Brits sitting on £2.7bn of unused holiday cash - enough to pay Jude Bellingham for over 2,000 years
The average UK household has around £140 of unused holiday money gathering dust in a junk drawer, according to a foreign currency expert.
Despite the rapid rise of card and mobile phone payments, most people still like to have some notes and coins in hand when they travel abroad - to pay for an emergency taxi or an unexpected round of drinks.
But if it goes unspent and returns home in hand luggage, it’s more often than not put in a desk drawer alongside batteries and mysterious charging cables.
Research by Leftover Currency has revealed that this amounts to a staggering £2.7bn across the UK - enough to pay Jude Bellingham’s wages for the next 2,368 years or purchase 13 super yachts.
But it also equates to each of the 40.5m 18 to 64-year-olds in the UK having £66.67 in their pockets. Based on a two-adult household, that's almost £140 not being put to better use. And don't worry if it's old or out of date - you could still be quids-in.
Mario Van Poppel, founder and owner of Leftover Currency, explained: "People are often very surprised to discover the value of the notes and coins they have tucked away. "Maybe they have some old Spanish pesetas from a teenage trip to Ibiza during the heyday of house music, or French francs from a school ski trip.
"Even more recent holidays, such as to the United States, may have left them with a surplus of dollars and cents. But the good news is even the out-of-date currencies that are no longer legal tender can be easily exchanged and boost your bank account.”
Mario revealed that Euro coins, USA coins, old and pre-decimal UK coins, Croatian kunas and Irish punts are the top five most popular unused currencies for Brits to switch for sterling. He added: "It’s something we hear all the time - that pre-euro currencies are worthless. But that’s simply not the case, even if the central bank of the country in question has stopped exchanging them.
"That also goes for withdrawn banknotes from outside the eurozone, so it is well worth having a look to find anything you have lying around.”
Research by travel insurance firm Staysure found that UK holidaymakers budget an average of £420 of spending money for a one-week trip. The most popular items to splurge on include food, drink and activities.
So if you exchange your unused currency, it could take a chunk out of your next holiday bill.
Mario said: "People go on holiday to escape the stresses and strains of everyday life - to relax and have fun. So they don’t want to be thinking about money while they are lying on the beach.
"Having some local currency on you means you don't have to fret about anything that crops up, and if you can exchange it for pounds when you return, all the better."