I had – I just did not want to spend it on what I had saved it for (see lesson learned #2).

Conclusions…

I think the lessons I have learned are important ones, including that I was more prepared than I thought, but less prepared than I had hoped.

My moving wound still seeps more than I would like it to and unexpected costs still happen, but I’ve also learned that making a new relationship with this country will take time and so will planning the next part of my financial path. 

As someone who is still learning deeper levels of patience on this financial path, this move has often felt like an imposing task with too many unknowns. For now, I just keep trying to remember that this is a great opportunity to practice what I’ve learned and learn more in a country that requires an understanding of things happening when they happen.