things I wish someone had told me: money

These are money-saving tips. They are also important, and probably most relevant to those studying abroad (although some also to tourists). Some of these I figured out fairly quickly… others took me all semester long, and I’m kicking myself a little for them now.

1. There is CitiBank in St. Petersburg. And there is not a Bank of America. And withdrawing money has cost me… well… a lot of money. So about 6.5% of what I withdraw, but still. I highly suggest opening a CitiBank account for this purpose.
2. If you need a free bathroom, look for Столовая Но. 1. This is not the classiest location around, but its dim light, constant cloud of smoke, and over-loud techno remixes of Taylor Swift mean that nobody notices you zipping in to the WC and out again without buying anything. Also, they’re everywhere.
3. Столовая Но. 1 is also a good resource for free-ish wifi. Just don’t take your Mac laptop there, people will start paying attention to you.
4. Also good for wifi is the fifth floor of Стокманс. It functions a lot like a classy shopping mall food court… nobody is checking to make sure you bought something, and Macs are acceptable there.
5. The Mikhailovsky Theater has this thing called “Student Wednesdays.” One Wednesday a month, any seat in the whole place will cost an even 700 rubles (~$20). Even the ones that usually go for 4 times that. Take advantage while you can.
6. Cheap peanuts do exist. The Продукты behind Kazan Cathedral sells them 220/kg, which is really really good.
7. A student transport card becomes worth it if you ride the metro/bus about 22 times/month. That means 11 round trips per month. That means, if you take an average of two trips on public transportation/week… a card saves you money. Even if you take less than that, it’s SO convenient and lessens the cost of getting lost/taking 6 different busses to get home.
8. Stop buying water in stores. Totally unnecessary. A filtering + boiling process will more than clear out the water for you, will save you money, and help you avoid the annoyance of carrying 6-liter jugs home from the grocery store.
9. You can get calling cards from MegaFone, which puts international calling down to 1.5ish rubles/minute. I didn’t actually do this, since I found it out so late, but my RD said it’s possible.
10. I don’t care that the cheeseburger in the bistro near the metro only costs 45 rubles. It is, on principle, not worth it. Do not buy food from the bistro near the metro. Find a Продукты and buy yourself something pre-packaged, like a sirok. I repeat: avoid the bistro next to the metro. (This applies mainly to metro stops that are not in center city.)

Heed these. Save money. Spend it on donuts.