How to Convert Money Using an Exchange Rate

If you go on a vacation out of the country, you usually need to get money in the national currency to be able to purchase goods and services. When converting money between the currencies of different countries, you need to know the exchange rate to know how much your money will be worth in a different country. Knowing how much you will need in the foreign currency can help you budget for your trip and be better prepared to cover all of your expenses.

• 1

  Check the exchange rate using an online resource (see Resources). Exchange rates change constantly, so even if you check right before you go to get the money changed, you may receive a different price.

• 2

  Multiply the amount of money that you have by the number of the new currency per unit of old currency. For example, if you have $1,000 American dollars that you want to convert to British pounds and the exchange rate is $0.6255 per pound, you would multiply $1,000 by $0.6255 per pound to get 625.50 pounds.

• 3

  Divide the amount of money that you have by the number of your existing currency it takes to buy one unit of the new currency to check your conversion. In this example, each British pound costs $1.598721, so you would divide $1,000 by $1.598721 to get 625.50 British pounds.