Enjoying the Local Currency
Apparently countries can print Euros with local flavor. The 5 cent coin says “Beatrix Koningin der Nederlanden” (Queen of the Netherlands); she reigned from 1980 to 2013. See https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/coins/html/index.en.html for more info on Euro coins.
We track our spending with accounting software, so doing every purchase via our bank card makes tracking a lot easier. When we first got to the Netherlands, though, we didn’t have a Dutch bank account, so we used cash a lot.
We would get Euros out at the ATM, withdrawing from our US account, and then track the cash as we spent it. Now that we’ve had bank cards for a number of months, the times we spend cash get more and more rare.
I realized today that I miss the tactile and interactive feeling of seeing and using Euro coins and bills on a regular basis. I really enjoy the money. It’s interesting and clever; each of the bills is a different size, for instance, so it’s easier to grab the denomination you want. I love the coins; they’re also differently sized and can have designs that reflect the country where they’re printed. Also, it really helped me get an idea of how much things cost. Groceries €50; frites €4 (gotta get it with mayonnaise); board game €40.
So if you go to a new country, I recommend taking the time to do some transactions with cash and really get a feeling for the local experience. And if you go to France, keep an eye out for the one-cent and two-cent coins. They’re itty bitty and totally adorable. We don’t use those in the Netherlands; everyone rounds up or down to the nearest 5 cents for cash, and it makes life easier. 🙂
