RM15000 enough to get to USA WAT for 4 months?

In my previous post - Let's go to U.S.A in 7 Steps!, I mentioned that you should prepare at least MYR15000 to get here.

Did I live up to my own expectation? Was RM15000 enough?

And the answer is....

What shoot up my expenses after the air ticket was settled?

1. Rental

If your employer provides accommodation either for free or rental payment, it is still good for you. My employer did not provide any accommodation for us, so it was troublesome for us to find one. 

Upon arriving, I found out that some of my programme mates still had not find a place to stay and they were spending at least USD25 per night staying in a hostel. That is like MYR125 per night. Can stay in hotel already in Malaysia. It's very pricey, so do take into consideration if you don't want to get in a hassle to find your own accommodation then please find an employer who will provide an accommodation (most probably they will charge you rental).

For those finding your own place, best to get one settled before arriving!

Meeting friends through the programme helped us to find a house to share and rent together. We paid extra for rental because the owner only accepted 6 months rental and we were getting desperate because finding a place was really difficult!

Things to note with finding your own rental:

• May have to pay extra as owners are reluctant to rent to seasonal renters. Will give them more difficulty to look for tenants after you leave.
• Needs extra time and effort to verify the home as there would be scammers on sites such as Craigslist or property rentals. They disguise as agents and show pictures but dissapear after the deposit payment.
• Need to fork out money for the first month's and last month's rental. 

We were very lucky as the place the found were verified by our employer because they were friends. Craigslist has really bad reviews for scammers and we were really lucky it was a real advertisement instead of a scam.

Our Agreement required us to fork out a deposit, first month and last month's rental. Our rental per months is USD2555.00 (divided by 8 person per house).

In a nutshell, I had to fork out MYR4223.00 including two months (first and last) rental, deposit and wire transfer charges by the bank.

Here is a tour to our home for 4 months:

Kitchen

Living area

Our toilet

Our bedroom

2. Winter Clothing

Second additional expense is winter clothing. I would advise to buy your own clothing in Malaysia first as it might take you some time to adjust yourself in the States due to jet lag before you can go out shopping.

Moreover, I noticed that the heat tech (first layer) in the States is not as warm as the one I bought in Uniqlo.

If you are heading to a very cold place like mine with snow mountains and a ski area then you need to make sure you have enough to keep warm.

I bought Uniqlo extra warm heat tech. There is Ultra warm but it is very expensive and limited sizes are available. When I went searching, the only available size was is XL. Even now its sold out if you check the Uniqlo website.

One or two pair is enough, you wont need much as you would be re-washing them and re-wearing them inside anyway. It would help if you have a couple of long johns from your previous travels too.

All and all I used another MYR539.40

Things I bought from Uniqlo (used most during winter):

3. USD Preparation

It is advised that prior to your arrival in USA, you have to bring at least USD800. This is for emergency purposes, paying for necessities and also in my case, paying for the following month's rent since we might not have enough income from our job yet since we just started work.

I brought USD1000 just in case, to play safe as I did not have any account there and and financial support. It would be very hard for me to get any funds if I ran out of any upon arrival. So, calculate how much you need and make sure you bring enough to sustain yourself for at least two to three weeks as when you start work, the employer only distributes the paycheck in a bi-weekly basis (for my employer).

However, USD1000 way more than enough for me because I ate most of my meals home-cooked which helped so much.

Total Cost to begin in USA

(drumrollsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss)

MYR18,270.49!!!!!!

Here is the breakdown:

Confirmation Fee	400
Programme Fee Total	4,636
Currency Fluctuation	40
Air ticket	4,003
First and Last Month’s Rental and Deposit +Wire Transfer to USA Charges	4,223
Winter Clothing  (Uniqlo – 2 Extra Warm Heat Tech, Fleece Jacket, 2 pants and a long sleeve for outings)	539.40
Money to bring to USA (for monthly expenses and next rental payment before paycheck) –USD1000	4,429
TOTAL (RM)	18,270.40

Whoops! Looks like I have exceeded the MYR15000 target but it is because I have paid my rental in advance, winter clothing and also I have extra cash for my expenses.

If you are joining the summer programme, then you can cut the winter clothing off. Plus, if accommodation is provided then I guess you save a few thousand more. Rental accommodation provided by employer should be cheaper too I assume.

This is just a guideline based on my experience. Some people might have used extra on air tickets and some might have used less than what I used.