I used to have a drawer full of foreign cash.

I told myself it was a collection.

Yen from Japan. Euros from a few different trips. Pounds. Some pesos. 

Every time I got home from somewhere, the leftover bills went into that drawer, and there they sat.

I liked the idea that I was holding onto a little piece of each trip.

But the truth is, it wasn't a collection. It was just money. My money. Slowly turning into fancy paper while I did nothing with it.

Here's the thing nobody tells you about the end of a trip.

You come home with a stack of foreign bills, and every obvious thing you can do with it loses you money.

The cash isn't the problem. The problem is that no one ever taught you the easy fix. So let me walk you through what most people do wrong, and then the simple move that actually works.

Wrong move number one. You blow it at the airport gift shop.

You're standing at the gate with a pocket of foreign bills you can't use at home. So you grab a magnet, an overpriced snack, a keychain. The airport knows you're stuck, and it charges you like it.

Wrong move number two. You take it to one of those exchange kiosks.

They give you a bad rate and quietly take a cut on top. You end up losing money just to turn your own money back into dollars.

Wrong move number three. You do what I did. You toss it in a drawer.

It feels harmless. But that cash isn't a souvenir. It's just sitting there, doing nothing, worth a little less to you every year you ignore it.

So here's the move almost nobody knows.

Take those bills to your own bank.

A lot of banks will buy your foreign cash back and turn it right into dollars. You walk in with leftover euros, you walk out with money you can actually spend. No gift shop, no kiosk, no dead drawer.

Now let me be straight with you, because there are a few catches.

Not every bank does this, and the ones that do won't take every currency. So call ahead before you go.

The rate won't be perfect either. Banks usually land a few percent below the true exchange rate. But that still beats a kiosk, and it beats letting the cash rot in a drawer.

And here's the big one. Banks take bills, not coins. So don't count on turning in that handful of foreign change.

Which brings me to coins.

The best thing you can do with coins is spend them before you leave the country. Snacks, water, a tip, a bottle of something for the flight. Use them up while they still work.

If you're already home and stuck with a jar of foreign coins, look for a donation bin at the airport next time. Some collect leftover change for charity. At least then it does some good instead of gathering dust.

I finally cleaned out that drawer.

Some of it I got to too late. Currencies my bank wouldn't take, coins nobody wanted. Lesson learned.

But most of it turned back into real money. Money I could actually use.

So the next time you get home from a trip, don't let your leftover cash become a sad little collection. Turn it back into what it always was. Yours.

Keep traveling, 

Andrew

What's the most random currency you've got sitting around?