living in euros

the dollar-euro relationship has been talked about ever since the euro was born in 2002. over the past six years the value of the european curreny has gone up, up, up, and the euro-dollar conversion rate has settled around $1.58 for 1 € today. almost daily i hear comments about how europeans can afford to live with this expensive currency. so here is a list of items that i recently bought in germany that might give some indication of the expenses of a euro-using consumer in a small and medium sized town.

by the way, in germany all prices that you see in a store are the final prices -- unlike in the usa where every time my happiness of seeing a nice offer in an aisle is destroyed at the cash register when a six percent sales tax is added to my bill. for some reason this is something that i have a hard time adapting to. whenever i leave the store i forget and the game starts over again when entering the store again. which leads to qualms of spending too much money (and having forgotten again the extra tax) -- in contrast to most u.s. citizens, most germans do not like to spend money.

let’s go to the coffee shop!
small coffee (0.2l/6.7 oz) in small town café: 1.40 € ($2.22)
small orange juice in low budget restaurant: 1,60 € ($2.53)
small hot chocolate (0.2l/6.7 oz) in small town café: 1.50 € ($2.37)
big coffee (0.3l/10.1 oz) in same small town café: 1.60 € ($2.53)
big apple juice in low budget restaurant: 3 € ($4.75)
ps: an average tip in german restaurants is about 10 percent of the bill

fridge & pantry
medium jar of pickles (Spreewalder Gewuerzgurken): 0.65 € ($1.03)
normal jar of kiwi-gooseberry jelly jar: 1.29 € ($2.04)
small jar of plum butter (Pflaumenmus): 0.99 € ($1.57)
vanilla-pear tea: 1.19 € ($1.88)
1 liter (~qt.) milk (Kaufland supermarket store brand): 0.66 € ($1.04)
quark (yogurt-like, Leckermaeulchen) ca. 250g (8.8 oz): 0.39 € ($0.62)
mozzarella light (1 ball swimming in bag with liquid): 0.59 € ($0.93)
package of 24 chocolates (Kinderschokolade): 1.89 € ($2.99)
Haribo licorice wheels (Lakritzschnecken): 1.19 € ($1.88)

face & body
Manhattan first flirt mascara: 2.75 € ($4.35)
Nivea visage face cleansing lotion: 4.35 € ($6.88)
Dentagard tooth paste: 0.55 € ($0.87)
Nivea shower gel watermelon 1.95 € ($3.09)
8x4 deo spray 150 ml: 1.35 € ($2.14)

miscellaneous
paracetamol (against headaches etc.) 30 tablets: 1.48 € ($2.34)
laundry detergent (Dalli brand): 3.99 € ($6.31)
postcard to USA: 1 € ($1.58)
panty hose: 0.99 € ($1.57)

all euro to dollar conversion were made with the current rate used by google.