magician

He doesn't need to shop for a girlfriend in Italy; he already has a girlfriend.

Try to keep up.

Zacreth

Lol...
Well hotels aren't completely free but discounted heavily. Food is not free of course but I don't mind about that. Transfers are free from the airport to hotel.
But yes money is still involved. But not too much as if I were paying for everything at a standard rate. Also I'm not studying right now since I have to wait to be admitted into my program. I just moved here about 4 months ago and I'll be doing an advance 10 month study for my Master's degree and the application process will not be decided upon until January of every year. So I am just working at the university paying bills and trying to save now.
I understand what I make isn't alot to other people but if I look at the tuition waiver I get it adds up to be alot.
But now talking about the trip more in the off-topic section I;m thinking of asking for tickets for either a cruise or to go to South America.

hpark

you think meals here are expensive...you'll be shocked how much a meal costs in italy with the current exchange rates

OCMusicJunkie

Don't dig yourself into the hole my brother did and invest in stocks/funds if you want to buy a home in 1-3 years with the money. If the housing market and your personal life both say it's the right time, you don't want to feel obligated to wait for a dip in the market to turn around. Even at 15% return, twice what a "safe' goal is considered to be, your interest won't even add up to much over that time. You're better off working on your budget and credit- then sticking the extra into CDs or other safe investments simply to offset inflation and not get 1% on a basic savings account.

Your CC interest is probably higher than whatever a "new" investor could start out expecting to make.

hpark

1-3 year time horizon is a bit short to be investing in stocks....esp now it seems like there's a good chance we may get into a bear market