# dollar vs rand getting better each day



## carl2591 (Oct 8, 2008)

today the exchange rate was 9.16- 9.18. getting back close to the old days of 10-1 exchange rate.. by holding off from 9-15-08  on my DIK at 1846R the cost was $232.00. today its at 200.00 a 32.00 savings and looking better each day.

if this get to 10 to 1 I am going to pay for the next 3 yrs on my DIK and sudwula lodge units..

you can get current exchange rates at xe.com

keep you eye on this and be ready to pay some MF at the good old rates..

have a good week


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## janej (Oct 8, 2008)

Can you pay 3 years in advance?  I thought we are only allowed to pay on March 1 for the next year at DIK.


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## SciTchr (Oct 9, 2008)

*Me too...*

I can't ever pay ahead of March. How do you do this???


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## glenmore (Oct 9, 2008)

I have always paid 2 years ahead on my Durban Sands and Sudwala - didn't know you could go 3 years ahead . . I just write and ask for the estimated levy amount for that year and they add 10-15% to the year before and I send in the payment . .


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## philemer (Oct 9, 2008)

The rate was 9.36 to the $ this afternoon.  Getting better. The Aussie $ is sucking sand too.


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## bigrick (Oct 10, 2008)

Thanks for the heads up on this.  I haven't been paying attention since I usually pay my MF's in May.  This is definitely an opportunity to watch!


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## carl2591 (Oct 10, 2008)

not sure if you can pay 3 yrs in advance at DIK, that was just a thought. I will send email to judy and see if possible.. I would think they would accept any amount of money so they could have it on hand or put into securities to earn interest of some form.  In past years the rand has not been so good to US so I was just going year to year..

I will post back when get info from judy at DIK.


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## SciTchr (Oct 10, 2008)

*I pay in advance*

I am getting ready (in March when they accept the new year's levy) to pay for 2010, so I guess I am one year ahead. I would be interested in paying more, but I worry about the record keeping aspect...


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## MuranoJo (Oct 12, 2008)

9.19 today.


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## carl2591 (Oct 15, 2008)

got a reply back from judy at DIK.

you can pay 2009 MF at any time if not already do so.. 2010 MF can not be paid till march 09..

You can send extra money they will hold and credit your account..

MF on 2 bedroom redflexi is R2373 or 237.65 today..

rand to dollar is 9.98 this afternoon.  

the rand has been moving around and may continue to move up. It takes a couple days at best for they to get the deal complete.

have a good one


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## bogey21 (Oct 15, 2008)

philemer said:


> The Aussie $ is sucking sand too.



I have a relatively steady stream of monthly payments to make in Australian Dollars for my race horses.  Since I like today's exchange rate I bought an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) which tracks the Aussie Dollar.  The ticker symbol is FXA.  Basically this locks in today's exchange rate.  If the Aussie Dollar goes up, the value of the ETF goes up and vica-versa.  I'm sure there is a Rand ETF also.  If you want, you could buy an amount equal to say 10 years of MFs whenever you feel like you would like to lock in the Rand/Dollar exchange rate.  Incidentally, the ETF also throws off a small monthly yield.

George


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## cerralee (Oct 16, 2008)

I checked today and the rate is 1 USD = 10.0437 ZAR, It's kinda like gambling-do I pay for two years today at this rate or wait a week and see if it goes down even more?  Not only did my Mt. Amanzi levi not go up this year but now my peak week is hovering around the $250 mark.  I think I'm going to pull the trigger.  I wonder if my Silversands will come in under $100?


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## Debbyd57 (Oct 16, 2008)

Thanks for the heads up.  We just paid ours for 2009 after seeing this post. I wish we could pay for 2010 too.   Debby


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## Monty (Oct 17, 2008)

*Rand Hit 10 to 1 $$$ Today*

Good time for paying dues!


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## MuranoJo (Oct 18, 2008)

Just checked today, and it's 10.09.  I think I'm gonna pay for two years.


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## Carolinian (Oct 22, 2008)

Today, it has been over 11 rand to the dollar.


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## carl2591 (Oct 22, 2008)

*WOW*

rand at 11.27.. so now the question is, wait for it go higher or just pull the trigger and get the MF on the way..???  I say pull the trigger and pay them because we all know how SLOW SA can be about this stuff...

who or how is the exchange rate determined at time of CC charges.. are they set by the CC company based on say a xe.com rates or by some other metric they use... any one know how and when it figured..??

thanks


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## Rmelnyk (Oct 23, 2008)

I just paid my SA @11.04 to the $ with a 10% discount when paid early.  $190. for my two bedroom red week 
Roman


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## carl2591 (Oct 23, 2008)

me too,,
both DIK and sudwala lodge for 2009 and 2010.. get it while the getting hot..

looks like a 11.23 to rand. have to keep watching to see how the rate goes and might be sending more on credit later..

good day great weekend to all..


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## rickandcindy23 (Oct 24, 2008)

Lower today, and so is the Australian dollar.


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## pagosajim (Oct 25, 2008)

Thanks for pointing out the favorable exchange rates.  I normally don't start looking until March when I can first pay my Dikhololo fees.

I've had Judy at Dik place a 3000 Rand credit on my account that will be applied to my 2010 fees in March, 2009.  Haven't seen the exact exchange rate used on my Visa card yet, but I think it went through at just over 11 R/$.

Even with an anticipated rate of about 3000 R for the 2010 fees, this will be the lowest amount (~$275) I've paid since 2005 when I bought the deed.  Back then it was 2338 R  ($368) at a conversion rate of 6 R/$.  Needless to say, I'm very happy.


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## redkayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I emailed Niky last night to pay my 2010 fees at Sudwala.  Received email this morning that my 2 weeks cost a total of $305.  Believe Rand is 11 or a little over.  Rand was at 7.6 when I paid 2009 fees just at the end of May.  Not a bad price for the exchanges I get with it (usually off season).  Just came back from two weeks at the Carlsbad Beach Resort thanks to Sudwala.


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## carl2591 (Oct 28, 2008)

got a message back from doreen about my credit card.. I had put a wrong number down so they could not process.. it took a couple days for them to get back due to the volume of people sending money and banking weeks if possible.. 

looks like the message got out and lots sent money to cover MF..

WOW>..

have a good one.. today rate was down to 10.22.. still not bad 

remember you can send in more than the MF and put on acct as credit to use later.. more you send now the less you spend later... kinda like the fram guy. "pay me now or pay me "more" later..""

happy Halloween to all !!


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## Carolinian (Oct 30, 2008)

The dollar lost a good bit of ground against all currencies in the last day, probably due to the interest rate cut.


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## philemer (Oct 30, 2008)

Carolinian said:


> The dollar lost a good bit of ground against all currencies in the last day, probably due to the interest rate cut.



I'm glad my payment cleared a few days ago- just over 11 Rand to the dollar.  Best rate I've seen in over 5 years.


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## AwayWeGo (Oct 31, 2008)

*Week Late & A Rand Short ?*

In my usual semi-lazy way, I didn't get round to making an advance Lowveld Lodge levy payment via American Express till this morning.  They replied via E-Mail saying the payment -- Three Thousand Rand -- will be processed Monday. 

By then the rates may not be so favorable as when this discussion topic popped up.  

So it goes. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## cerralee (Oct 31, 2008)

I e-mailed both of my South Africa week resorts early this week when the rand was still going strong-had just started going down.  I kept waiting for the I did it e-mail and kept checking my cc statement to see if either of the resorts had posted.  Two weeks at Mt. Amanzi and 1 week at Silversands.  I wanted to pay for the next two years.  Today I got the dreaded returned mail notice from both resorts.  So I tried to call only to find out that over in SA they have gone for the day and I will have to wait till Monday-darn, a week late and about $200 short!!


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## MuranoJo (Nov 2, 2008)

Yeah, I waited too long, too.  It was back to .1079 Rand to USD today.  Bummer.  Saw it at around 11 but other things got in my way.  Still, this is close to when I purchased I believe.  I may wait for things to settle a bit and check every day.  If it continues to go up, I may jump in.


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## carl2591 (Nov 9, 2008)

*watching the rand*

just hang on and keep watching.. you can get a daily update from
xe.com.. they send me a email once or twice a day with 10-15 exchange rates. just scroll down to south africa rand and see.. look like it has been moving back up some from last week.. when you see 10.50 or so get ready to pull the trigger. remember south africa is 6 hrs ahead of us on the east coast.  

have a good one


ps got in at 11.3 one dik and 11 on sudwala.


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## Carolinian (Nov 10, 2008)

Since the US electoin, the dollar has dipped against most currencies.  Of course the stock market has, as well.


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## MuranoJo (Nov 17, 2008)

Was able to pay Durban Sands '10 a few days back.  Already banked, haven't had time to test it.


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## cerralee (Nov 19, 2008)

Finally managed to get my credit card numbers correctly typed in and not returned for overfull mailboxes in South Africa.  It took about three weeks altogether for various and asundry mistakes, mailbox snafus etc.,.  

I still feel that I made out pretty good, two peak Mt. Amanzi weeks and an off season Silversands for under $600 total in levis.

I am still going to keep an eye out for falling rand vs. dollar.  I probably should have gone ahead and prepaid next year but I didn't.

Lee


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## MuranoJo (Nov 23, 2008)

Lee, I didn't pay beyond '10 for Durban Sands and just paid '09 for 2 Sudwala.  Just didn't want to part with the money because I'm not sure we'll be able to travel much anyway.


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## AwayWeGo (Nov 28, 2008)

*Just Now Got The Bill.*

American Express charged me $317*.*42 for 3*,*000 rand. 

That was processed on 11-3-2008 & included the exchange fee as of that date. 

For foreign currency charges, American Express gets the going rate as of the transaction date + 2%. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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