Can You Breakeven the Cost for Work and Travel USA and Earn Enough to Travel?

I think that every one of us who join this programmed hopes to break even our initial capital and hopefully, fingers crossed earn enough to cover our 1 month travel period.

I am very lucky, to be one of them that was able to achieve both of the goals. Honestly, I went to USA expecting to only break-even my capital which is RM18,270.49. If you are wondering what I spent that huge amount on...check it out on my previous post linked here! 

Eventually at the end of my working period I realised that I had enough to travel for a month. 

Yes! Got me feelin likeeeeee

Just take my money!!

Hold up, throwing your money around like Leonardo ain't gonna help. So better keep that money.

I am going to tell you....the story of how I was able to do it . I hope that it will help you gain some insights and planning with your work and travel but this does not guarantee that you would end up breaking even like me. It all depends on how hard you are willing to work and whether there is an opportunity for you to do so. 

• Main Job

To break-even you have to make sure you picked the right employer and the right job. I picked a job that earns me at least USD10 per hour after tax, to ensure that I at least had the slightest chance to break-even. Continue reading below if you want to know why USD10.

My main job working hours were from 8.30am to 5.00pm which in my opinion is perfect timing. After work, I had the time to rush to my second job which could start between 5.30pm or 6.00pm to 10.30pm. I liked this because I did not have to stay at work too late and have a good rest for tomorrow's work. I had some friends who had odd hours at their main employer (the spa hosts and turndown) and they ended up with second jobs that started from 11.00pm to 6.00am.

My employer also encouraged us to take up extra hours, sometimes my manager would give me 6 days out of 7 days to work. And let me tell you....an extra day every week makes a BIG difference to your paycheck because overtime is one and a half times more than your hourly pay. If your main job provides you with more than enough, you might not even need a second job.

I also know friends that had their manager frequently sending them home early, so they had less opportunity to earn over time pay. You have to take in mind that it is not their fault either if they send you home early because if there is nothing  left to do, then you just got to go. If that happens you just have to look for another way to make more money.

• Second Job

The most important ingredient to cooking up some money is none other than to work for it. A second job helps A LOT to break even and gain some extra cash to travel. To be honest, with only one job it would have been no trouble for me to break even. But with the second job, it helped me with the one month travel. In my case, it even covered all my shopping expenses. However, I'm not the shopaholic type. I think I bought like...2 dresses...1 sweater....2 jeans....and maybe a couple of shirts and some souvenirs. 

I'll paint you a picture. If you are earning approximately USD10 per hour after tax (40 hours per week), with the cost of RM18270. You need to earn USD4133 to break even with the exchange rate of 4.42 at the time that I went. This means by working for 11 weeks you can break even because 

USD10 x 40 hours x 11 weeks = USD4400

 if you don't eat. 

Normally the working period for work and travel USA would be around 13-15 weeks. Eventually, you would have more than enough including groceries or even eating out. Groceries are so cheap there its the thing I miss the most....

Anyways, with a second job...you get the picture. If you can break even then the rest of the money earned there is up to you on what you want to spend it on. 

My friends, if you managed to break-even its already good enough because that means that you have USD4400 to spend for one month travelling. Isn't that the point of taking part in this programme, travelling budget. Best part is...you get one month to travel too. Congratulations, you just used RM18270 to travel to USA for 4 months!

• Lifestyle

Of course..it is gonna be HARD for you to break even if you be spending your days like

I only ate out probably once in every 2 weeks? But then technically my second job was in a Japanese Restaurant. Who needs to eat out when you can eat sushi rolls and sashimi everyday?

Even Hillary agrees.

I would make my own lunch everyday. After work 10.30pm, I have a time frame until 1.00a.m to cook for tomorrow, get washed up and go to bed. Everyday on repeat. Walmart and Smiths were open 24 hours (Hallelujah!) and if I could average it out I would say that I spent around USD2.50 per meal because I cooked for my own. I hated the staff meals....we had to pay and most of the menu sucked. Peanut butter and jelly for USD3? Come on....

• Location, location, location

If you have read my first post about WAT USA, then you might have read that I mentioned working in a tourist area will help you to get a second job. This is true in my case as Park City is really a tourist go to area during the winter for ski as it has one of the best ski mountain areas in the States. It is also known as the greatest snow in the United States. Something catchy like that. 

In winter, all the businesses especially food and beverage need all the help they can get. Most of the my friends found a second job within the first month they were in Park City.

Look at that beauty!

• Planning your travels early

Planning your travelling month early helps you to save cost. The more you save, the less your travelling expenses. Planning will help you estimate the cost you need for the whole trip if you book your accommodations and activities earlier. If you have a total estimated cost, then it is easier for you to plan your working hours, how many more hours you need to hustle.

I can tell you that if you book more than a month prior to your stay, it is cheaper both for Airbnb and Hotels. I cannot emphasize how important booking accommodation early helps you to get the best locations at a reasonable price.

For my whole trip, the highest expenses occurred was on accommodation and transportation. Therefore, planning early sure does help to ensure that you will have sufficient funds to travel and enjoy other forms of entertainment.

• Tax refund

I still think it is highly unlikely that a participant is not able to break even their initial capital if the have an average of 40 working hours per week, unless something unexpected happened. In example, you were admitted into the emergency room and your insurance covers only a partial amount.

The last resort to help you break even is you tax refund. If you started working in December 2016, you can claim your 2016 tax refund in 2017 (while you are still working). However, for the duration you have worked in 2017, you need to wait for the following year for the tax refund which is 2018. 

Based on my case and after discussing with previous seniors who went, an individual should probably get back their tax refund around USD500-800. Again, it depends on how long you have worked. The longer you work, the higher your paycheck, the higher your taxes are and thus the higher your tax refund.

You can actually estimate it based on your pay slip as for the Work and Travel programme, you are entitled to claim back all Federal Tax amount. Some people Say state too, but I'm not quite sure about that as I have yet to receive my 2016 state tax refund. But my boyfriend, Jackson has already received his. Add to that, he filed his state tax around a month after I filed mine.

Maybe I filled in something wrong in my state tax refund............................

I hope this helps! Cheers to working hard and breaking-even!

My love hate relationship with WAT on my next post - Things You Would Hate about Work and Travel USA

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.

Let's go to U.S.A in 7 Steps! Work and Travel USA for Malaysians

Hello, I'm here to share with you about my experience with Work and Travel U.S.A.

I got this opportunity by following a Work and Travel Programme to USA and I'm gonna run you through all the processes and cost that I had to spend. So, this is gonna be long as it all about the cost and process. Hopefully I'll be able to share more fun stuff in the next post.

Firstly, this post is about HOW I got there...being able to stay longer and cheaper as I had to fund the whole travel on my on account. Therefore, cost was very important to me. Some of you may be considering to join the next summer or winter programme so I hope that my experience going there will somehow give you a clue or two before you decide. 

1. I joined Work and Travel U.S.A (WAT) through an agent

There are 3 well established agents that I know of. I'm not sure if there are others, but all the people that I know previously who went and came back alive, well and happy took one of these three agents. I'd suggest you to make your research and follow a legit agent to ensure that you don't end up....nobody knows where....

Click on the link to see more!

i) Speedwing - Work and Travel USA

ii) Out of the Box - Facebook is more updated OOTB Facebook

iii) Infinity Abroad - Subscribe to their e-mail for more updated news/jobs Work and Travel USA

They also provide internship and other places for Work and Travel such as Canada but lets not get out of topic. 

I chose Out of The Box not because that they were the best or the most popular one but mainly because by the time that I made the final decision to go, Speedwing did not have any more employers offered at the places that I wanted. Out of the Box managed to land into their upcoming employer listing that was not posted by Speedwing yet. It was just a matter of job availability and the location that I wanted to go. I wanted Bromley...because they had awesome benefits like accommodation, free bus to town and entertainment but they were taken up so fast, the employer was out in the speed of light. Remember FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. The fastest usually gets the best ones.

2. Eligibility

You can check on the eligibility on their website, but the main gist of it is that you have to be an undergraduate or a fresh graduate within the 6 months of course completion. So, this means that this is my last chance to join WAT since I completed my studies in July 2016. If you have a 3 month break, you can keep joining until you graduate. By that time, you will probably be sick and tired of USA already. If you have passed your uni days, I think New Zealand goes up to 30!

Check when can you go!! 

WAT is only available twice a year:

Summer	25 May – 15 Sep + 1 month travel
Winter	25 Nov – 15 Mar + 1 month travel

Other than that, you need to go as a tourist and spend a gazillion. 

That's why I choose WAT. The money I earned can hopefully cover my cost and I could stay longer and live the culture there itself. I would have loved to join the summer one, but it would be off my eligibility so I'm left out in the cold winter...

3. Choose your Employer, Job and Location

Contact all the agents that you know and they will e-mail you a list of updated employers, type of jobs and the locations and technically everything you need to know. The reason I chose to go with an agent is because it was my first time, With an agent, they gave me the guidelines to apply and could connect to to the employers. It was also one of the ways I could meet other participants going to the same place to share living costs.  

Nature of business of employers:

Theme park or waterpark	Fun place. Sociable students would love it here. Large selection of jobs. Although you may have a preference employer will place you depending on their needs and your skills.
National park	For nature lover. Remote areas not close to shopping malls but there are nearby towns for day trips. Beautiful scenic area. Hiking is the main day-off activity. There are always student activities going on in the week. The US countryside is a lot more hospitable than Malaysia countryside.
Restaurant/ fastfood	Usually located in busy holiday area. Must be able to work in a fast-paced environment, matured and with great personality. Work can be challenging.
Hotel / Inn	Usually located in busy holiday area where 2nd job opportunity is plenty.

Warning: I will not choose theme park during winter. At my working area, it got so cold that even working indoors was tough. Winter is not easy for us who stayed in the warm and tropical country. However, I do know a couple of friends who work outdoors during the winter and survived. It just depends on your durability during the cold.

I finally chose to work in a hotel because of higher chances to find a second job looking at my own financial situation. I wanted Yellowstone National Park (everybody wants Yellowstone), but they never hire in the winter.

I worked with Waldorf Astoria, Park City because:

i) Good reviews from previous seniors

ii) Hot HOT tourist location (opportunity for second jobs and more fun activities to do), hopefully bigger tips (please do not set high expectations)

iii) Indoor working environment for a person that's scared of the cold like me

iv) Park City around 30 to 45 minutes to Salt Lake City, not too city like and not to suburban which is what I am looking for
v) Free shuttle around Park City! (save on transportation costs)

vi) Why doesn't Yellowstone open during winter :(

Remember, PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR EMPLOYER WISELY. 

You would be spending the next 4-5 months of your life there and far away from your momma and papa so they ain't gonna be there to pat your butt to sleep if you end up hating your life and job. Some would only choose employers on the west or east depending on their one month free travel plans but some (me me me!) wouldn't mind as long as I like the employee benefits and the environment. 

Moreover, some employers do not provide accommodation and you have to find yourself which could be more troublesome. So, you need to be prepared for the consequences of your choices. 

You can choose up to 3 employers that you like and then fill in a google sheet, the agent will try to accommodate your options and will inform you with new employers and if the one that you want is already filled.

Jobs Alert:

Please take note that the jobs you are taking up are seasonal jobs, so it's not going to be like working as an intern in a bank. But it ranges from a host, server, server assistant, dishwasher or room attendant  for my experience in a hotel. Therefore, working life will be really tough!

People have told me that it would be a waste of my time going because I'll end up like an immigrant worker with a job that has no added value. But technically I've set my mind to this and I just accept their opinions and never felt that I made the wrong decision. 

4. Resume and Confirmation

If you have seen the bright side of this and wish to proceed, you will to fill up a resume form that they have set up a template for you. Once you have everything confirmed, you can make a confirmation payment of  . This amount will not be returned to you but will be deducted from the full payment (haha! you wish la the fee RM400 only!!) to agent later on.

5. Scheduled Interviewed, Job Offer and Full Payment

The agent will set you up with your employer for a face to face interview. It can be through Skype but for me the employer came all the way to Malaysia and gave us a briefing about the Hotel and interviewed us. Unfortunately, I didn't get the post that I wanted but I accepted another position they offered me because...my point is just getting to USA. I don't mind taking a tougher job and to be honest I'm willing to try out anything new. 

Psst...the agent will give you tips on the interview ;)

After receiving your job offer, you will need to make full payment to the agent as below:

USD1 = RM4.06 – 4.15
Programme fee	4235
SEVIS Fees	145
Visa fee	656
Deduct paid deposit	(400)
TOTAL	4,636

I paid another RM40 extra because the currency was being a B****. 

The programme fee also covers your insurance in the U.S.A so that was another plus point. They liase with another agent in the USA that will keep tabs on you when you are there and provide guidelines for you to seek for help when you are there. All will be briefed before you leave.

The fee might change in the future if they decided to up the fee. 

To be honest, I think that the programme fee is quite expensive (especially if it's from your own pocket). 

However, it's still considered a safer and cheaper option rather than going on your own and handling everything on your own. 

Maybe, if you have joined the programme once and would like to handle the next one yourself then you would save probably another RM3000 or RM4000 depending on how much they really earn from you. I might be wrong but I heard that Infinity Abroad actually offers a lower fee, so check that out too!

6. U.S.A Visa Application

There will be an online visa application form which you will need to fill in, but Out of The Box has provided us with proper and quite detailed guideline in filling it. 

They actually prepared a separated excel form to fill in all the necessary details and all you have to to is just copy and paste into the online server. 

You can schedule your visa according to the date of your convenience if you tell the agent and off you go to the embassy!

The embassy has strict rules, I'd prefer to arrive early to get better parking opportunities. But all in all, it takes around 2 hours for me to get my visa approved. Just make sure you filled the forms correctly, bring the right documents and answer the question honestly.

Because its an undergraduate programme, I think that the chances of your visa getting rejected is very low as you will have a job there (so you won't die of starvation) and the visa has a limit of 5 months maximum. The fact that you must come back to Malaysia after ending you visa will get you approved quite easily. 

7. Almost there, get your flight tickets!

Few Guidelines on getting flight tickets:

i) Scout through a flight scanner. I used KAYAK because it was recommended by my aunt, and its quite user friendly to me as I can filter through airlines, price and location. I've never actually tried other websites because this was good enough to get me what I wanted. I had other friends who also tried other third party websites and we all saw that China Southern offered the best deal.

ii) Try not to buy from third party website. Even though you used the third party website to check on the prices, try not to buy from there because there are many instances that people buy and something happens along the way and you have to play the blame game over and over again which is a waste of time, energy and frustration. Instead, check out the prices and buy straight from the airline. Third party websites will show you which airlines and go straight to that airline to buy. 

You can check out my friend, Wannie's Blog experience. She had a bad time after buying from Expedia and also recommends buying from the airline itself.

iii) Buy as early as you can!! The earlier, the better the rates. I was only lucky as the day that I wanted to fly had the lowest price. If I bought any later, the price would have shoot up way more, from few hundred to a thousand.

iv) Go according to what you prefer. If you prefer comfort then you can go with Japan or Korean Airlines which many of other participants followed. But when I checked the prices, they were wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more expensive ranging from RM6000-RM7000. Not sure if it was my noob searching skills or that I'm just really poor.

I finally settled with the most cheapo one i could get which is China Southern at RM4003.00 for a return trip. Many people have been telling me it's a good buy! But of course, I'm expecting it to be uncomfortable and bad service with the price I'm paying.

We bought it at the office itself because nobody picked up when I called. Bad sign of service even before buying already!!!!

As you can see....our layover in Guangzhou is 24 hours and they provided us with accommodation. We could have take another 12 hour layover option but that would risk us of dying of boredom. So at least we could get a glimpse of Guangzhou, get some rest and continue with the long haul the following day. 

Cost up to here

In total now I have spent:

Confirmation Fee	400
Programme Fee Total	4,636
Currency Fluctuation	40
Air ticket	4,003
TOTAL (RM)	9,079

But wait....looks so cheap but its not. There are other things you need to take into account some of them which are housing deposit, rental, winter clothings, USD preparation. I'll talk more about this in my next post in a week to give you a better picture of things that need to be bought and brought there also. But I would say if you would need at least RM15000 to be able to fully afford to follow the WAT U.S.A programme.