How can a traveler save money during a crisis?
It would be dishonest not to write anything after I posted a post about that, how can money be kept, to which I still get questions. After all, I have now greatly simplified that scheme, so to speak, reduced income for the sake of my peace of mind.
Surely, many will not support me, the alarmist will say, but after fall of SB Bank, I thought hard about whether I need all the number of bank accounts and cards that I have in stock now. Apparently for a year or two it makes sense to simplify the whole scheme and take everything to Sberbank / Matrasbank (or a similar bank) and wait there. Well, this is if you are worried and worried, because if you believe in the DIA's ability to pay off debts indefinitely and believe that everything will be normal with the banking sector in the near future, then, of course, there is no point in twitching.
The content of the article
Fewer banks
I decided for myself that it would be safer for me to reduce the number of banks, close ruble deposits, withdraw part of the cash, so as not to twitch and not track the news, which bank has collapsed today and how much money the DIA has left. Even if the interest on ruble deposits is good now, it is not worth it, when the ruble can fall by 2 times in a couple of months. The payback of such deposits is several years, not less, and then in case nothing changes dramatically.
They even officially say that there should be very few banks in the country, which means that not all of them will be supported in case of defaults. So, most likely, only such large banks as Sberbank, Alfbank, VTB, Promsvyaz and other of the top-ranked ones will remain afloat. That is, now even in the TOP-100 it is not worth keeping anything, the SB-bank was included in the hundred and where is it now. Rather, TOP-10 is needed, even with the worst conditions and service.
So far I have reduced everything to Sberbank, Tinkov, and Kukuruza. Moreover, on the last two I do not hold significant amounts, and the ladders of TCS temporarily closed everything. Accounts in other banks remained, in particular a credit card from Homecredit, but I do not keep my money there. And I also thought about opening a limit loan for Corn, after all, conversion at the Central Bank rate is now a very useful thing (almost no one has it anymore), besides, for the first 6 months they will give 3% cashback on such a credit card. And since Kukuruza is not really a bank card (it is not insured by the DIA), then it is just better to use its credit funds, so that in case of something you will not lose anything.
Currency and cash
Again, for my peace of mind, I decided to keep keeping money, mostly not in rubles. IMHO, it is better to buy bucks on rebounds, there was already a rate of 53 before the New Year, and 63 in mid-January 2015. And it is unlikely to fall much lower in the near future. Although, of course, it was necessary to think about this earlier, and now it may be too late to make sharp movements. I was lucky, I managed to take a more or less normal course.
And now, when there will be 70% of savings in foreign currency, then you can just relax and watch the process (in the sense of exchange rates). Alternatively, you can speculate on rates or bribe stocks, if you know how. But for a preserver (and dilettante) like me, it's easier to just sit in the currency and wait :)
Alternatively, you can buy something. But, if the crisis is protracted (and it will most likely last for several years, at least), then «3rd TV in the apartment» not the best solution when there will be nothing to eat. Therefore, currency is preferable. On the other hand, it makes sense to buy something you need, that you need anyway, and that you were going to take it anyway, for example, a car. It can be sold later, it will be more expensive, as long as I live, prices for them never fall.
Travel money
While traveling, saving money during the crisis has become completely inconvenient. After all, if you leave for a long time, you lose the opportunity to quickly resolve some financial issue. For example, if a bank's license is revoked, then it will be necessary to return to Russia and personally collect money from the DIA. Either this or that bank card will cease to work abroad, and you were counting on it ... You can't drag a bundle of dollars with you for six months in advance. I remember I wrote what you need take a minimum of cash, but now, apparently, you need to revise your position, and cash is needed for anyone. But where to store it, not every hotel / house has a safe. I'm not talking about disabling Swift now, because it seems to me that this is unlikely ...
Don't travel with cash!
To summarize somehow, then:
- It is better not to keep money in questionable banks, if you do not want to stop the trip and return home to get them out through the DIA (which, moreover, may not be able to cope). Especially, this applies to foreign currency accounts, because in the event of bankruptcy of the bank, they will be paid at the exchange rate on the day the license was revoked. And in general, they, in principle, can freeze such deposits.
- More than ever, it is important to take 5 cards from different banks with you on your trip, and not 1-2, in order to be able to transfer from one to another. Otherwise, you can stay in a foreign country with no money at all. Moreover, one of them should be from a large bank like Sberbank, even if it is better not useful. And since most of the cards cannot be ordered remotely, you must make them in advance before the trip..
- Among the ruble cards for cash withdrawal and payment abroad, the card Corn now ahead of the rest with its own Central Bank course. VPB and Europlan cards were blown away, and now there is no alternative at all.
- Instead of ruble cards, currency cards have become relevant (I have Tinkoff, at the moment with a zero balance). True, with income in rubles and the need to exchange them for currency, you need to track rates and know where you can profitably exchange. In most online banks, the rate is so-so, but in principle you can change, there is still nowhere to go. Advanced people can open a trading account and change the currency on the exchange, but again, the bad thing is that these accounts are not insured, and all these are unnecessary gestures. At one time I monitored the courses of TCS and Vanguard and there were moments when they were nothing. I also now have an account in the Interactive Bank (I don’t keep money there), where currency exchange takes place on weekdays at the exchange rate. But I would not dare to just keep large amounts of currency on cards at once, at least in TCS.
- Those who stay in one place for a long time (abroad) have a direct road to a local bank for a local bank card. Since I have not yet decided on the country for temporary residence, I want to order an Epayments card as a safety net, which I also wrote about once. It is not Russian and is delivered anywhere in the world, it can be useful for freelancers.
- Keeping some of the money in cash, and applies not only to those who live in Russia, but also to those who are abroad, but at the same time have Russian accounts. For example, it was possible to rent a couple of hundred thousand baht in the fall, just enough for a part of the wintering. In principle, even now, on rebounds, you can shoot immediately more than necessary for the next week.
- And the last way to save money is to travel. Because impressions, new experiences, acquaintances, all kinds of useful thoughts will not be taken away, they will always remain with us.
P.S. Have you already done anything to keep yourself financially safe, or just to feel better about yourself? Or do not take a steam bath at all? It's somehow dumb to leave, when all the money is only in Russian accounts.
P.P.S. This is not really advice, everything is pretty obvious here :) I'm in a kind of limbo and I'm thinking how to do it right.