The purpose of the budget worksheet is to help you determine the amount of funds you will need leading up to the program.  In downloading and completing this Excel file, you can better understand the financial breakdown of your trip and recognize how far you can stretch a paycheck or student loan.  When students first see the lump sum amount for study abroad programs, they often get sticker shock at the thousand-dollar fees and immediately think their travel goals are unattainable.  This worksheet breaks down the numbers.  For example, “if you need $2,000 for your trip that is in eight months, that means you only need to save $8.33 per day. Doesn’t that make that larger number more attainable? Couldn’t you find a way to save $8 per day?” (Kepnes). 

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In the first tab you will see the cost breakdown worksheet.  In the yellow cells you will need to fill in the basics of your trip costs.  The green cells will automatically calculate the totals or the price breakdowns based on what you entered.  There are two additional tabs at the bottom of the worksheet to help calculate the food and travel expenses in the blue cells.  These are the food expenses and the travel expenses.  The food expenses tab is the simpler of the two and mainly needs a daily range to figure out a total for the program.  The travel expenses however, vary greatly depending on the length of your program and how many trips you are planning to take.  If you would rather just focus on the main parts like program cost, flight, and food, feel free to leave the other travel expenses blank until later. 

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Keep in mind the food expense is only an estimate.  The travel expenses can be an estimate for now, or if you have begun to look and book, you can fill in the actual amounts.  Unlike the program cost, which is the same for every student on that program, the food and travel expenses can vary greatly.  Remember a budget that worked for a student in the past might not work for you.  If you are dying to try all of the food Italy has to offer, give yourself a larger spending budget.  If you would rather make food and go to more countries on the weekend, fit that in.  Budgeting according to your personality is helpful to stay on track with your spending and saving.

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Be sure to regularly update the document based on your savings.  This could be a daily update to keep you in check or could be an update when you receive each paycheck.  Seeing the total needed decrease with each update can help motivate you to keep up the savings!