In my pre-teen years, I loved the card game Concentration.
A deck of cards was spread out on a table face down. Each player was allowed to turn over two cards in hopes of finding a pair. If there was no match, both cards were replaced on the table – face down. The idea was to remember where the cards were as they were revealed one by one. It was a great memory game. Thus – Concentration.
I often play a similar game here in Mexico – trying to match circumstances with a correlating cause. But I suspect the game is often being played without a full deck.
ATMs and shopping provide perfect examples.
In my little village of Melaque, I find it hard to spend 100 pesos (less than $10 US) in any store. A 200 peso note will send the owner’s young son into the street to get change – from other vendors, the bank, or an unwitting stranger minding his own business.
When I drive to Manzanillo on my weekly mail run, I usually stop at Walmart, Comercial Mexicana, or Soriana – often, all three. It is almost impossible to get out of each store without leaving one or two $500 peso notes behind. Change is never an issue.
The pesos I use in each place come from the same source – an ATM, whether in Manzanillo or Melaque. But I have noticed something odd.
In Melaque, the ATM spits out a pad of 500 peso notes. In Manzanillo, I get a wad of 100 and 200 peso notes. I do not need the smaller bills in Manzanillo, and I cannot use the larger bills in Melaque.
I should note that right after I get my 500 peso notes from the machine in Melaque, I march into the Banamex branch, give the cashier the 500 peso notes, and walk away with the same bills I get out of a Manzanillo machine.
I have asked the bank why we cannot cut out the middle step. If the ATM dispensed smaller bills, I would not need to come inside. The response? “But then we would not have the pleasure of these conversations.” It sounded far less condescending in Spanish.
So, I do what I often do in Mexico. I improvise. I take my Melaque notes to Manzanillo, and save my Manzanillo change for Melaque.
If the cards you want are not on the table, simply add a few of your own.
16 comments:
You talk like you're still a pure cash man. Don't you have a Banamex account and a debit card to use in the Big Stores? Also, with a little investigation you will find that ATMs in some other banks hand out smaller bills so you don't have to go inside and get change right off the bat. Of course, other banks charge a fee to take money from the Banamex account. There is no perfect world.
I'm sure we've all had similar experiences, trying to spend ATM bills in smaller stores and the more humble neighborhoods. My tactic has been to always use $500's in the "super," no matter how small the purchase, and horde the small notes and change for neighborhood transactions. Usually it works, but there still is the occasional instance where the little boy runs down the street with my bill, looking for change while I pass the time with the proprietor. Gotta enjoy it. What's the alternative?
In Steve's burg, there is only one machine for miles......and since Melaqueites can live for months on 100 pesos,loading the machine with 500 notes, saves wear and tare on the ATM......or perhaps the 100 and 200 peso dispenser is simply broken and in reality there is no need to repair it....
I am a cash man. That is partly my fault. I never have been a debit card user. And I do not go into the Big Stores often enough to justify carrying around another card. (My history with losing cards is not a good one.) And as soon as I can close down my postal box in Manzanillo, I will not have regular access to stores that take debit cards. I rather enjoy living in the 50s again.
And best of all, it gives us grist for blog tales.
I often wonder why the Melaque ATM is not stocked with Zlotys. They would be as useful as a 500 peso note.
We only operate with ATM cash and nearly always ONLY at the bank during business hours (in case of an ATM failure). I suppose it is regional - but many people we know have had banking problems with accounts in Mexico - so again we stick to cash - and yes small change is king in Xico - really hard to get 200 pesos changed except at Chedraui.
Anybody who's lived in Mexico for a reasonable time knows how much experiences can vary from one area to another. Sometimes it seems like Mexico is a loose confederation more than a nation. I've had a Banamex account for about a decade, and have rarely had any problems at all. Except for the drastic reduction of check usage, my financial life here is pretty much as it was above the border. Odd, huh?
Even in Mexico City there seems to be a pretty significant mismatch between the bills dispensed by ATMs and the willingness of shopkeepers to take the notes dispensed. I usually get wads of 500's and 200's out of DF ATMs, and while the 200's usually don't present a problem, the 500's can be a bit trickier. But I too try to spend them in "Big Stores," where I figure it's their problem if they can't make change. But I try to be more accommodating with taco stands, abarrotes, and the like.
It's weird though. Even in DF, I bounce between having a couple pounds of change in my pockets (Mexican coins are ridiculously heavy) to not being able to get anyone to take my 200 peso notes. And I have found myself somewhat subconsciously hoarding 20 and 50 peso notes and 10 peso coins.
But I suspect the whole change issue is much more of a problem in the provinces than in DF, which on the whole seems to function much like any large city anywhere. At least monetarily speaking.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we do find ourselves hoarding quarters for MassPike tolls, parking meters, and other urban nuisances.
So far, no problem with my Banamex account. I am going to start using it as a primary revenue stream to build up some FM3 documentation. Of course, if everything stays as it is, I shouldn't need any financial documents for another two years. But things do change -- from time to time.
You are certainly correct. My life in Melaque is a lot different than the lives my friends lead in Manzanillo. And, I suspect, a universe of difference from what I will find in san Miguel next month.
My finances are about the same down here, as well. Even though I seldom used an ATM in The States.
I am a coin hoarder, as well. But I have an additional reason. I feel almost smug handing over exact change -- especially, if centavos are part of the price. I am small enough to get pleasure over not giving the tourist salute of holding out a handful of bills and coins and hoping for the best.
Like religion, you should probably take your money non-denominationally.
anm
The sound you just heard all the way down here was a groan.
On closer inspection of your 100 peso note, I noted he's an ugly dude. I need to publish photos of Honduran money. Our guys are definitely more handsome. But just as hard to change the bigger bills as soon as you hit the frontier of the capital.
That is Nezahualcoyotl, one of the pre-Columbian philosopher kings. He was also a poet. One of his poems appears on the 100 peso note. But, llike poems in blogs, no one ever reads it.
By the way, if you want ugly mugs on notes, you should take a look at the image of Diego Rivera the powers that be chose to grace the new 500 peso note. Frog face would be a compliment. Maybe his old leftist buddies are getting even for his political sell-out.
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