Hey guys…
I’m helping a friend set up a website for her new business. It’s a simple site, but she needs a section for showcasing products. Ideally, she’d be able to update it herself by adding new items with an image, title, and short description.
I’m looking for an easy-to-use CMS that lets her do this without any coding, so I won’t have to make updates for her each time. Free or low-cost options would be great since we’re trying to keep expenses down for her new venture. Any recommendations?
Get 100 or 200 USD in cash for emergencies or a very rare case where they don’t take cards. Everything else go with your CC, also if your card doesn’t charge you a fee for foreign transactions always choose to pay in USD when prompted.
@Aubrey
$200 is a good number. It’s enough to get you out of a bind. Prepare for the unexpected.
@Aubrey
My teenager never understood why I always give him $20 for trips until this last one he dropped his credit card in a storm drain and had that to eat for his last meal.
$200 seems excessive though. I haven’t used $200 cash in the last year. $50 is probably fine. $10 of it in $1 for tips.
@Javan
It’s crazy until it happens to you right? I think $200 might be too much for regular expenses, but as an emergency buffer is not a crazy number. Imagine dropping your credit card in a storm drain on day 1 of your trip… Having 10 or 20 in ones is a very good idea too.
@Aubrey
I always get 200 in local currency when traveling to another country. I figure it’s enough for a taxi and dinner just in case something happens or I have an issue to get sorted.
@Aubrey
I would say 2000-2500$.
I always travel with 20 USD made up of singles and fives for cash tips- everything else goes on my card.
Shea said:
I always travel with 20 USD made up of singles and fives for cash tips- everything else goes on my card.
This.
Shea said:
I always travel with 20 USD made up of singles and fives for cash tips- everything else goes on my card.
This.
I second the motion! I travel with $20 for tips; otherwise it’s all on card - zero reason to carry cash.
Shea said:
I always travel with 20 USD made up of singles and fives for cash tips- everything else goes on my card.
I’d get a 100 USD for tips and small purchases. OP should check if his or her credit card charges for foreign transaction.
It’s rare to find any place in the US that won’t take a card these days. Even most of the vendors at our local farmer’s market take cards at this point.
I always like to have a bit of “local” currency when I travel for emergencies, but overall it’s really not necessary.
Jules said:
Credit card with no foreign transaction fees. Maybe you can get a bit of cash, just in case there is anything not accepting CC.
There are only 4 Canadian credit cards with no FX fees. 3 of them are decent:
Other than that, the prepaid credit cards from Wealthsimple, Wise, or EQ Bank also work since those have no FX fees.
Use a credit card, one with no foreign transaction fees! And remember if the machine asks for your ZIP, it’s the numbers from your postal code plus 00 (M5L2B6 = 52600).
Bring a little cash, in case you go to a small food vendor or something. Most everywhere will take card.
Credit card with no foreign transaction fees. Maybe you can get a bit of cash, just in case there is anything not accepting CC.
@Eli
The one you left off the list is also the only one without an annual fee…
Morgan said:
@Eli
The one you left off the list is also the only one without an annual fee…
Agreed. Home Trust Visa is an excellent travel credit card.
People lean hard on this “no foreign transaction fees” thing, but you have to watch the exchange rates. They make their money somewhere, and when they drop the transaction fees, they usually make up for it with less favorable exchange rates.
I use Wise hooked up to Google wallet for international transactions. It’s a prepaid system backed up by Visa, so it only works if you have the cash to back it up, but I’ve been using that since 2022 for all international transactions and have saved hundreds in fees and exchange rates. It doesn’t work everywhere because some systems decline the prepaid cards, so you do need to back it up with a regular credit card and some cash, but that’s my first choice for foreign currency.
It’s worth spending some time understanding exchange rates, and buy rate vs sell rate (usually about 10 cents difference…because that’s where they make their money…but I’ve seen as much as 25 cents difference in the buy and sell rates). Wise gives the most competitive rates by far (well Revolut is the other one, but that doesn’t seem to be working in North America anymore and is only for Europe now I think). Wise is the technology behind the new Canadian EQ bank and others, so they are complying with the different international banking regulations.
Very likely credit cards work everywhere, but I don’t know your credit card rates when buying in the US - only you know those fees.
The US is a first-world country so your credit card, in addition to your phone set up with tap-to-pay, should give you sufficient coverage in case one of them gets lost/stolen.