Dollar Exchange Rate

Is everyone watching the dramatic change in the value of the £.?

It costs $1.49___ to buy a £. Thats a big drop from Feb 1 st.

Is everyone watching the dramatic change in the value of the £.?

It costs $1.49___ to buy a £. Thats a big drop from Feb 1 st.

I haven't been watching closely lately, but in September of last year it was drifting between 1.62-1.67. I believe it was back in August 2008 that it dropped dramatically from 2.07-1.82. Insane! 

Hi there,

There are also murmurings that Sterling and US Dollar parity is a distinct possibility, the UK pound is in for a very very rough time over the next months and perhaps years.

The UK's economy is teetering on the brink of another full scale slowdown and the risk of a double dip recession is also very real. Add to the turmoil of an election and the rest of the world watching to see how the UK manages it's colossal debt problem - things aren't going to get better for a good while yet.

As a direct answer to your question peacemaker - I watch the exchange rate like a hawk, as it directly affects my import pricing.

Not looking good out there.

I just hope that the government forms a solid plan of getting the UK out of the biggest hole ever it's been put in over recent years.

DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I watch it very closely as well and it is actually made me want to cry in the last couple of days.

I used to watch it like a hawk, but in my commitment to only thinking in £'s I haven't really checked it in a while.  I was constantly converting everything in my head when I first got here and I just had to stop.  I've got some money in my BoA account that I was keeping in there for a trip in May.  I might take it out this week since the exchange rate is more favorable than it was!

Yeah, the exchange rate sure helps when bringing dollars into my UK account. My DH isn't so keen, since his pound won't go as far when we travel to the US, but thems the breaks.

I was told that Sterling was going down against the dollar because the Conservatives don't have the major lead that they had just a few weeks ago... Guess the closer we get to the election, the better the rate may be!

I watch it very closely as well and it is actually made me want to cry in the last couple of days.

Me too.  Bad bad news

Yes, it's very scary. Especially as DS just had a cheque from UK (in sterling) which will have dropped $ value significantly since it was drafted. 

I was just looking at it yesterday...it's changed since then. Wow! 

It's good for me though. My checks are converted from USD so more pounds for me.

It's good for me though. My checks are converted from USD so more pounds for me.

Us, too.  My husband still gets paid in USD. 

Although it evens out -- we took a brutal hit when we moved here in the summer of 2008 -- the pound was way up and it was more than $2: £1.  Well, we had to transfer a sh!tton of money from the US to cover the deposit and now that money is just...gone.   

Although it evens out -- we took a brutal hit when we moved here in the summer of 2008 -- the pound was way up and it was more than $2: £1.  Well, we had to transfer a sh!tton of money from the US to cover the deposit and now that money is just...gone.   

Same thing happened to us in 2005.

I always wondered if currency savings accounts make sense given the unpredictability of the currency market? Means, equally saving in Dollars, Pounds and Euros to balance out the potential loss?

It was worst last year when I had a $5k tuition bill to pay in the US, about $1.30/1.

Thankfully the .20 cent bump on the £ will now cover the interest!

Bank of America would cash DS's cheque but it would take 4 weeks to come through -- and who knows where the pound would be then! They don't do foreign currency accounts either.