We wanted to highlight a few different ways to make 16 rand (or R16). With the current exchange rate, this is about equivalent to $1 in the US. So, what does $1 look like?
The easiest way to make R16 is: a R10 bill, a R5 coin, and a R1 coin.
R16 - the easy way!
The more complicated option… we’ve got two R5 coins, two R2 coins, one R1 coin, and two 50 cent pieces.
R5, R2, R1, and 50 cent coins
They also have 10 cent coins and 5 cent coins. However, almost no one will accept a 5 cent coin anymore, because…
FUN FACT! The 1 cent coin is obsolete in South Africa. This means if they ring up your bill at R24.57 (only it would be R24,57 because they use the comma instead of the period) and you pay in cash, they will only charge you R24,50. Woe if you pay with a credit card, you get stuck with the whole R0,07! #themoreyouknow
We went to our nearby tuck shop (small convenience store) to explore some prices and show a few ways to make $1. The tuck shop is where we pick up odds and ends during the week. There are three grocery stores in town, where we do our bulk shopping on the weekends.
Our local tuck shop
First up, the “school lunch” combo: a loaf of bread (R11) and 5 bigga naks or nik naks, which are kind of like Cheetos (R1 each).
Bread and Cheetos
Add some spice in your life with a medium-sized bag of chips (R6) and a canister of Aromat, a salty spice which is put on everything (R10). Both are packed the flavour-enhancing monosodium glutamate. South Africa loves its MSG so much, you can just buy straight, powdered MSG in the grocery store. It is marketed as Zeal.
Aromat and Frimax
All of those salt and carbs making you thirsty? Reach for a nice, cold “cold drink” (R16). Cold drink is the blanket word for any kind of soda (or pop or Coke)…or anything you can find in a bottle that is not juice or water.
Cold drink
Serving tea with four slices of bread is a common way to greet and entertain new guests. Sometimes, though, you want to get fancy and grab a container of tea biscuits (small: R8; large: R16).
Tea biscuits
You can also buy some soap (R16).
Get clean!
Or self-rising flour (R16). You may be more interested in maize meal (its like a finer, white corn meal- R10). Joe swears by the cake wheat flour (R13). It makes your cookies super soft!
Beautiful flours!
What about produce?
In town, the sidewalks are filled with mamas selling vegetables and fruits. However, it can be difficult to purchase these in the village. Most families rely on what they grow in their own garden or exchange items with neighbours. Depending on what is in the season, the children crowd around the fruit trees. For example, every afternoon in November, kids will climb in our mango trees to knock out the fruit. In January, the izindoni trees (the fruit is purple and shaped like a teardrop, almost like a grape…I don’t know any English word for them) are all the rage. Now, we are starting to get into guava season.
All this money talk have you stressed?
You know what they say, "mo' money, mo' problems" (Notorious B.I.G.) Don’t worry. Remember life is so much more beautiful than what money can buy!
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Still curious?
Post a comment with any everyday item and we will reply with the current cost in rand. It will be like a fun scavenger hunt for us!
Interesting to see this. Thanks for sharing. I chuckled the most at the Joey-K recommendations. I can just see him excitedly giving his opinion to someone who may be on the fence about which flour to get :)
Interesting to see this. Thanks for sharing. I chuckled the most at the Joey-K recommendations. I can just see him excitedly giving his opinion to someone who may be on the fence about which flour to get :)
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