Use the advice on moneysavingexpert to find the cheapest travel insurance deal
Get a Nationwide bank account as they don't charge fees for withdrawing money abroad
Use Jeyes cloths as handy travel flannels. You can throw them away instead of having flannels festering at the bottom of your laundry bag in your rucksack.
( Pope Shax XIII uses Visio for picture editing, does it show?, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 11:17, archived)

are there any banks that charge for taking money out abroad these days?
my Barclays and RBS accounts definitely don't.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 11:24, archived)

think it depends on the account you have

( Tyronne Get To Falkirk, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 11:27, archived)

I just trust the research here:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#topcards
( Pope Shax XIII uses Visio for picture editing, does it show?, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 11:33, archived)

It's not that simple
as banks don't all offer the same exchange rate, so you can be charged 3% for taking out £100 worth of currency and still pay less than Nationwide if their current exchange rate is rubbish. Plus that's not going to work unless it's your actual current account that your salary goes into, which seems a hell of a lot of effort to go into to save what will effecively be a few pence.

I definitely don't get charge any fee or load on my barclays debit card though, I'm sure about that. But I think individuals get different deals as well as standard bank conditions so mine might not be standard.

Like all these things on moneysavingexpert, I guess it comes down to how much your time is worth to you. To me it's not worth a couple of hours of my time to change current account even if it saves me a few quid or so when I go on holiday.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 11:43, archived)

Agree about the time vs money thing. There are a few things I don't bother with.
It's still more than a few pence - it can be £3 on top of each withdrawal, which adds up when you are getting stiffed on the exchange rate as well. That's a lot of money to a backpacking student (can be a night's accomodation and food).

I already banked with Nationwide, so was easy choice for me. The Nationwide exchange rates also seem pretty fair.
( Pope Shax XIII uses Visio for picture editing, does it show?, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 11:49, archived)

ah, right enough
if money's tight and you're backpacking you're probably taking out small amounts at a time. I just tend to take as much as I reckon I'll need for the duration out of the first machine I find, so i'd only get stiffed for £3 once in that situation. Plus I'm mostly abroad with work these days and consequently it doesn't matter.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 12:03, archived)