Is the £ likely to strengthen or weaken after Christmas?

Milky_Mocha

I've ordered something from the US totalling USD 639.75. When I was about to issue a money order for payment through Auctionchex the £ equivalent was about GBP 376. I know if the pound strengthens even slightly I could save quite a bit but on the other hand I could lose.

So predictors and economists, whaddyou think? Shall I wait till next week?

Milky_Mocha

Okay so there are no economists/exchange rate experts about.

Does anyone recommend the cheapest way obtain USD639.75 (I need to send this to someone in the States and only have GBP bank accounts here.) I'm interested in the cheapest even if it may not seem the most reliable. I've checked RoyalMail on the web for obtaining cash and they are about USD9 more expensive than Auctionchex even if I include Auctionchex's fees. So much for commission-free, huh?

grumbler

Did you read Sending Money Overseas: Moving money large or small article and two discussion threads?
Are you going to send cash? If you send money to a person you can trust, the cheapest (and very reliable at the same time) way is by using Nationwide cash card ...

Milky_Mocha

Thanks grumbler for your post. Its certainly outlined some options for the future especially the Nationwide card. Unfortunately none of the options are suitable for my current circumstance but I will have a read of the discussion which relates to the article and see if I can pool some ideas from there.

Paypal would have been best for me had it not been for the charge deducted at the recipient's end.