Your salary arrives in forints, your savings sit in euros, and every month you put something into both. Then you add it all up, and the total has moved by an amount you don't recognise.
In short: to see what you're worth today, convert every account into one currency at the same day's official reference rate, from one source (the ECB's, or your central bank's). To see whether you're getting richer, split the change into two parts: what you saved, and what the exchange rate did to the money you already had.
- List every balance in its own currency
- Pick one reporting currency and one rate source
- Convert everything at the same day's rate
- Split the change: saved vs exchange rate
Which exchange rate to use
There are at least four rates for the same pair of currencies, and each answers a different question:
| Use it for | Not for | |
|---|---|---|
| Official reference rate (ECB, MNB, BNR) | your net worth, month after month | what a bank would pay you |
| Bank's buy rate | money you are about to convert | a running total |
| The rate you bought at | your gain or loss on the currency | today's value |
| Card or exchange-office rate | what a purchase cost you | net worth |
The European Central Bank publishes euro reference rates every working day, usually around 16:00 CET, for information only. It discourages using them for transactions [1]. The Hungarian and Romanian central banks publish their own daily rates [2][3]. They are close, but not the same: on 22 October 2026 the ECB put the euro at 366.43 forints [1], the MNB at 366.52 [2]. That is why you pick one source and keep it. If you switch, part of the "change" is just the switch.
- The bank's buy rate is what you would actually get, a little below the reference rate. Use it only for money you are about to convert.
- The rate you bought at tells you what the money cost, not what it's worth now. Keep a note of it anyway: you need it to see your gain or loss on the currency.
Which currency to count in? The one you spend in: rent, groceries, bills. If you plan to move, the one you'll spend in later. Then don't change it, or the month-to-month numbers stop meaning anything.
An example: saved more, rose less
A made-up but realistic case with real rates: you live in Budapest, your salary and current account are in forints, your savings are in euros, and you count in euros because you plan to move back. The rates are the ECB's for 2 January and 22 October 2026 [1].
| 2 Jan 2026 | 22 Oct 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Forint account | 1,500,000 Ft | 1,800,000 Ft |
| Euro savings | €12,000 | €12,400 |
| ECB rate, forints per euro | 383.58 | 366.43 |
| Forint account in euros | €3,910.53 | €4,912.26 |
| Net worth in euros | €15,910.53 | €17,312.26 |
Your net worth rose by €1,401.73. But you didn't save that much:
- Saved: €400 more in euros, plus 300,000 more forints, worth €818.71 at today's rate. Together €1,218.71.
- Exchange rate: the forint got stronger, so the 1,500,000 forints you already had are worth more euros: 1,500,000 × (1/366.43 − 1/383.58) = €183.02.
€183.02
The two parts always add up to the change: €1,218.71 + €183.02 = €1,401.73. The €183.02 is real today, but it isn't a habit you built. It can reverse next month.
Counted in forints, the same move works the other way. Someone in Hungary with euro savings who counts in forints saw those savings lose forint value over the same months. Neither view is wrong: the currency you count in decides the sign. That's another reason to choose it once.
What this leaves out
- New money is counted at today's rate. If you added it bit by bit during the year, part of the rate move on it is counted as saving. The exact way is to value each deposit at its own day's rate. For a monthly check, the simple split is close enough.
- Debts count too, with a minus sign. A euro loan for someone who counts in forints grows in forints when the euro gets stronger, even if you paid every instalment. Put it in the list as a negative balance, and the split works the same way.
- Investments have a third part. A fund in euros also changes in price. This split covers cash and debt; for investments, the price change is separate from both.
- The reference rate isn't what you'd get. If you converted everything today, a bank would pay you a little less. The total is for tracking, not a quote.
Try it with your own numbers
Add up each currency on its own with our free net worth calculator, one run per currency. Convert each total at the same day's ECB rate [1], then add them. Your inputs stay in your browser. New to net worth? Start with how to calculate your net worth.
Do this today
Write one line per account: the balance in its own currency, today's ECB reference rate and the date. Next month, write the same lines from the same source. With those two dates you can split any change into what you saved and what the rate did.
If you'd rather not keep the lines by hand: in the Volora app each wallet keeps its own currency, totals are shown in one main currency, and each transaction keeps its day's rate. The Insights tab shows how much you've gained or lost on exchange rates since you bought each currency, and what share of your net worth that is. Rates refresh every 30 days on the free plan, daily on Premium. More on the net worth tracker.