Wednesday, September 1, 2010

USA Lesson #2

MONEY ISSUES!

1. EXCHANGE RATE!
As you know the dollar's value fluctuates from day to day!
Since I have lived here, it has been has low as 4.8dkk and as high as 6.2dkk.

Today, it 1 USD = 6.01 DKK
So it is a good thing that you are good at math so you can calculate prices in your head!


2. SALES TAX!

As you know in Denmark we pay 25% sales tax (moms) on everything.
The price you see on an item is the FULL PRICE of that item, with the sales tax already added in! So when you get to the check-out, you already know exactly what you are going to owe!

Things are not like that in the US!

The sales tax varies from city to city, state to state.
The sales tax in Seattle is 10% so if you are buying this shirt:

you will actually pay $21.94.


3. TYPES of MONEY in the US
Dollar Bills come in $1,$5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Of course the most common that you would carry around are the 1, 5, 10, and 20. They are all the same size and color, but have different faces on them and of course, different amounts.

The coins are not as valuable as the coins in Denmark.
We have 4 main coins-- 3 are silver and 1 is copper-colored.
The QUARTER is 25cents and is the BIGGEST in size.


The DIME is 10cents and is the SMALLEST in size.













The NICKEL is 5cents and is smaller than a quarter, but bigger than a dime.


The PENNY is 1cent and is the only one that is not silver.


We have a few other random coins, but there is a good chance that you will not see any of them as they are not that common! Just focus on these 4!

2 comments:

  1. 1) When I lived in Denmark it was 7DK to $1...It made DK very expensive.

    2) The shirt is on sale ;) so the total is about $22, I'm a bargain shopper!

    3) Have you told them about the flip sides of the coins being different? Quarters often have states and the nickels have a few new designs. There is a brand new penny design as well. See it here: http://2010lincolncents.com/. My Danish FIL just showed it to me a few weeks ago!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tak Lynette!!
    Lots of good pointers to remind them of!

    ReplyDelete