Euros to Rupees or Rupees to Euros

Will I ever be off the hook?

[This article was first published in Substack newsletter: Ireland from the eyes of an immigrant]

The other day, I was out grocery shopping with my husband.

We had got everything that was on the list. We were simply strolling across the store, checking out some other (non-grocery) items that were there.

As we walked past it, a little something caught my eyes —

Yoga mat.

I have been meaning to start yoga but I don’t have a yoga mat and I would like to own one. The floors of the studio apartment that we are currently living in are wooden and not carpeted.

I told my husband who had walked a couple of steps ahead of me, “Hey! Look, they have yoga mats here!”

He gave a glance and turned around saying, “Oh, yeah! How much are they?”

I looked up the price tag that was attached right on the top of the section of the yoga mats. It said € 16.99.

At this stage, any pricing in double digits translates to me as “too much”.

Even before I could realize it, my brain had already done the math —

(Roughly 82 rupees to 1 euro is the conversion rate that is going on, which means 17 x 82 i.e. almost INR 1400!)

Damn!

The one I had back home, I purchased for INR 900. This is expensive.

Ummm…..I don’t know if I want to buy it.

Here’s the thing — I really did want to buy it, but it seemed too much money. Maybe the mat is of better quality and will last long but is it really really required — I asked myself.

Sure, if I was earning too, I wouldn’t have minded spending that money for my own health and mental well-being, and sure, my husband has never said I couldn’t buy it with his money because come on, €17 is not like €170. Yet, it felt more expensive than other grocery items. Our grocery bill that day, which btw included an entire week’s worth of groceries was €16 only.

It was still a no from me.

It has been just a little over a month since I have moved to Ireland and my husband says, “It happens. Give it time, the conversion into rupees will go away.”

It happens to everyone, doesn’t it?

Do Americans convert €€ to $$ whilst they are touring in Budapest or does spending ££ to study in the U.K seem expensive even for the Europeans themselves?

You are constantly converting. It does not help your case if you come from a third-world country like India where the value of a rupee (₹) is far less in comparison to dollars/euros.

Today, the conversion rate is ₹84.58 for a euro.

It can be that sweater that you really liked or that hot chocolate from the Butlers cafe — you are not getting it before you convert and realize 2 things:

a. How much it would cost in INR

b. Whatever that tally, it’s kinda expensive.

The currency conversion promptness will go when it has to, but I find it quite interesting. It is a constant reminder that until you earn and save enough in this new, foreign country, you have to keep a check on how much you are spending and where.

Call it your struggle phase, because back home it didn’t matter to you if you have to spend a couple of hundred bucks more for something you really liked, but here, every cent will matter, priorities will have to be flexible and accommodating with whatever you have will prove to be a greatly useful skill.

Here is an interesting story from my husband —

Disclaimer: I still don’t believe him

A few years back, when my husband was still a bachelor, he was preparing to move (from Dublin) to a small town to start his new job. He was right out of college.

One fine weekend before he moved, he went shopping with his friend and he accidentally purchased €150 Prada sunglasses.

€150 for a pair of sunglasses???????

His excuse was, “I REALLY liked them! I didn’t know they were THIS expensive!”

Sure. Right. We just “accidentally” buy things sometimes.

We laugh it off after that, but yeah! :D

I think it was a cute and funny story of my husband’s “innocence”.

I bet we all have such stories. Remember when you were in that other country and you didn’t realize how expensive that thing that you really wanted was? You ended up buying it anyway!

Share your experience with currency conversions in the comments.

In the meanwhile, I really hope I find myself a good job so that I can spend my own money without much converting (in my head).

This story was originally published on Substack, in my newsletter titled Ireland From The Eyes of an Immigrant. I invite you to join my journey in Ireland as I explore this beautiful country. Subscribe and support my Substack newsletter here.

I have recently joined Ko-Fi. You can support me in my writing endeavor by buying me a coffee — https://ko-fi.com/drashti10190

On a side note, I have lately been looking for resources to enhance my time management and productivity. In other words, secret ingredients to become rich and successful. With so much going around in our lives and so many things to take care of, we often can’t give enough time to reading great books as much as we would like to. In that context, I found this short form piece by Cypriano Mokobia that helped me understand the crux of the popular book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma. You might find it useful too —