The news of the recession is everywhere.  Jobs are being cut, people are defaulting on their mortgages.  Everything is going to sh*t, and though we have the future to look forward to with Obama enterting the White House in January, the reality of the present is not so bright.

For those of us who are lucky enough to afford college, I propose an option that may not seem feasible in light of the economy, but in actuality could save you some major bills.

The answer: STUDY ABROAD.

Now I know that there are expenses that come along with studying abroad; the flight, the site-seeing, the bars.  It can all add up, but though our country is in the toilet right now, we still have a decent exchange rate in a few countries. 

The following is a list of countries that I would recommend as destinations for studying abroad.

1. New Zealand - This is where I will be stuyding January through June, because right now the exchange rate is $1.91 New Zealand dollars to $1.00 American dollar.  The cost of living is relatively the same as here in the U.S. except that when you take into account the fact that our dollar is almost double theirs, it ends up working out in the favor of visiting Americans.  Just think, if a beer costs $5 at a bar in New Zealand, that's roughly $2.50 here.  You can cut down the cost of going out by 50%.

2. Australia - The exchange rate in Australia is currently $1.58 Australian Dollars to $1.00 American dollar.  Just think you could be down under during our winter, their summer and you could make $100 dollars into about $150.

3. Japan - Japan has officially announced a recession and 92.18 Yen = $1.00 U.S. dollar.  You can buy some crazy electronics and as I've heard from friends who have been, Tokyo is an amazing city.

Where you shouldn't study abroad:

1. Europe - Any country that is on the Euro, avoid like the plague--get it London, plague.  Right now the dollar is worth about half a Euro, so you can expect to pay at least double what you would pay over there.  My roommate's friends from London came to visit and they made sure to do their Christmas shopping here because everything is significanly cheaper than it is over in London.

For some going abroad right now may not be a reality, but if you can swing it, try to check out some of the countries that are worse off than us.