Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with exchange and dollar

USD to EUR/Spanish Debit Cards

PaulingL — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:51:53 -0800

LivingAbroadFilter: What can I, in particular, do to avoid conversion fees from USD to EUR? I am currently living in Spain. I will be returning to the states as of summer 2010. All my money is in American banks.

Is there something I can do to avoid fees? If not, what would be the best solution so as to keep them to a minimum?

Extra Questions

I have an online ING Direct account, with one of my banks attached to it. 1. Could I withdraw money from the ING location that is near where I am now?

2. Could I open a Spanish account, and use the online ING account to transfer funds between the two? I would like to get a Spanish Debit card.

Thanks!

Where to exchange dollars and euros?

meantime — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:34:02 -0800

Where to exchange euros for dollars? Where are the best places to exchange euros for dollars - either in Europe or in America?

I know about xe.com and they seem pretty good, but I've found a few local exchange shops in Prague, for example, that change Czech Koruna to either Dollars or Euros for better than XE or banks. The same was true in Singapore.

I havent been able to find a similar location that offers Euro-Dollar exchanges for good rates on either side of the pond.

Can anyone help?

What was a million francs worth in 1953?

b1tr0t — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:01:04 -0800

Where can I find old historical exchange rates? Right now I'm looking for the crosses between British Pounds, US Dollars and French Francs in the mid-1950s. Monthly or yearly exchange rates would be fine. Bonus points if you can find currency data that goes back more than 50 years.

I'm reading Casino Royale (which is surprisingly good, by the way) and trying to get a handle on the cash figures being thrown around.

$ to £ Currency Exchange For Basic Trip

c0nsumer — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:23:03 -0800

I'm taking a standard week-ish trip to the UK soon and I'm (obviously) going to need some cash for traveling. What's the best way to get US Dollars converted into British Pounds? There are a few currency conversion options available to me:

- Generic currency exchange at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW). Convenient, but likely has fees and a poor rate.
- Travelex exchange at Gatwick. Probably has a better rate than at DTW, but likely won't be very good. Also, unknown fees (I can't find a schedule online).
- Grab cash from an ATM in the UK. Likely has a good exchange rate, but incurs a 3% fee from the bank (Fifth Third).

In the past I've just converted a few hundred dollars to pounds sterling at Travelex, but I'm not sure if this is the best plan. I had no British currency until I was actually in the airport, but the rate was decent and I was informed that I'd converted enough that buy-back would happen at the same rate, should I need it. Cash beyond this was just withdrawn from ATMs.

Does this sound like the best plan, or is there something else which you would suggest that I try?

I would use a credit card more often there, but all of my cards lack the chips which seem to be required these days. I've been told that many locations no longer have the ability to swipe magstripe cards.

converting dollars to cheese!

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:13:32 -0800

I'm going to Europe for at least a year in September. When should I convert my dollars to euros? I know that if I were planning on staying in the US, converting money to different currencies would not be the best course of action. But what about in my specific situation?

I will probably be in France from at least September-June (longer if possible). There, I will only be making ~750 euros/month after taxes so I will want to use money that I have saved for this trip to supplement that. But! I'm worried that something awful will happen in the next six months and my US savings will be worth a more meager sum than they already are. (Am I on the wrong track here? Will the economic stimulus package fix everything?)

Would it be totally foolish to transfer my dollars to euros now? If so, when should I do it instead? (and how?)

I[t] went down, down, down and the flames went higher

quadrinary — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:40:07 -0800

Why is the value of the US Dollar tanking, and what can I do about it? I can't help but be incredibly frustrated after watching the US Dollar's value slip further this week (One GBP is more than $2, the Euro is nearly $1.36, and even the Afghani is holding its value better than the dollar - 49.1 AFG to the dollar). As someone who travels and works abroad frequently, I've tried to narrow down what is causing the dollar lose value as I observe it buy less and less in other countries. Many articles state that

Many articles discuss the overspending on housing and "toys" (seriously - how many people can truly afford or justify spending $1500 on a plasma screen?) combined with dependence on the government for income as the problem. If this is the case, is our national "credit" slipping beyond belief? Is our government hemorrhaging money so much that it's killing our currency? What's really happening here?

Secondly since I, as one small man, can't do anything immediately about the problem what can I do to protect myself from my currency's slipping value? I've considered buying other more stable foreign currencies but I'm unsure of ways to do this without taking massive hits on exchange commissions. I'm up for any and all ideas here.

Thanks.

How to set up a US Dollar account from the UK?

robmanuel — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 04:26:20 -0800

Like many UK people, I earn some money in dollars: Adsense and Cafepress mostly. Whilst the exchange rate is poor, it would make a sense to leave this money in the US and only collect, as and when the rate changes significantly in my favour. Any one got any experience with a UK based person setting up US dollar savings account with good interest?

Currency conversion

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 02:32:29 -0800

What is the most cost-effective way to convert $40K US dollars into pounds Sterling? The money is currently in dollars in my US bank account, and I want it to be in pounds in my UK bank account. Both banks offer terrible exchange rates. Criteria for success: (1) Good exchange rate/low commission (2) Money not stolen by unscrupulous operation who disappear into night.