Ready to Go to Tanzania
Planning a Personal Budget
Costs are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
Overview
Now that you have been admitted to the program, one of your first questions is how much it's really going to cost. This section will help you anticipate a variety of common expenses so you can start planning now. The College of Global Studies's Financial Information explains on what the program fee does and does not cover. You will have to budget carefully for all other expenses.
Let's go through some of the items for which you will have to budget:
Airfare
Your program fee does not include the cost of travel to Tanzania, but an estimate can be found on the Fees page. Most students connect in Amsterdam for the suggested flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro International Airport. This flight information can be found on our Tanzania travel page. If you make different arrangements, you must be in Tanzania no later than the arrival time of the suggested flight for the start of our orientation program.
Meals
Living in the program provided accommodations, you should plan to do your own grocery shopping and cooking for breakfast and lunch (dinner will be provided).
Books
You should budget about $130 per semester for books.
Local Transportation
Tanzanians depend mostly on walking, taxis or minibuses (dalla-dallas) for transportation around town. You should expect to walk to get to classes daily, as the student housing is a short 5 minute walk to the Center and classroom. More information on how to use the minibus system and calling for taxis will be provided during the orientation.
Personal Expenses
Weekly costs for postage, stationery, local phone calls and other miscellaneous expenses can run $20-30 a week. Entertainment can add another $20-30 a week. Phoning the States is enough to break anyone's budget. Please see the section on International Telephoning in Know Before You Go.
Vacation Expenses
Vacationing can cost a lot of money depending on how far you go and how much time you take. Many students travel after the program ends. If you plan to travel, you'll have to budget for housing, meals and transportation and other personal expenses while you're on the road.
top
Some Helpful Hints
You'll stretch your budget if you do the following:
- Make daily and weekly budgets and stick to them.
- Prepare your own food. It's cheaper than eating out. If you do eat out, eat your main meal at noon, rather than in the evening.
- Plan your activities around free, inexpensive and discounted events.
- Take care of your belongings and safeguard your travelers checks, cash and passport.
- Loss from carelessness or theft is hard enough to bear at any time, but it is even more distressing abroad. Pickpocketing is common, particularly in spots frequented by tourists.
- Write down the numbers of your travelers checks and make a photocopy of the document page of your passport, and keep these in a separate place in case the originals are lost or stolen.
- With a little realistic planning, you won't be caught by surprise later on.
top