Presently I am on business in Dubai and it’s interesting to see how the mind spending patterns shift when on travelling. The expenses will be paid for by my company, which like many others that get this benefit can take us out of the “normal” patterns we are used to. To give you perspective, in Dubai the cost-of-living is pretty much in par with New York city (i.e. A Subway foot long grilled chicken sandwich + coke = 30 AED = $8.17). Along the way, I’ve come to realize that one can easily go overboard when someone else is paying for them. Thus, along the way, I’ve tried to minimize costs to ensure that I am not changing my spending patterns too much and save the company some money in the process.

One of the ways I save money is to use my no foreign transaction fee credit card. At the same time I earn airline miles The card is a Capital One Venture Card (not affiliated with the card) with no annual fee, and there are other cards out there such as Chase Sapphire, but they do charge an annual fee. My corporate card does charge a foreign transaction fee, which I am saving my company for paying, and at the same time gaining some points!

Another way is to cook breakfast instead of buying it at the hotel buffet. It’s amazing how much money the hotels overcharge (60 AED = $16) versus an entire week’s worth of breakfast supplies from the local supermarket. Grant it, this is something that makes intuitive sense, but I find that people just take advantage of the situation that it is not their own money and go on a spending binge.

I also try and take local transit as much as possible as the cost is often time 10x more expensive to take a cab; however, it can be prohibitive if the walking distance to the transit stop is too far (in 100+ F weather) or if you’re running late (15 min cab ride = 40 min bus ride). I won’t count that as a way I save, but if I was in a better location then yes.

Bundling. Not all hotels provide internet service in the price or other amenities such as a gym, thus looking at more details for the hotel often helps to find other ways to save. For example, the current place I am staying at also has a washer/dryer combo that I can save on laundry services + free broadband internet. A comparable hotel with a fee internet charge + laundry services on location would’ve been significantly more expensive.

Many of these methods are ones that I use in everyday life at home, but it’s amazing how easy it can be to spend money when you’re in a foreign country on someone else’s dime. So practice what you preach and save a little money

Image Source: Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/hani_suliman/5170581380/in/pool-52239804480@N01/