Money, Money, Money...

Sorry for the ABBA reference, I had to at some point - I am in Scandinavia! Not Sweden, but close enough. And the song fits well for what I wanted to blog about today. Denmark is seen as an expensive country. Because they don't use the euro, the conversion rate is different, and not as good. One Euro here is about 7 kroner (crowns, but nobody calls them that, even in english) but one dollar is about five. So we again get the short end of the stick. I had read before I came here that it will be very costly and that I should watch my money carefully. I definitely understand why you need to, but there are also some exceptions to the rule (as always).

Fruit: fruit here is surprisingly cheap, possibly cheaper than in the United States. A quart of strawberries here grown locally is about $5, which isn't too different from the imported strawberries I buy in Maine flown in from California. Berries in general are cheaper. At the outdoor markets I can get five nectarines for 25 kroner, or about a dollar a piece. This seems expensive, but they are so huge and so delicious that it is 100% worth it.

So I had to stop typing to go out and take this picture. I forgot to take one of the fruit stand by the train station, but this one is about a block from where I live on a pedestrian street. Everything looks so fresh!

Necessities: today I went into Apotek, which is the Danish pharmacy. Because of the health care system, most things are behind the counter and there is one place to go get it all (there is no need for competition when the customers don't have to pay). I went in to buy contact solution today and it would have cost me $20!!! I do use a certain type that was about $4 more than the regular solution, but still - $16 for multipurpose contact solution!? In the US that would be about $6. I might have to choose between going broke or going blind...

I know this isn't a very good picture, but I had to take it when nobody was looking. All of these are contact solution. To figure out the price in dollars, divide each by 5. 

Travel: here's where the good news comes. Travel in Europe is so ridiculously cheap that I have become a bargain snob. I won't even look at flight times if the airfare one way is more than $40. And I mean it. There are so many hostels to chose from in every city. And since Copenhagen is so close to eastern Europe, I will be heading there a lot (they don't use the euro, so it's cheaper there). So far I have Budapest booked, but we'll see where else I decide to explore!

So as you can see from these examples, it totally depends on what you're buying, how much you really need it and whether or not you can settle for something of low quality. I need contact solution, that's not something I can skip, but when it comes down to the nectarines, maybe I'll get bananas on sale instead and put those 25 kroner towards something else. It's all give and take, and you have to manage wisely!

PS, my mother will be so happy to read this post and hear about my spending habits here. I am notoriously horrible with cash.

dwh.