Moving abroad shouldn’t start with 40 browser tabs.
Pick a country and the planner prices out your move: visa fees, flights, an apartment deposit and a cushion for surprises, plus a week-by-week checklist to get you there. Ten countries, already researched, with a source on every line.
Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. One payment, and it’s yours.
Cities like Chiang Mai
Visa in this sample
What the visa asks for
Sample for one person with no pet, using the planner’s own figures. Your copy adds your income, savings, household, pet, home state and move date.
Ten countries, already researched
The same move, priced in every country the planner covers. It follows the city size and airport you picked above.
Eight sheets, one answer
The dashboard does the adding up. The other seven sheets hold the research behind it, so you can see where each number comes from.
Your whole move on one page
Fill in the yellow boxes and the dashboard answers the questions that keep people stuck: what it costs, how far off you are, and whether you qualify.
- Total one-time cost, line by line, with the share each line takes
- How much more you need to save, and what that is per month
- Whether your income and savings meet the visa you picked
- A first look at federal and home-state tax before you go
The basics for each country
Currency, built-in exchange rate, main airport, how long you can stay on arrival, and what a landlord usually wants up front.
- Japan: deposit, key money and agency fees can add up to about four and a half months of rent
- Spain: a legal deposit, a guarantee and the first month, about three months of rent
- Australia: bond plus two weeks in advance, about one and a half months
One-way fares from five US hubs
New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas to each country’s main airport, plus what three extra checked bags cost on that route.
- Fifty routes, each with a link to where the fare came from
- Scales with your household size
- Assumes you move with suitcases, not a shipping container
Rent by city size
Each country has a big-city, second-city and small-town tier, with real cities named in each, so you can price Cebu City differently from Manila.
- One-bedroom rent in local currency and dollars
- Three weeks of temporary lodging while you look for a place
- A starter kit for an unfurnished apartment, and monthly utilities
Twenty visa options, side by side
Two pathways per country, mostly remote-worker and retiree visas, each with its official program name and a link to the government page.
- Fees, minimum income and savings, and how many months to allow
- Whether you need an FBI check, apostilles or sworn translations
- Whether the visa requires private health insurance or a medical certificate
Bringing a dog or cat
Pet moves have the longest lead times of anything on the list. The planner adds the costs and pushes your timeline out when a country needs it.
- US vet prep, rabies titer tests and USDA endorsement
- Air transport, import permits and quarantine fees
- Wait periods, like Australia’s 180 days after a titer test
A dated checklist that counts back from your move
Pick 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. Twenty-six steps across five phases get a target date, and steps your visa doesn’t need are marked to skip.
- Passports, apostilles and translations first, since they take longest
- Banking, a US mailing address and your phone number in the middle
- Flights, temporary lodging and the final packing list at the end
US taxes, flagged early
The US taxes citizens wherever they live. This sheet makes sure that comes up while you’re planning, not after you’ve landed.
- Your income against the 2026 Foreign Earned Income Exclusion limit of $132,900
- All 50 states sorted by how hard they hold on to residents who leave
- A reminder about the $10,000 foreign bank account reporting line
Fill in the yellow boxes. It works out the rest.
What you enter
- Destination country
- City size
- US airport you’d fly from
- How many people are moving
- Visa you’re looking at
- Dog, cat or no pet
- Savings set aside for the move
- Monthly income after tax
- Total savings and retirement accounts
- Months until you want to go
- The state you live in now
What you get back
- Your total moving costEvery line priced in dollars, with a 10% buffer for the things nobody plans for.
- Your savings gapHow much more you need, what that means per month, and what share of your paycheck that is.
- A realistic timelineIf your target date is tight, it tells you how long it takes at a 20% savings rate instead.
- A visa checkWhether your income and savings meet the visa’s minimums, and by how much if not.
- A tax heads-upWhere you stand against the FEIE limit, and whether your state tends to keep taxing people who leave.
- A week-by-week checklistDated to your move, with steps you can skip already marked.
A plan, not a promise
Moving abroad is doable. It isn’t a cakewalk, and a good plan says so.
Every number has a source
Each cost line links to where it came from: government immigration pages, USDA pet rules, rent benchmarks and fare searches. Researched October 2026.
The country decides your visa
The planner shows whether you meet a visa’s published minimums. Approval is up to the country, and this isn’t legal or immigration advice.
Uncle Sam still sends a bill
US citizens file taxes wherever they live. The planner flags what to raise with an expat tax pro, so that first meeting is short and cheap. It isn’t tax advice.
Questions people ask first
Do I need Excel?
No. The file opens in Excel, or you can upload it to Google Sheets and it works the same way. The download includes a short setup note for Sheets.
Which countries are included?
Australia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam.
Can I plan for a couple or a family?
Yes. Set your household size and the visa fees, flights, bags, temporary lodging and rent scale with it.
Does it cover pets?
Dogs and cats. It adds vet prep, titer tests, USDA paperwork, transport and quarantine, and moves your checklist earlier if the country needs a long wait.
How current are the numbers?
Researched in October 2026, with exchange rates built in. Every line links to its source so you can see the date and where it came from.
Who made this?
A Better Way. The planner was built by an American expat who has lived in many different countries and wanted every number for a move in one place.
Price out your move before you make it.
Ten countries, your numbers, and a dated checklist from today to the day you land.