hi amy i just got back down here and i know exactly what you are talking about... my brain does not work in american dollars either you then have toi convert twice to figure out the canadian. we are getting really good exchange at home right now for US so you could do that first if you like... change , say $1000 cdn and see what you get american.. it will be good. the n you know you have $1000 canadian . when you get here you can change $100 at a time or so and they are giving about 33 pesos to the us dollar right now. by the time you are done you will know it was all no more then $1000 cnd...
i am going to kinda break it down weird how i do it...
I usually just take $ from the bank machine and then i gert today's rate but however you get pesos... once you have em, i usually do the math like this then i am always 'up' when i figure it out later...
ok you go somewhere to eat and lets say it is $100 RD for whatever... i just move the decimal once and divide by 2.. so my food would be $5 cdn. or if it is $350 for a nice shirt, then it is $17.50 cdn. People will jump all over that right now saying I am way off with the dollar, but It is easy. and actually becasue the cdn dollar is so close at 29 right now, sometimes if i really want something and it seems a little expensive, I divide by 3 instead cause it is almost 30 so almost 33...lol and then i lose the 9 points i made when i converted my dinner all week but i have a nice shirt now...lol .
As for how much stuff costs here... i usually just think of what it would cost at home and if it is less then i am fine. if you plan for what you would spend at home in a week, or 2 or however long, then you will always go home with money. I think most things are less then home unless you are in a resorty place, then they can be pretty close to home actually. But hey if you are looking for pepsi and smokes, then you will do alright. divide it out, if it is less then home you are laughing. and if you divide by 2 you are more then laughing. Also keep a journal every day if you like. when you drop 20 pesos here and there at the end of the night figure it out and you can budget yourself easily that way for your entire stay. spend for 2 days look at it and then you know if you have to change anything...
however you end up doing it... you will find everyone has a way on here. None is right or wrong, just different... good luck though to a fellow canadian girl and hey take it easy with the boys, they can be tiring.. angel
