The form of currency here in Russia is the “rubel”. The exchange rate is approximately 29 rubels to 1 USD. Each morning, we have exchanged a $100 bill -no wrinkles or tears - at Citibank, where we receive somewhere around 2900 or so rubels. The paper denominations come in 1,000, 500, 100, 50, and 10. Th e coins are 5 and 1. There are coins smaller than rubels called kopeek. They come in .5 of a rubel, .10, and .01. The 1 kopeek is very rare.
Annie finds money on the street everyday - no fail! One day, she found 3 coins. The largest coin that she has found is 1 rubel. The smaller kopeeks are everywhere.
When we shop or buy a meal, we do a quick conversion in our head. We typically say that 30 rubels = $1. Therefore, something that costs 100 rubels is a little bit more than $3 of our American money. (See, your math estimation skills are important!)
For example, each morning, our breakfast at the restaurant is 130 rubels for each of us, or 260 total. When you do the math, it comes out to a little more than $4/person or about $11 total with a tip of 15%.
We priced some items in the downtown shopping district. I think the prices are comparable in some of the cities in the US. Certainly the prices of the same items in Central Pennsylvania are well below what the prices are here. A pair of sneakers in the Reebok store that I looked at cost close to $200. I think in the US, they would probably be close to $100. Our Lipton tea at Subway is 50 rubels, or about $1.75. I tthink that would be comparable in a fast food restaurant.
Tonight we went to a bookstore and bought a wooden lacing puzzle for Angelo (don’t tell him, kids!). It cost 180 rubels or about $6. If I could find that puzzle at home, I might get it for $5 or maybe even more. I thought the price was very reasonable.
There’s a store here that we call the Russian equivalent to Claires. There were no novelty items; however, there were many pairs of cheaper stilettos and high heeled boots. We noticed they sold cute little jewelry bags like the ones Miss Mahoney buys in bulk from e-bay. I thought the cost was reasonable. Maybe they got them from China.
We are planning to bring some Russian rubels and kopeeks back to our children.
Annie finds money on the street everyday - no fail! One day, she found 3 coins. The largest coin that she has found is 1 rubel. The smaller kopeeks are everywhere.
When we shop or buy a meal, we do a quick conversion in our head. We typically say that 30 rubels = $1. Therefore, something that costs 100 rubels is a little bit more than $3 of our American money. (See, your math estimation skills are important!)
For example, each morning, our breakfast at the restaurant is 130 rubels for each of us, or 260 total. When you do the math, it comes out to a little more than $4/person or about $11 total with a tip of 15%.
We priced some items in the downtown shopping district. I think the prices are comparable in some of the cities in the US. Certainly the prices of the same items in Central Pennsylvania are well below what the prices are here. A pair of sneakers in the Reebok store that I looked at cost close to $200. I think in the US, they would probably be close to $100. Our Lipton tea at Subway is 50 rubels, or about $1.75. I tthink that would be comparable in a fast food restaurant.
Tonight we went to a bookstore and bought a wooden lacing puzzle for Angelo (don’t tell him, kids!). It cost 180 rubels or about $6. If I could find that puzzle at home, I might get it for $5 or maybe even more. I thought the price was very reasonable.
There’s a store here that we call the Russian equivalent to Claires. There were no novelty items; however, there were many pairs of cheaper stilettos and high heeled boots. We noticed they sold cute little jewelry bags like the ones Miss Mahoney buys in bulk from e-bay. I thought the cost was reasonable. Maybe they got them from China.
We are planning to bring some Russian rubels and kopeeks back to our children.