Pound, Pound, Pound Goes Down, Down, Down

Not to be a downer, but it is becoming painfully apparent that the economy is on a serious downturn. Employment is going down, debt is going up, and everyone is trying to dig themselves out of this mess one way or the other. So how is this affecting London and the UK as a whole?

This afternoon, I was interested to see how the pound was doing against the US dollar and what I found was shocking, at least to me. For the last several years, it seems, the pound fared much better than its US counterpart, coming in at almost twice the value. Today, though, this is no longer the case. As of this writing, the pound is down to 1.4 times the US dollar and I suspect that it may continue to fall before it goes back up again.

So, what does this mean for UK tourism???

My inclination is to guess that, if us Americans can actually afford the airfare to get over to the UK, there will be more of us spending our hard-earned dollars in the country to take advantage of this opportunity to cash in on London food, fashion, and fun without too much pain in the pocket. But that is a big "if." Right now, judging by how much vacations and tourism have slipped lately, this is seeming less and less probable.

With all this financial struggle in the world, what can we do to ease the burden? The following is a work in progress, but here you will find a list of suggestions for how to stretch your pound as far as it will go:

• Take the time to shop for cheaper off-brand items at stores like Iceland, Asda (the UK version of Wal-mart), and Argos. Argos actually has some great deals on electronics and appliances; you just have to queue twice - once to order and another time to pick up. Given the current state of things, I'd say it's worth it. Come on, you can wait. It won't kill you. I promise.


• Enjoy the fresh fruit and vegetables on offer at the outdoor market in your neighborhood. There is some good stuff; you just have to look for it.


• Take out all the money you plan to use this month in cash and only use that. No credit or debit cards.


• Find a flatmate if you don't have one, and if you already do, make more of an effort to shut the lights off and take shorter showers. This will at least save you in the utilities department. This one is pretty obvious, but I figured I would say it anyway.


• If you need to exchange money, do it at Marks & Spencer or the bank, not at the airport.


• Never travel without an Oyster card. It is much cheaper than single fares, not to mention you don't have to wait in line every time you want to take the train somewhere.


• If you can manage it, walk. I know it's hard; this coming from someone who often gets winded walking from the bedroom to the kitchen. Your bum AND your wallet will thank you.

If you have any suggestions for things to add to this list, by all means leave a comment below and I will make the necessary additions. I am by no means an expert; I'm just trying to get by like the rest of you sad sacks.

Pardon Me, But Do You Have Change for One Pence?

If You Have Any Cents, You Will Read This:

Have a handful of strange looking change and completely lost as to how to actually buy something? By now you should know that I won't leave you hanging.

Here is a little crash course on British money. Once you learn it, it will be engrained in your brain forever like the last time you walked in on your teacher kissing your dad.

Pence: No, this isn't just an outdated made up word used in old movies stereotyping our dear friends the Brits. It is actually a real word for money. The closest thing to it would be the US or Canadian penny. Pence is often abbreviated as "p" both in writing as well as speech, as in "You can buy that apple but it will cost you 50p." You will probably also hear someone abbreviate the price by skipping the word pence (as in "What a bargain! That chair only costs five pounds twenty." This is another way of saying that the item costs 5 pounds and 20 pence.).Unlike in the US, there are coins for 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, and 50p.

It has just come to my attention (today, in fact) that there has just been a redesign of all coins including the 1 pound coin (which we will cover next) and excluding the 2 pound coin.

Pounds: You could liken a pound (GBP) to a dollar, although the pound is worth about twice what a dollar is these days. You may hear someone refer to pounds as "quid," which is just a slang term meaning the same thing. Pounds appear in the form of either a one pound coin, a two pound coin, or in notes.

Notes: This is a fancy way of saying paper money. Notes come as £1,£2,£5,£10,£20,£50, and (in Scotland and Northern Ireland) £100. £1,000,000 and £100,000,000 exist but are only used internally in the banks; they are not actually circulated to the public. Notes are very colorful and perhaps smaller than you might be used to seeing.

Wikipedia does a great job at explaining the various shapes, sizes, and looks of the UK currency. You can search for pound sterling, coins of the pound sterling or Bank of England note issues and you will see pictures and explanations for each. You can even search "quid" and find out the history behind the slang.

If you need to convert from your native currency to GBP (Great Britain pounds), here is the currency converter I use:http://www.xe.com/ucc/. It is very straightforward and you can also covert to or from other currencies. I would strongly recommend that you check the exchange rate before you leave and during your trip if you are concerned about how much your money from home will get you, since the exchange rate is ever-changing.

If you decide to wait until you get to England to exchange your money, I suggest not getting it at the airport since you will pay a higher fee. The British department store Marks & Spencer does it for free and you are sure to find one on High Street in whatever city you are in (this is the local equivalent of a "Main Street.") If not you can visit the bank but this tends to mean longer queues (lines) and more hassle. When you are leaving the area you can change your money back if you have some left over.