Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {money, Money, MONEY}

Who doesn't love money...I mean, I know they say money can't buy happiness, but it most certainly can buy popcorn && gummie bears (and those make me happy!), and money can buy new paint && craft supplies (and those make me really happy!) anddd money can buy plane tickets to fly next door or half way across the world (and that makes me really, really happy!).  Yes I understand, there are many things that money can't buy, but sadly, in reality, it is a necessity.

So low&behold, there is also money in Taiwan; though it brings about different feelings here. For instance, I get paid once a month here, and that monthly paycheck (simply looking at the written number) is more than twice my yearly salary back home meanwhile, going out for a $65 dinner sounds like a great deal!

Conversion, conversion, conversion! Sadly, I am not a millionaire here!  The current conversion rate here is $31 NTD (New Taiwanese Dollar) to $1 USD (United States  Dollar). The Taiwanese money is referred to as Yuan (and if I had a Chinese keyboard I would try my hardest to show you what that looks like...but for now...use your imagination!

Because the currency exchange  rate is so different right now though, it took some getting used to what looked like crazy high prices for everyday goods!

Dinner $65 --> $2.09 USD
Pants $300 --> $9.67 USD
Water $20 --> $0.64  USD

$1,000 ($32.25) {you feel rich with a few of these bad boys!}

$500 ($16.12 USD)

$100 ($3.22 USD) {A big stack of these red friends spends WAY to easily!}

$50 ($1.6 USD)

$10 ($0.32 USD)

$1 ($0.03 USD) {These fill up your wallet and pay for virtually anything...avoid at all costs!}

Ok also, I'm not 100% sure where the $5 coin slipped through the cracks on this picture taking extravaganza, but it did...so to not leave him out, there is also a $5 coin worth $0.16 USD.

Happy money hunting my friends!

If you have ANY suggestions or questions for future Tuesday's Taiwan-ism posts, please leave a comment and let me know about your ideas!!