I am off to Europe at the beginning of July. I have been looking at how to carry funds. i have looked at pre paid cards and they seem a great and cheaper idea the a normal debit card issued by the bank who are going to take great pleasure in charging me for using it.
My issue is this.....
After using the cash that is in my UK account how do I then get money eg salary for work paid in cash into my account so i can then top up the card and not carry the cash around.
Any money and banking tips would be great.
Reply to this I used the pre paid post office card in my early days of travelling but I spent more time topping it up than enjoying myself. For the last 6 years I have used my debit card from my UK account and they charge me purely for the exchange rate (never more than £2.00) per withdrawal which has worked well for me.
Reply to this In response to: Msg #196929 Thank you for your reply. If I work and get paid in cash, how would I get the cash to my uk bank account so I didn't have to carry cash with me. How did you top up the post office card.
Reply to this In response to: Msg #197032 That's not something I had to worry about, the only way I know of transferring money (I do this between Turkey and the UK) is to have a bank account from the country in question, pay the cash in there and then transfer it to the UK. You could look at western union (but you pay for the service) and send the money to a trusted person in the UK and ask them to pay it in for you The post office card is topped up online, great if you get wifi and it is time consuming as you have to fill in lots of online forms but the money has to be in the UK to pre load the card.
Reply to this Hi
If you are from the UK, start by looking at the Halifax Clarity credit card. They allow you to withdraw money abroad without fees, and have the best exchange rate. Although it's withdrawing cash on a credit card, the cost if you pay it off directly every month works out much less than bank fees.
Secondly, when you are talking about earning money in Europe, is there a reason why you couldn't open a local bank account and get paid into it? Or pay your cash into it? That would be the safest way, and then you can transfer money back through the banks. In almost all countries we've lived in we get paid into a local bank account.
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