Buying US Dollars

does anybody still use travellers cheques - or should i just bring cash?
p.s. - a credit card is not an option...
 
Hi,

I am investigating using Xetrade or Transfermate or change amounts approx. €5000 to US$ and NZ$. Xetrade seems to give good rates but aparently from Ireland there is no EFT option and and one is required to use wire which involves unknown 3rd party fees. Does anyone know what is the case regarding wire fees and if there is a more cost effective option?
 
I've used Xetrade to transfer sums from Euro to Sterling (and back again). Xetrade's charges were on the order of €15 and £8 (No matter what sum was transferred). I had no cost with the EFT from my UK account and the charge from the Eire account was 50c. The receiving bank for the Eire to UK transfers was in Frankfurt, and they charged €25 for the first two times (mysteriously and with no warning or explanation). We expected this charge the next few times we made the transfer, but they haven't applied it since. (we did complain to both our bank and Xetrade, so that might have something to do with it). Those are all the charges that I came across.
 
why buy dollars now when they are so weak? why not buy into gold, diamonds or lumber?
 
I bought into the Paulownia Tree as an investment last year - which was a great excuse to go and visit New Brunswick in Canada! ;)
 
Can you tell me more about that investment Bernie? What was the return on it? I'm lookin for new areas to start investing in and that may just be one of them. A business trip to Canada sounds very appealing!:)
 
no returns yet, just one year into the investment
Paulownia is a native tree to China and it is grown throughout Asia as a source of lumber.
Traditionally Japanese couples plant a Paulownia tree on the birth of a daughter to pay for her dowry. The wood is highly priced in the Far East; some logs have sold for in excess of $20,000 each

 
I invested small amounts with several companies last year just before much of my traditional investments took a nose dive!
 
yes, one of my smaller investments was with them and I also visited the Greenwood Investments site in New Brunswick buying a 1 acre plot there
 
not sure about the exchange rate when I bought it but I think it worked out at about $3000 for the trees and permissions to harvest on the land, I can look into it if you like - just let me know
 
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