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She exchanged S$3,000 for US$2,150, even though she will be heading to the American state of Utah with her two sons a whole three months later in June.
A year ago, she would have received only about US$1,950. Mrs Teo, 36, said: 'The rate is so good now, so I decided to act.'
Last Thursday, US$1 could be bought for under S$1.38 as speculators dumped the greenback, fearing a US recession.
Just six months ago, it was about S$1.51 to US$1.
The Teos are among the many Singaporeans who are cashing in. SA Tours spokesman Ruth Lim said that the demand for trips to the US had grown by 25 per cent this month compared to the same time last year.
CTC Travel enjoyed a 50 per cent boost in bookings for US package tours at the recent Natas travel fair compared to last year.
'With the weak US dollar, one can look forward to savings on food, shopping and activities there. These can add up to quite a lot, especially for big families,' said a CTC spokesman.
But both agencies said that the prices of US tour packages had not gone down due to other factors such as rising fuel costs and airport surcharges.
Still, that has not deterred Singaporeans from flying out. Marketing manager Maureen Ng, 39, plans to pick up designer handbags when she heads to Los Angeles to celebrate her birthday next month.
'I can do more than window-shop. I'm going to squeeze the most out of this slump,' she said.
Echoing her views, Mrs Teo said: 'I'll get Coach bags, Timberland shoes and OshKosh B'Gosh clothes for the kids.'
Student Lindy Lin, 20, is heading to Ohio for an exchange programme in May. She is looking forward to stretching her dollar.
'I can travel and shop more,' she said, adding that she expects the exchange rate to dip further when she makes the trip.
It is a bonus for online shoppers too. IT manager Terry Chia, 28, is consolidating orders from his friends to buy DVDs and video games on Amazon.com.
'It's a good time to buy but we also expect the US dollar to fall further,' he said.
Parents with children studying in the US are also smiling. Mrs S.L. Wong, 56, pays about US$15,000 a semester for her son's tuition fees at the University of Southern California. She paid about S$21,600 at the start of this year, at an exchange rate of S$1.44 to US$1.
She expects to save at least S$2,000 for the next semester.
'I also give my son US$1,000 a month, so I save about S$60 after the currency exchange,' said Mrs Wong.
Singaporeans working in the US are also benefiting. For Mrs Teo's husband Andrew, 36, a training manager who has been based in Utah for the past nine months, things are rosier since he is paid in Singapore dollars.
'My colleagues and I are buying iPhones and Coach bags for our friends back home because of the strong Singapore dollar,' he said.
But consumers will not get to pay less for food imported from the US. NTUC FairPrice and Sheng Siong supermarket both said that prices have not changed. A FairPrice spokesman said that rising transport costs due to higher oil prices and the increased costs of raw materials such as wheat, milk and coffee have offset the currency dip.
Some fashion retailers that The Sunday Times spoke to said it would take some time before consumers enjoyed savings since their stocks had been ordered and paid for months ago, when the US currency was stronger.
And for some, the falling US dollar is actually bad news. Money changer Shethek S. said fewer clients were buying US dollars from his shop in Sim Lim Square.
'Now, Americans have lower spending power, so they don't exchange money. It's dropping and dropping so no one is buying US dollars to keep too.'
For Mrs Katie Sargent, 47, a freelance writer and television producer working for an American company here, being paid in US dollars has become a disadvantage.
She has become poorer by S$5,000 since she signed her year-long employment contract in December and has cut down on shopping expenses.
'I'll definitely be more careful and take exchange rates into consideration when I sign another contract,' she said.
