Finances in the States

Regarding finances the general notion or idea is that we take maybe say around $1000 cash in hand and $1000 in cards as I mentioned in my earlier post which you can find here. Now the problem with carrying $1000 in hand or in the luggage is that you have the eternally worried about getting mugged, if not that, then where to keep the money and last but not the least remembering these places and trust me it is no small joke. I almost lost $200 in a day, thanks to my awesome super secret hiding spot, that my mind so conveniently kept it a secret even from me. Thankfully one rainy day I remembered where it was, retrieved the money and became $200 richer. My advice in this post would be to open an account in Bank of America [BOA] (since this is the easiest and most accessible bank all over the States). Easiest in the sense that this is the ONLY BANK that I know off that does not require an address proof to open an account in the States. The steps to be followed when you go to open an account would be as follows

1. Carry 2 forms of ID (a) Passport containing a valid visa (b) Driver’s license or election card from your home country. Please note that it should be in ENGLISH for it to be valid. 

1. Money to open the account- Either your entire cash-in-hand or $100-$200

The features of the account are that the minimum balance should be $300 if not mistaken, or you will be charged a monthly fee which I think is around $ 5-10. Now BOA is kind enough to give you a grace period of 2 months to build your balance to the target minimum balance of say $300. This 2 months period is generally the time by which you would be done with your electives or interviews and can close the account, withdraw the money and return home for no additional cost to you.The advantages that I felt of having an BOA account were as follows

• The card that they give has your photo on it, along with your name and hence you can use it as an ID proof instead of whipping out your passport every single time.

• The bank statement that you get has your name and the address that you staying at and you can use it as address proof in various places.

• The staff are really courteous and sweet and generally answer all queries

• You can withdraw the needed amount, when and where you want without having an additional transaction fee of $2 should one use their countries' foreign currency cards. This I think was the MAIN reason I opened the account. Saved me the need to roam around with wads of cash in my pocket :P

I may be wrong in some things and they might change the rules later. But I used the bank and was very happy with my experience and hence the post. Pardon the grammar, was half asleep when I typed this out.