Money spent to interview site.

[kbui]

Is anyone else finding themselves spending way more money than they expected to fly out to the interviewing site, clothes, and accommodations?

[word]

I did (though I drove for six hours; I didn't fly). Spent too much on the suit and WAY too much on the hotel room next to the interview location the night before.

It was totally worth it.

[Jiggit]

Remember a suit is something you'll almost certainly have later use for, especially if you're a man. Especially if you come to Japan.

[kbui]

I'm kind of in a special circumstance because I actually moved from MN to CA. But then on the weekend of the interview I'll be training in TX, so I'll have to fly to IL and then back to CA. So I'm spending a LOT of money... especially for a hotel that's close to the site. And it's my birthday weekend too... So many things happening!

[dstin]

I'm dropping 1200usd on the flight from SK back to the US for the interview, but I've already got a suit(I think I will get some new pants) and have family that live near my interview site so it's going to be cheaper than I expected.

[AVN]

I flew back from Japan for mine. My suitcase was "lost" by Chicago (damn them that was a rough day) and so I had to buy a new suit just in case it didn't get to me in time.
I was only home for less than a week. Thankfully I was able to spend some of it with family but the night of the interview I stayed at a nearby hotel because I had to go back to Japan the next day at 6am.

[TomOmnomnom]

YES. I think I must have spent north of £250 on my interview. This included travel costs and a few outfit. I guess you ought to be in the frame of mind that you'll make the money back in about six months time

[johnny]

It cost me $2.75 CAD to make it out to my interview. I lived about half an hour away by public transit from the interview site.

I had to have my suit tailored for the interview, but I had a credit with the tailor so it was free.

[7906]

Train journey cost me the most (which to its tradition was late by 2 hours... yay floods!). I managed to get a into a cheap hotel two stops away from the interview site on the underground. Suit wise, I have a thing for them so I really didn't need to buy a new one since it was only worn twice (hurrah for weddings!). I could have stayed with my family in London, but they are too far away and I would never have woken up in time to reach the interview.

But needless to say, I did have to fork out nearly £100 for the whole thing.

[kbui]

I've already spent almost $450 for plane tickets, so it's getting a bit expensive. I'm still looking for a place to stay--which, hopefully one of my friends can help me procure--for free. Either way, this interview is going to be so fun! I've been preparing for it for a while now.

[Jamie Solo]

Mine cost around £200 between the train ticket and everything. My interview was quite late in the day so I luckily didn't have to pay for a hotel.

[littleanemonefish]

Clothing only, which I'm spending quite a bit on, but not too much, probably under $300 total, and having a suit is gonna be good in the future. I would almost say the clothing doesn't count, since I would have bought it, or some other clothing anyways. I'm close enough to Seattle that I can drive to a park and ride and take a 30 minute bus to get to the consulate there. My sister has two bus passes, so I'm gonna use one of hers and not spend any money on that. Depending on how you look at it, you could say $0.

[SticksPrime]

Mine will cost less than AUD$50 (USD$60) with most of that being lunch and a train ticket being $10. It's a 45-minute train ride, a 5-minute walk to the embassy and a 10-minute walk to the station from home, and considering my interview is at 2pm, I'll get there and have some lunch before the interview.
I wear suits (all suits are tailored for me, tall and thin with wide shoulders) everyday to the lab that I work in so formal wear is no problem. I might have to dish out $5 for new shoe polish.

[par92186]

Flight from Busan, SK - Hagatna, Guam = $800USD
Hotel for 4 nights (if i'm spending $800 for an interview, i'm going to at least enjoy some sun and beach time) = $330
Suit/Tailor/Shoes,etc = $600

Total = $1,730

Hopefully not sleeping through my alarm on my interviewing date = PRICELESS

[Teishou]

...Yeah, you have fun with that.

[par92186]

...Yeah, you have fun with that.

...I...will...?

[therealwindycity]

I was lucky enough to live within walking distance of my consulate, but it ended up costing me after graduation because I couldn't change my departure from my interview location (by my university) to the one near my hometown.

[Illuria]

I spent...very little actually. I only spent about £20, I had the suit already, I managed to get pretty cheap train tickets from Birmingham to London and my interview was around midday so the 2.5hour train journey wasn't too early to necessitate a hotel. It's a good job actually because my money situation is dire right now so I couldn't have afforded to do much more.

[HorseFeathers]

I bought my outfit at a Black Friday sale. Not a suit but I hope it still works. It looks business formal at least (black slacks, white shirt and a black cardigan). I'm afraid I don't have enough money to actually buy a dress suit. I think I spent about 50 dollars on it and my dress shoes as a whole.

I have to get my nails and hair done so that will probably be a bit costly too. Thankfully my parents are offering to pay for that.

And I'm taking the metro to my location so... that will be about ten bucks round trip. I'm just lucky to live nearby my interview site. I am personally very broke (snow days are killing my paycheck) right now so I'm pinching pennies to make this work.

[AVN]

I bought my outfit at a Black Friday sale. Not a suit but I hope it still works. It looks business formal at least (black slacks, white shirt and a black cardigan). I'm afraid I don't have enough money to actually buy a dress suit. I think I spent about 50 dollars on it and my dress shoes as a whole.

I have to get my nails and hair done so that will probably be a bit costly too. Thankfully my parents are offering to pay for that.

And I'm taking the metro to my location so... that will be about ten bucks round trip. I'm just lucky to live nearby my interview site. I am personally very broke (snow days are killing my paycheck) right now so I'm pinching pennies to make this work.

I'm sure if your hair is washed, and pulled back, or nicely brushed out that's enough for the interview. As to your nails, as long as they're not ragged, bright green or dirty I think you'll be fine. If you're really looking to save money I wouldn't worry about getting your hair and nails done.