Recently, I opened a FOREX online trading account. And subsequently closed it a week later. Nothing against FOREX, they just couldn’t approve my account without proof of a physical address, and I only receive mail at a PO Box. Thankfully, they promptly refunded my initial bank transfer.
My plan was to start researching the money market, and purchase Swedish Kronar (SEK) at the best rates over the next few months. The dollar has been riding strong for some reason, and I can’t possibly guess for how much longer. What if it’s strong now and dips in July? I’d rather play it safe and thrifty by getting the best rates on my dollars now.
I had to find a new way to watch the market, so I checked out Yahoo.com. Yahoo has some really great charts. They’re not exactly real time, but that doesn’t effect me anyway. For some time, the rate had been about 6 SEK to 1 USD, but now it’s almost 7:1. Good for me.
Then someone told me that Chase offers its account holders free money exchanges. This was great news! I was considering closing this account (I hate big banks), but this was enough information to convince me to hold it a while longer. So I actually went down to my nearest Chase today, filled out a slip, and made my first order for Kronar. It will take about 24-48 hours to deliver, and then I can pick it up. I was really proud of myself, I’ve never done anything like that before.
It’s such an interesting way to save money. I’ve done the sock under the mattress thing before, but this is a little different. I literally can’t take this money to the mall and spend it. All for the best, though. I need to save a significant amount if I plan on eating during this trip. Stockholm is a very expensive city, regardless of exchange rates. I am currently 1/12 of the way toward my goal.
This causes me great concern, because work has been slow this month. I have been tossing around a few ideas, but I really need to start focusing on creating more income, and soon…