I went to the store to just pick up one thing and of course walked away with a bagful. On the walk back home I mentally berated myself for buying too much, and spending too much money. But, being as I live in China, what I like to do when I feel like I’ve overspent is convert the amount I spent into US dollars. With very few exceptions this trick always works and makes me feel better. I chided myself once for months for spending 11 RMB to take a taxi to the subway stop, instead of just taking the .80 bus. Then I converted it and it was only $1.73 US dollars for a 5 minute ride and now it seems like a bargain.
So I did the quick math in my head and realized the 80 kuai I just spent came out to $12.55. Looking at my full, heavy bag (it actually burst in the store and I had to double bag it) I was actually quite amazed and realized it was a bargain.
So what does $12 get you in China?
1 bottle of bleach
3 bananas
10 eggs
4 Oreo cookies (they keep them at the counter and I am such a sucker for impulse buys!)
10 individually wrapped disinfectant wipes
2 cucumbers
A bag of pistachios
1 container of yogurt
So, when I think about it, twelve bucks isn’t so bad for all that, so why should I chide myself at all. It’s a great system and never fails to cheer me up, except for one instance. Converting RMB to US dollars is great to make me seem like I’m spending less money, but not so great when I think about my income, lol.
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