Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with exchange and money

Best option for regular US to EUR currency exchange?

finitejest — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:23:40 -0800

I'm an American who's just bought a lovely home in the EU. Yay! Now I have to make regular mortgage payments while still living and working in the US. How do I transfer money over to our EU bank account on a regular basis as cheaply as possible?... Some more info: It seems as though the majority of the currency exchange companies are targeted towards Brits. The rest look pretty shady.

We've looked at Currencies Direct, however in the middle of our application process we were informed that because of some new laws they were no longer able to open new contracts with any US citizens not based in the same state (GA) as their only US office.

Now we're out of ideas. We've even looked to see if we could somehow wrangle a PayPal account into euros and do exchanges through there.

Currently banking with BOA and doing wire transfers, but they charge hefty fees on top of the normal exchange rate.

So... halp please! Any suggestions from personal experience?

Most cost-effective way of transfering money from UK to US

moiraine — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:30:39 -0800

Need to transfer modest amounts of money from UK to a US bank account every 2-3 months. What would be the most cost-effective way to do so? I am working in the UK. I need to pay off study loans in the US, with the first loan installment due in a couple of months. I intend/ need to transfer between anywhere between $500 to $2000 to my US bank account regularly, say every 2-3 months.

The most cost-effective way that I know of would be to take out the money in the UK, change at the Post Office (with 0% commission rates), and physically the money to the US, and place it in my bank account there. This, of course, assumes my plane ticket is paid for and I am not robbed (I have done this before, and I was fine, but I don't want to do a regular basis).

Wire transfer appears to be the second cheapest method, and I am happy to pay the wire transfer fees (~20 pounds, depending on the bank). However, I understand that the bank have non-competitive exchange rates, which are hidden costs of the transfer (~50 pounds will be 'lost' in the exchange).

I considered making regular transfers from my Paypal UK to my Paypal US account. This would be extremely convenient, but there are hefty commissions -- about 5%, and I think more is taken off from the receiving end (?)

Anyway, I was wondering whether people had any personal experience with wire transfer and non-competitive fees. Any additional ideas are also appreciated. Would appreciate if there were no comments like, "But if you just paid a little more, you could save yourself the hassle!" as I am willing go through a fair amount of hassle just to pay less fees.

I have family in the US who are probably willing to cash in a check for me every month, if this makes any difference.

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!

Make me a Zimbabwe Dollar billionaire

ph00dz — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:48:44 -0800

I wanna be a Zimbabwe dollar billionaire. Where can I buy Zimbabwe dollars in bulk at a reasonable price? To be clear... I'm not a collector. I want fistfuls of the actual money... like... I wanna be able to grab a giant sack of Zimbabwe dollars and throw it all over the bed before I make love. When I see my rival rappers in the club, I wanna be able to throw millions of Zimbabwe dollars in their face, just to let 'em know that I'm for real. I wanna pose for pictures on my myspace page with my my billions of Zimbabwe dollars on display, just stacks and stacks of it... maybe even make a little youtube movie where I flash my Zimbabwe dollars in my hands and yell, "I'm rich, bitch!"

I see 'em on eBay, but the prices are... well... shockingly high, given the value of the Zimbabwe dollar.

How does REM make money?

Ugh — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:00:31 -0800

What's the catch with Revolutionary Money Exchange? It is a lot like Paypal, only it appears to be free to send and receive money. Apparently they are even giving $25 to new account holders. So how do they make their money? Surely they aren't going to support the site with stop payment and paper statement fees? Should the fact that Steve Case is involved comfort or dissuade me?

Neither a borrower nor a lender be...or something

cabingirl — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:39:55 -0800

I'm feeling guilty about a personal monetary transaction I made with my boss, that ended up being way in my favor by accident (miscalculation on my part). He said he was fine with it at the time, should I try to make amends anyway or just leave it? My boss just returned from Europe with a wallet full of Euros he doesn't need. I am headed to Europe next week and offered to buy the Euros from him with dollars, thinking I'd save a little on the currently-abysmal exchange rate. However, when he asked how much they were worth, I gave him the wrong number (about $20 less than the actual amount). Of course, this colored the negotiation, and I discovered later that I got the Euros for about $1.20 rather than the $1.50 or so they are currently worth.

He doesn't know about the error, but was fine with the cash I gave him. Still, I feel guilty and don't want it to be an issue in the future so I was considering giving him a little more cash just to even things out. Should I make amends? Does the fact that it's my boss change the situation?

Yes, yes, I know that I shouldn't have even gotten into a money situation with my boss in the first place but he offered, and it seemed like a good idea at the time...

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?)

Yen --> USD --> ??? --> Profit!

Muu — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 15:12:03 -0800

What's the best way to exchange Japanese Yen (in cash form) to USD? I have about the equivalent of $8000USD in yen sitting around in an envelope. Safety of holding that much money in cash aside, this was due to the rates being iffy when I was returning to the states (1USD < -> 120Y or so), so I decided I could exchange that once I got back to the US and the rates improved. And improve it has, for the time being anyway, thanks to the whole carry rate fallout.

So I just came back from the bank, astonished that they take what seemed like a 6% cut from the whole exchange, before the service charge of $10. Reading a bit through MeFi revealed to me that the 1% or so difference in rates @ Japan is actually very good -- something I wish I knew late last year.

What're my best options now?

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?

what to do with leftover foreign currency?

thumpasor — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 15:20:24 -0800

What do you do with leftover foreign change? I found a five-pound note left over from a trip to England about three years ago. I don't think I'll be going there again in the near future (sorry, guys) and I don't know anyone else who is.

This note is worth almost ten bucks! What do you usually do with leftover change / bills when you return home? I'd consider just exchanging it but I'm sure I'll lose a lot on the commission - seems like there should be a better way.

British Airways used to have a great program where you could leave leftover change in an envelope on the plane, and they would get it exchanged at no cost, then donate it ("change for good", I think). Unfortunately I didn't fly BA on the way back last time - but does such a program exist elsewhere? Any other suggestions? What about coins? Thanks!

Swobody! Fabryk! i Ziemi! Help my exchange my zloty!

deafmute — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 19:26:56 -0800

I have a not-insignificant amount of Polish zlotych. Help me figure out if and how I can exchange it... My zlotych appears to have been issued in 1988. My local currency exchange told me that the zloty was recently reissued by Poland, and that it might not be possible for me to get this exchanged. Is there someone knowledgeable in regards to Polish currency that could give me some advice and let me know whether this is worth anything or if I've just got some fancy paper?

This is what is looks like.

Exchange Rate Website?

billysumday — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 10:07:23 -0800

Is there a website that catalogs the daily exchange rates between countries? For example, if I wanted to know the exchange rate from Canadian to American dollars on July 27, 2005?

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.

How to purchase Iraqi Dinars?

loquax — Wed, 28 Jul 2004 11:29:18 -0800

How would one go about purchasing new Iraqi Dinars, if one were so inclined? My local banks (in Canada) laughed at me, as it is not apparantly exchanged outside Iraq, and the Internet seems to be full of ripoffs selling the currency as "collectibles" at double the official exchange rate. Does anyone know a way I could buy the dinar anywhere close to 1460/US dollar?

Better to change pounds to USD in London or Los Angeles?

Optamystic — Tue, 24 Feb 2004 10:57:34 -0800

Money changing. (More inside) I'll be traveling from London to Los Angeles on Thursday, and I will have a goodly amount of cash in pounds. I don't have a UK bank account. Am I better off changing this into dollars while in London, or should I wait until I get to the U.S.? Either way, should I do it at the airport, or offsite?

Are there any international virtual currencies?

dabitch — Tue, 16 Dec 2003 04:12:58 -0800

There's Paypal, eGold, amazon bucks et al. Is there a "net-cash" system out there that people from all over the world - from Aruba to Brazil to Zimbabwe - can use?