Rules of the Road: Volume 6 - Paying for Things

The marble plate is for checking if coins are real.
The more you know!

      Hi again!  It turns out that someone was actually able to make use of last week's post regarding setting up a cell phone here in Germany!  Anyway, during this week's post, I'm going to discuss some of the little things that I have noticed about how paying for various odds and ends is different here in Germany, compared to the United States.

Don't forget the chip!

     First on the menu is credit cards.  Here in Germany, with rare exception, you will need a card with a chip in it (they are going to be more common in the United States in the future, but you will most likely need to change you account if you already have a regular credit card).  Unlike in the U.S., paying with a credit card is far from standard, outside of larger stores (where they are every bit as common as back home).  If you need to pay by card at a restaurant ask first, as they do not always accept them.

Chips for all!  No barbecue ones though. 

     Next one deck are your debit cards!  At grocery stores, this is your best friend if you are running low on cash (I imagine it has something to do with not wanting to pay credit card fees on the store's part).  Depending on your card and the amount of the purchase, you may have to use your PIN (the same applies for the credit cards, although not all have a PIN as well).

     Also, as I had never seen a chip card used before I got here, you do not swipe these (though they have a strip).  You insert it into the machine and wait for it to work its magic.

Just because they are colorful doesn't mean that it
is toy money!

     Last (but not least if you want to be smart about it and include bank transfers), is cash.  Here in Germany, cash is king (or queen) in a way that it usually isn't in the U.S..  The good news about this, is that businesses are less fussy about accepting larger bills for smaller items (having 1 and 2 Euro coins helps too), but due to counterfeiting concerns, 100, 200, and 500 Euro bills are usually not usable outside of bank, so make sure that you don't have bills larger than a 50.  And spend those darn coins!  If you thought ending up with a pile of American pennies was annoying, you should have seen the pile of change I had after my first week in Leipzig!  See you next time!

Proverb of the Day:

Taking a nap without an alarm clock is a dangerous proposition.

*Source links are included for stock images.
**The background music is from a personal music project in progress.