Newbie - how to send money

[nrgt48bo]

1. Got a hundred dollar bill in my pocket.
2. Want to send $100 to X using Bitcoin.
3. How?

Thanks.

[RodeoX]

1. obtain bitcoins. You can buy via an exchange or even in person. The seller will send it to a bitcoin address you give him.
2. open the bitcoin client and let it update the block chain. Then obtain the address of the person you want to send to. fill in the address field and the amout field, then hit send and your done.

[Stephen Gornick]

Obviously, converting your $100 to bitcoins incurs an expense, and then if the recipient wishes to convert those bitcoins back out to USD further expenses are incurred.   So using bitcoin simply as the payment network does cause some of the value to be lost.  But then again. the same goes for a payment when Visa/MC or PayPal is used (for a commercial transaction).

If you are in the U.S., you can take your $100 to a Bank of America or a Wells Fargo Chase Bank and deposit that $100 into the bank account number provided by ExchB ( https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/ExchB#Bank_Branch ) Mt. Gox.  Then subtract the minimum $1 deposit fee and you left with $99 You will then have USD in the account to buy bitcoins with.

After you have bitcoins, you can then withdraw those to your own bitcoin address (from your local bitcoin client preferably, or from a mobile app or an eWallet service even) and then from there send those bitcoins on to whomever you wish to pay.

[mila]

or send them from the exchange directly
when a miner will include the transaction in the blockchain, you will find a record there
saves you 1 sending
just careful with the address, transactions are not reversible here