Pinching Peswas

Today I spent more money in a day than any other by far, 100 Ghana cedis(ghc), which is 50 dollars. Peswas are like cents. Thinking about, planning and spending money here has been interesting. On one hand everything is incredibly cheap compared to the US, on the other there is still the relative price and a shifting of the value of items that I find happening more and more. I have been shopping at the market and buying staples enough to have a good sense of things. Two cups of rice or beans is about one cedi, a loaf of bread 1.50ghc, a can of coke 1.20ghc, a can of beer 1.75ghc, a liter of beer 3ghc, two yards of fabric 10ghc, a hammer 10ghc, a used refrigerator 400ghc, a new one 600ghc. Divide all those numbers in two to get US dollars. I go to the market or little stalls about 3 times a week to get food and I think I spend about 30 ghc a week.

At a little store, not the market, this all cost about 4 dollars

I find myself thinking more in Ghana Cedis instead of dollars. Four cedis for some chicken seemed really expensive but I had to remind myself that that is two dollars. There is also just a different breakdown of my expenses.  Back home I spend a lot on groceries, restaurants and bars. Here I can eat and drink for about 8 USD a day and that is not really trying to be frugal. Looking back on the past week I realized I spent more on phone credits than I do on food. So being an Excel, listy-type of person I started a spreadsheet  out of curiosity separating one-time expenses like stuff for the house or tourist-type activities, and then figured out my burn rate for everything else. For the past three weeks I have been averaging 15ghc a day daily expenses. Food, drink, water, lots of taxis, phone credits, random little things, for about 7 bucks a day. That seems pretty cheap and it is. But it is also more than most locals spend I am pretty sure. I still pay a lot for pre-made foods that I can not make at home and I am still learning what the life-span of foods are and end up wasting more food to mold, rot and ant-invasions than I should. I do stupid things like buying two types of greens on the same day so one rots before I can eat it (still no refrigerator but hopefully soon)

There is also such a limited variety of items that there is almost no opportunity for price comparisons but also there are no places to spend money on stupid things like fancy smoothies or anything from Bed Bath and Beyond. Sure there are many types of soap and biscuits but there seems to be one brand of pasta, one of tomato paste (in every dish here I think), 6 styles of sandals, every bread vendor is selling the same three or four types of bread, etc. In general there is a going rate for all the basics and I have yet to feel like someone is overcharging me because they think I do not know the rice of bananas or bread. I have some more exploring to do though. Apparently there is a place in the bigger town where you can buy sausage and cheese, two things I have yet to find in my town.  My new Belgian friend offered to show me some of his finds that he has discovered over the 6-7 years he has visited here annually.

So my 100ghc was spent today because I went to the pottery “factory” and bought some fabrics for a quilt my mom is going to make me. The pottery place was the first real opportunity I had to get some souvenirs and crafts. It was just an open roof pavilion with a little shop at the end with middle aged woman making all handmade pots, no wheels, and coal firing with leaves to make the terracotta black. It is a tourist destination but based on the visitor book I think they get about 2-3 people a month. It can only be accesses by two wheeled vehicles of a hike down a path. Godson told them I was coming so of course I wanted to buy stuff, and it was pretty cool looking. They made amazingly symmetrical egg-type things and heavy bowls and mugs that I will use while I am here. I got a little anteater statue for a totem to ward off the throngs of ants in my house and a few other things I will probably gift when I get home. So for about 75ghc, I got 1 large, 4 medium, 2 small pieces and 6 tiles. Not bad for 33USD. I then went to market and got a few pieces of fabric and also hope to get my first dress made next week if I can find a pattern in a picture they have that would not look ridiculous on a white person. So while I felt bad  at first I spent so much money, that could have bought 40 meals! I also am glad to be spending my money here in my area and not at the bigger tourist destinations. And I almost never have buyers remorse for things I buy abroad. If anything I regret things I didn't buy.