money money money!

One of the big things that's different here is money and the way most people pay for things. In the states, I rarely carried cash, maybe $20 if I knew I was going to need it. If I needed to buy something I would just use my credit/debit card. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've actually had a US$50 bill in my possession and I've only seen a US$100 bill a few times as well.

The biggest initial challenge was figuring out the different bills and coins. All the bills are different colors and sizes here! The smallest bill is a AU$5. There are $2 and $1 gold coins and then the silver coins are .50, .20, .10, and .05. Australia doesn't have a penny and everything is rounded to the nearest .05. (I really like that system and I think the US should do the same.) I see $50 bills all the time here, I even saw a $100 at the street party. Whenever I get money from the ATM, if it is at least $50, I get at least one $50 bill. I find I carry cash much more often here (and a lot more of it) because there are lots of places that don't accept credit/debit cards (mostly food places in the shopping centers). For the first month or so I was here I paid in cash for pretty much everything under ~$50. I don't use cash quite as often now but still much more often than at home... Perhaps it's better for my budget this way :P