There are a million banks in Vire. Pick one and set up an account there. Three of us this year used Caisse d’Epargne. I had no complaints with them. They were very patient and friendly. I highly recommend bringing a professor with you to the bank when setting up your account. Banks are intimidating enough without the barrier of a foreign language. We get paid on the last Wednesday of every month (although one month it wasn't till Friday so don't always count on Wednesday!). When we inquired about our “advance” for the month of October, the secretariat at the school informed us that we would be receiving it. We had been told by the American woman running the program that we had to request the advance, but apparently we didn’t need to! French banks don’t update your account amount immediately online like they do in the USA. It sometimes takes a week to update. However, our paychecks usually register in the evening we are paid (around 10pm) or the next day. Also, you don’t get overdraw charges! I think that because the transactions aren’t noted immediately (even the total available balance doesn’t update), they don’t penalize you for going in the red.
Wiring Money from Home
Wiring money from home to the French account can be a bit expensive. For me, I had to pay 35$ to initiate the transfer at my bank at home, and 25€ to receive the transfer at the bank in France. Western Union also applies charges to transfer.
The easiest option, in my opinion, is to withdraw money from ATMs in France and to deposit it into your French account. You will get charged a fee (not by the ATMs in France but by your home bank), so check with your bank before you leave to learn what these charges will be. Some banks may charge a flat fee such as 5$ for every international withdraw, so in that case you'd want to withdraw as much as possible. Most banks though (like mine) charge a certain percentage of your withdraw. My bank only charged me 0.5% of the total transaction for every withdraw, which is very reasonable. Also, check to see the maximum amount your American bank will allow you to withdraw every day. These charges would most likely be much less than the wiring fees. Depositing cash into your account is easy as cake.
Another option would be for your home bank to issue you Euros that you will take with you to France. If you do this, make sure you do it a couple of weeks before leaving as the bank may not have Euros readily available and it may take a few days to get them.
Money Management
We're only paid 786€ each month. Even though we pay very little rent and no utilities in the dorm, it's less than it appears. When making budgets for trips to see all of your places, be wary of all the extras such as transportation within cities, to and from airports, food (be realistic). Money goes away more quickly than you'd expect it to. Don't overbook yourself. Here are some tips for saving money:
- Eat dinner in the Cantine often. Meals cost approximately 2.20€ and are surprisingly not bad. Menus are posted every week with the food options.
- Shop at Carrefour or Leclerc for groceries rather than Coccinelle - it is less expensive.
- When grocery shopping, don't buy too much unperishible stuff. When it comes to things that perish, make sure that you know what you're going to do with it before you buy it, otherwise it's likely to rot in the fridge.
- Eat out, but don't over-do it. It's possible to have a nice meal in Vire for less than 15€, sometimes less than 10.
- Take your time when making travel plans. If taking trains or planes, book well in advance as the prices will be significantly less expensive. Make a budget for each trip so you'll know in advance about how much you'll realistically spend. Include all of the little things like airport transfer, metro fees, food bought in airports, etc.
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