Category Archives: Money Tips

Comparing Canadian to US Dollar Cash Exchange Rate Options

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A reader was checking recently about how to use Tangerine to buy USD and then transfer them to another bank to withdraw the US cash. It made me realize it’s been a while since I compared exchange rates offered by various banks. Now that Scotiabank owns Tangerine (formerly ING Direct) does it still offer a reasonable US dollar exchange rate or not? Here’s a comparison of some US dollar exchange rates.

Where Should I Buy My US Dollars?

Note: Exchange rates change frequently. Always check with your bank before you make a big exchange in case a better deal is out there. Also, for those with non-registered brokerage accounts and a large amount of money to exchange, consider using Norbert’s Gambit.

Here, in order of “getting the most US dollars for your Canadian dollars” are the banks and credit unions I compared.

All of these rates were posted online rates on December 26 2014. Rates change frequently. These rates are how many Canadian dollars and cents you would have to pay to buy ONE US dollar.

  1. Tangerine buy USD at 1.185
    http://www.tangerine.ca/en/rates/index.html
  2. Vancity buy USD at 1.1852
    https://www.vancity.com/Rates/ForeignExchange/
  3. National Bank buy USD at 1.1880 Includes a mysterious comment about checking the rate that your branch can offer. I’m not sure if that means it will cost more at the branch or less!
    https://www.nbc.ca/en/rates-and-analysis/interest-rates-and-returns/exchange-rates.html
  4. RBC buy USD at 1.1894
    http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/cgi-bin/travel/currency-converter.pl?tabset=table&ProspectID=FBD04E151BAD443DA6FE69802DC489DC
  5. BMO buy USD at 1.1895
    http://www.bmo.com/home/personal/banking/rates/foreign-exchange
  6. Scotiabank buy USD at 1.190500
    This appears to be for cheques not cash in which case the actual rate is worse than this.
    http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,1118,00.html
  7. TD buy USD at 1.1930
    (No wonder my TD stock keeps going up in value!)
    http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/customer-service/todays-rates/rates.jsp

CIBC, Meridian and PC Financial seem to need you to phone in for their rates so I didn’t include them here.

So Tangerine does still seem to be offering a good rate.

Other Factors Determining the Exchange Rate

Some banks and credit unions offer a better exchange rate for non-cash exchanges. For example, if you are “cashing” a cheque payable in USD into CAD they may offer a better exchange rate because they never have to actually handle US paper dollar bills.

The more money you have to exchange the better rate you can get. Tell them you need to convert $1 million and you will get a much better rate offered than if you have to convert $100.

If a currency is unusual and little used in Canada, the exchange rate offered will usually be quite poor. Getting or getting rid of the paper currency will be a nuisance for the bank and they will charge more for their hassle.

If you have a large amount of money to convert and have a non-registered brokerage account you may want to use a method of buying and selling a mutual fund or stock that is listed on both a Canadian and an American stock exchange to convert your cash. This procedure is commonly called Norbert’s Gambit after the person who first wrote about it as a cost-saving tool.

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How do you convert your Canadian dollars to US dollars? Do you use a bank because it’s quick and convenient? or a forex service? or a brokerage? Please share your technique with a comment.

Fighting the Urge to Shop Too Much

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This is a typical holiday for me: I have enough, probably more than enough, to give to everyone I will spend time with over the next week. I have a fridge that is well loaded with food and extra fruits and vegetables in a cool storage area. Yet here it is the day before the stores shut for at most two days and I am wrestling with a compulsion to go out and buy more.

Resisting the Urge to Grocery Shop On the Busiest Morning of the Grocery Year

Buy fresh mushrooms and fresh strawberries and fresher sesame and poppy seeds! A voice inside commands me. Or maybe blue cheese. Or a different flavour of vinegar. Your salad will be too normal without them.

Trying to calm my frantic brain, I flip through several online recipes. It’s obvious I can make a lovely salad using ingredients I have at hand. Still a little voice keeps piping up and saying “Yes, but not as good as….”

Fighting the Need for Another Small Gift Before the Malls Close

I don’t actually shop at Malls much for Christmas. Yet today, when they will likely close before 2 p.m. I find myself thinking things like: they have that little jewelry boutique and that handmade chocolate store. Go get another ring for that relative and a box of hand dipped orange cremes for that aficionado. Apparently the broach and stirred-with-love raspberry fudge I already have are just not good enough.

How I Beat the Need to Shop

I hate to admit it but the weather is the real reason I can defeat these little shopaholic voices. It’s very foggy out right now and obviously dangerous to drive. Having a dead mother or even just a severely injured one is not really what my kids want for Christmas. (Some other days when I’m forcing them to walk to school through a blizzard that may be another matter.)

So instead, I’ll just go frantic at home. I’ll pore over recipes and make the oddest salad possible. I’ll bake another kind of squares even though we have a half-dozen already. (Yes, but apricot squares with lemon icing are that person’s fave!)  I’ll probably even edit a few dozen photos into collages in Photoshop and send off another calendar to print before the New Year (after all, if you haven’t rendezvous’d with your loved ones yet, you don’t have to have all of their presents ready by Christmas!)

Still, it will be better than dodging through crowded parking lots and reading War and Peace including the annotations before getting to the front of the check out line.
It probably won’t hurt my finances any to stop spending either.

If you suffer from shopping-inducing voices, I wish you calm and quiet and an end to the stores. May you be able to look with love on those around you and realize everyone already has enough.

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Do you find that even after you have your list checked off you feel a nagging sense that something’s missing? How do you resist the compulsion to over-shop? Please share your experiences with a comment.