In terms of your financing while studying abroad, you should definitely over budget. I know it is recommended to take $200 worth of euros, but personally I felt this was not enough. Therefore I ordered $600 worth of euros and it turned out that I still did not budget enough money prior to leaving. With one week left in Torino, I had no cash and most places there do not take cards, which is a real nuisance. Thus, I had to go to an ATM and pay the fees for withdrawing such a miniscule amount of money. Heed my warning, take much more money than you need abroad because you will feel better going back home with money to convert back to U.S. dollars, than coming home with an empty wallet.