How Money Turned into a Video Game

Once upon a time, money was heavy, stubborn, and loved to take long naps in the mail.

Sending funds across the globe forty years ago was high logistical drama. For example, travellers bought paper American Express cheques, treated them like sacred parchments, and carefully practiced matching signatures under the glare of suspicious bank tellers. Wiring cash to another continent meant a clerk pressed a button, charged half a week's pocket money, and offered a casual, “Check back on Thursday.”

Today, sitting by the window looking out toward the Fraser River, the entire process felt like playing a high-speed video game from the palm of a hand.  A quick balance load, a few taps on cartoon-bright buttons, and $100 CAD fired straight into a Sampath Bank account in Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.

The screen flashed a confirmation: five seconds.

Five seconds! It takes longer than that to fetch milk out of the fridge. Those Canadian digits transmuted into Sri Lankan rupees, completely sidestepped the legendary traffic snarls of suburban Colombo, and landed safely in Kanthi’s account before a fresh mug of coffee could even cool.

The mechanics of this financial arcade come down to three major shifts:

• From Paper Passports to Digital Tunnels: The old route relied on a creaky steamship called the international wire system (SWIFT). It stopped at every port, demanded tolls at every dock, and moved at the speed of a sloth. Modern apps bypass the open ocean entirely. They keep reservoirs of cash already sitting inside each country and simply trade instantaneous signals through high-speed internet pipes.

• The Invisible Software Handshake: Every small town bank and credit union used to occupy its own lonely island. Today, clever ribbons of invisible code act like universal translators, allowing neighbourhood community branches to speak the exact same language as giant international tech firms without breaking a sweat.

• The Gamified Wallet: Moving funds once smelled of mahogany counters and dusty ledger paper. Now it arrives with progress bars, instant notification chimes, neon-green cards, and countdown meters that feel suspiciously like levelling up on an arcade cabinet.

Money has stopped behaving like heavy paper in a locked trunk and started behaving like light. The experience is frictionless, slightly magical, and delightfully nerdy.

The Purely Cash Contingency

Living on an active tectonic plate along the West Coast changes how one must look at emergency preparedness. Most regional advice focuses heavily on the standard accumulation of canned rations and emergency supplies, but a critical logistical blind spot exists for most households. Jay and I have completely relied on electronic transactions for the entirety of our daily lives for decades now. I carry a solitary, folded twenty dollar bill in my wallet as a symbolic relic, but the rest of our financial footprint is entirely digital. I really didn't remember who is on a few of our Canadian bank notes.  

Few people in modern society actually envision a total disruption to that seamless daily routine. It is a fragile baseline. If a significant seismic event interferes with the local electrical grid, the immediate consequence will be the total disappearance of ATMs and point-of-sale terminals. Cash becomes the only viable currency when the digital architecture fails.

I had set aside a dedicated, little cash stash for just such a circumstance a while back. That emergency fund sits securely inside a hidden, fireproof box in the apartment alongside our vital personal papers. However, I recently took a closer look and realized a major flaw in the makeup of the bills. What earthly good is a hundred dollar note going to be when one is trying to purchase basic necessities like broccoli and carrots from a local vendor? In a real crisis, merchant registers are going to run out of small bills within hours.

I visited our uptown bank branch this morning to systematically break down those large denominations into a beautifully distributed stack of highly usable smaller bills. The teller probably thought I was running a highly suspicious garage sale. Thanks to this bout of financial micro-management, I feel like a wonderfully dutiful, silver-haired Boy Scout. If the "Big One" finally hits the coast, I might be sitting in the dark, but at least I possess the exact change required to bribe my way onto a outbound ferry or buy a single, 4-liter jug of whole milk.

persto

 

Saturday is usually our grocery shopping day when we're in New Westminster. We do drive just over the border into the city of Coquitlam to get to our nearest Real Canadian Superstore. That is what happened this morning. 

We are keenly aware that our winter away is rapidly approaching. We are going to pack for our winter based in Sri Lanka over the next few weeks. That means only three Saturdays remain. This week, I arranged to have our Internet service switched off for the four and a half months we'll be away. Think of how much we save on the reoccurring bills that are 'put to sleep' until mid-March 2026!  Honestly, these factors, such as not needing to carry auto insurance helps a lot in paying for our winter journeys. 

Jay is superb and figuring out a grocery list. Even though we'll continue heading to the Superstore in upcoming weeks, the purchases will differ from usual. We pick up more things with 'best before' dates that run past our winter away. As a case in point, there was a good deal on cranberry juice today as it expires late next year.  I am in awe of Jay's ability to have the refrigerator empty exactly on the day we fly. We unplug it. In fact, we turn off the electricity to the whole apartment at the circuit breakers. One more bill we needn't pay when away.

Comparison Shopping

The image was taken in our uptown mall a few days back. I'm using it today because we only left the house when driving up to shop at London Drugs. It's nearly across the street from the mall. We have to get uptown for most of our shopping needs in New Westminster. Jay wanted to pick up a few vitamins and supplements to bring back for his sisters. Not only is the selection better here but, interestingly, the cost of particular items can be higher in Sri Lanka. The cost of living is generally much cheaper there but uncommon items, although readily available, can be expensive. 

 

London Drugs was having a sale on vitamins and supplements. However, we only picked up half of the intended four items. For the others, I checked Amazon while in the store, and found they're considerably cheaper to order online, so we did. They'll arrive tomorrow but that is of little difference to us. We don't leave until the end of October. 

We saved CA$8 on two commonly purchased item. That isn't enough to make a huge dent in one's budget, but I'm sure these small savings add up over time. Perhaps after a year of savings, we'll have enough extra cash to take unplanned cruise or trip.

Three Things Today

In yesterday's journal entry I found ten old photos from the years 2004 to 2013 that were taken on July 28th. Yesterday was the 28th. On the 29th, I'll do something a bit different. I'll post three photos taken today that highlight some parts of our day. 

First, when watching the Global TV Morning News, we saw a news item that Grouse Mountain would be offering free gondola admission to local residents on Wednesday, August 6th. As retirees, we only get a few dollars off mountain admission and find the single-entry summer price pretty exorbitant nowadays. It's fun to get up above Vancouver once in a while when the sky is clear and blue.  That can often be the case at this time of year. We haven't visited since 2020. I jumped online and got two for Jay and me. That is what the first image shows. 

Secondly, we had made an appointment to visit our banker at the uptown branch of RBC this morning at 11:00. Franky was away for a while and we always have some banking decisions to make during summers when we're in town. The second shot is from the mall uptown looking across 6th Avenue at the bank building. 

Lastly, when we walked back inside the mall to return to the roof parking, we walked through the Walmart. We needed to pick up bananas but the store had ones that were over-ripe. We have a specific Langley Farm Market location where we buy most produce, so we drove to 12th Street and got a whole lot more than bananas. One cannot pass up cherries at this time of year! In fact, one reason I love this season is due to the availability of fresh BC fruit. Therefore, the last photo is just locally-grown peaches from the Okanagan.

 

A Relaxing Dinner Out

Day 105:  We don't generally dine out because Jay is an excellent cook.  However, we thought we'd try the Sofra Istanbul Restaurant that is nearly across the street from our Airbnb apartment building.  

We ordered and they provided free tea while we waited.  I asked for a chicken shish and Jay ordered a doner burger.  We liked the food and were convinced by the waitress to share a piece of St. Sebastian cheesecake for desert.

The bill came to about CA$ 25 or less than US$ 18.  It costs more to eat out at home for sure.  In fact, just about every place we spend winters is, at least, this much cheaper than in Canada.  Some places are considerably less.  We definitely live better on less money when exploring the world.

By the time we finished it'd gotten dark.  It's summer here so that doesn't happen until after 7:00 pm.  We are in an apartment at 626 Florida Road in Durban.  There are a lot of restaurants nearby.

Eating and Other Habits

 

Day 041:  Yesterday, I posted the Mauritian-Chinese food called a "Magic Bowl".  It had all fresh ingredients and was reasonably priced at less than US$ 7 for a portion with about as much as I could finish.  Yet, we do not often eat out during our winters away.  The picture above was lunch that Jay made today.

 

This is a photo of the inside of our Airbnb's refrigerator.  This year we're spending three of our four months living in three different Airbnbs, the one here in Mauritius and the others in Cape Town and Durban, South Africa.

Some people mistakenly believe we need a lot of money to travel the world.  There is an upfront cost in getting to a location, indeed.  However, every Airbnb we've ever stayed in for a month or more has cost us less than average monthly rents in our home city of Vancouver.  

More importantly day-to-day life hardly ever costs more than when we're home.  Eggs, for example, are quite a bit cheaper here than in Canada.  Mauritius isn't quite as cheap as many of our destinations, but when at the market in the photo found below, we didn't spend all that much!  This is true of much of the foodstuff we've bought in most places around the globe.  

Also, while away for the winter, all of our usual fixed costs completely stop.  For example, we have no electricity bill, no car insurance, and no Internet and TV bills.  So, being away for four of five months doesn't really cost us much more in total than staying home.  It's a whole lot more educational and personally gratifying for Jay and me though.

One's Eyesight May Be Priceless, But ...

I'm frequently reminded of the decreasing value of our money.  Our economic system is a bit of a sham because governments deliberately try to pretend that inflation is normal and necessary for a growing economy.  It allows them the chance to avoid paying for things upfront by printing new cash.  It's all smoke and mirrors.  

Citizens are tricked when told that prices are rising.  In fact, what they are actually witnessing is the decrease in value of a nation's currency and all savings held in it. Of course, wage earners aren't further ahead just because their incomes rise a little.  Even when paychecks double over time, the cost of living increases by just as much if not more.  It's all just a shell game.  I figure that since 1998, our average costs are about four times higher.  My apartment isn't any more valuable than when I moved into it, but money is now worth many times less.

Still, there are areas where innovation and smart businesses can actually lower the cost of products in such a scenario.   I just got a packet with new eyeglasses from Zenni.  I paid the equivalent of around US $86 for new progressive, darkening lenses in new frames.

I first got glasses in fourth grade when Mrs. Duke was my teacher.  That was 55 years ago.  I think today's arrival is probably much cheaper when compared to income from that bygone era.  When I was old enough to begin paying for my own specs, I paid more than I did today.  I'm getting more sophisticated eyewear for fewer, less-valuable dollars.

No Penny for Your Thoughts

I had an annual meeting with my banker. I've arranged things so that in July I must renew a lot of banking information.  That day was today.  After years of low-interest rates, money is worth a little bit of something today. Just yesterday the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate to 5% in this country. Finally! It was perfect timing for the renewal of a few of my expiring GICs.  A Guaranteed Investment Contract is a type of term deposit here.  Just watching every penny, I guess.

   

This is a photo from 2006. The last Canadian penny was minted on May 4, 2012 at the Royal Canadian Mint location in Winnipeg. The Canadian penny ceased circulation more than ten years ago. The Mint stopped distributing them on February 4, 2013.  It wasn't difficult saying goodbye.

Financial Tech.

This morning, Jay had a 10 o'clock appointment with our banker. It took a few years, but we have ensured all term-deposit renewals and money-market decisions occur during summers when we're home. Even though more organized, we still can't manage everything on the same date as my options expire in July. Today, I did set up an appointment for another visit with Franky though.

I was thinking about banking as a child.  I remember my 'bank book' that one could update by visiting a branch.  If it had been a long time since I deposited grandma's birthday cash, some machine would make clackity-clack sounds as interest calculations were being updated in the pages of a passport-like booklet.   In the last half-century, some things have changed.  I now bank with one institution that has only a phone app.

 

This is an imaginary device I created with Midjourney.

Carrying Wads of Cash

Day 52 - I wrote about changing some US dollars into Argentinian pesos last Friday. Today, I am showing you a picture of the largest banknote in circulation. 

    

We primarily spend these on a day-to-day basis and they're not uncommon.  In fact, if one stopped at a street cafe, he or she would spend around 800 pesos for a pastry and cappuccino.  The customer would hand the cashier one of these, and get around 200 pesos as change.

Q:  What is the value of one of Argentina's largest paper banknotes? 

A:   Presently the Blue Dollar (Tourist) Rate makes this worth around US $2.81.

My Dollars Were Feeling Blue

Day 49 - Last month, when our cruise ship arrived here, we changed some US dollars into Argentinian pesos.  We didn't change much because of the inflation rate here.  In a post on FB, I answered a friend, Daragh, about the cost of living in Argentina.  

Here was my response to him:

"It ranges from very reasonable to cheap cheap cheap. However, it's not as easy as just saying that. Annual inflation here is approaching 100%. However, it doesn't matter as we are bringing currency into the country and get a great exchange rate. You can look up the difference between the regular rate and the "Blue dollar in Argentina". We've only been here a couple of weeks, but it's gone from 310 to 350 pesos per US dollar. Now even a credit card, at least my HSBC Mastercard, gets near the Blue Dollar Rate. So the price increases affect normal Argentinians but not visitors.  For example, a subway ride costs us less than $US 0.10."

  

Of course, Argentinians have devised various ways of coping with high inflation.  If money stays in people's pockets (or bank accounts), it depreciates.  So, it is best for a worker to spend it as soon as he or she gets it.  For example, we've seen a lady with dozens and dozens of bottles of mouthwash at the supermarket checkout.  It's clearly better to put one's cash into something on sale that one will eventually use.  Alternatively, changing pesos into other world currencies will help retain more value.  Therefore, foreign currency is in great demand, especially new $US 100 bills.  

Today, we decided to go get more local cash.  We chose one new, crisp, one-hundred-dollar bill and headed to Calle Florida.  That is a part of the city with pedestrian shopping avenues and lots of high-end stores.  

First, we got on subway Line A and transferred to C.  Unfortunately we went in the wrong direction and rode for about 10 minutes.  We got to see Plaza Constitución at the end of the line.  We took the time to walk to a cathedral we saw at the other end of it.  When travelling in any country, we always visit places of worship that are open.  We try to learn about and pay respect to the religion.

After we returned to Line C, we got off at the correct station called LaValle.  Buenos Aires was settled by immigrants at the same time as the US was flooded with Europeans looking for a better way of life.  The food here often seems quite Italian as a result.  The town grew immensely during the second half of the 1800s through into the 1930s.  Most buildings reflect those times and this is one reason why this city looks so European.  I love cities where pedestrians rule, at least a few streets.

Next, we found a 'Cambio' guy, except in today's case it was a lady.  This person shouts, "Cambio."  He or she is looking for tourists who have come with foreign cash.  We knew to ask how much we could get today, and she led us into a business with a cashier in the back room.  It all sounds rather sorted but it is not really against the law, at least not enforced.  We helped a local saver or entrepreneur by selling $US 100 for 34,500 Argentian pesos.  Because we use a credit card for groceries, this will be enough pesos to last us for several weeks.

After walking through the Galerías Pacífico, a very classy maze of stores, we walked to a different subway stop, St. Martín, to return to the apartment.

The Day Before We Depart

This morning, we went to our bank at 9:30 am.  We had an appointment with our banker a half hour before they opened the doors to the public.  Frankie was efficient and helpful as he always proves to be.  I've finally arranged it so that most of my GICs expire in July. This is a month we can count on being here, except this year is different. I do have a few things expiring tomorrow.  I wanted to switch around some things before renewal.

We have an afternoon departure at YVR tomorrow.  Additionally, the Bank of Canada will decide on interest rates and probably boost them by 75 basis points.  Finally, those at the helm of the world's economies have decided that money shouldn't be cheap.  Thank God.  I have little formal economic training.  However, it's common sense to realize that when you print tons and tons of surplus money and literally give it away, you will end up with bubbles throughout the economy and the increasing threat of runaway inflation. We never learn from history, do we?  

Yes!  Finally, the weather has turned the corner just as we are about to run away for a few weeks!  This picture is of our city's new Sportsplex in Queen's Park.     It is near the EV DC charging stations.  So after our half-hour walk in the park, we looked in to see the kids' summer gymnastics and trampoline programs.

  

Godafoss Falls

Photo by This.Usually.Works. 

We just ensured we will see these falls when visiting Akureyri, Iceland later this month.

Jay and I generally purchase tours through viator.com.  For example, we already bought a full-day tour for our second day in Reykjavík from them  However, we have three, other full-day stops at small ports in Iceland.  We wanted to make sure we have our day well planned in Akureyri too.  This afternoon, we purchased a tour which includes these falls directly through Holland America.

I Can Bank from This Spot!

Day 91 - The weather in Sri Lanka seemed familiar today.  Bananas keep growing.  I was thinking about banking and the use of technology. I'm going to put few bucks into an online-only, Canadian bank.  This is as much for the fun of learning a new app as for a real need. 

When a kid in the 1970s, I recall how cool it was to use one of the first ATMs at a local bank.  It completely changed how I could get at the several dozens of dollars in my account.  I no longer had to visit during banking hours, but could do so on my own schedule.  It was the magic of new technologies!

Now, of course online banking has made the experience of money exceedingly convenient.  Not only constraints of time are removed but also location is no longer a factor.

I like the idea that fintech will usher in a whole new level of convenience and sophistication.  Frankly, some legacy banks are having trouble adapting to a new paradigm.   For example, if I don't move money from my high-rate savings account into checking before paying a bill, I will be dinged with a fee.  Why?  If anything I'm putting more activity on their system because they are requiring two transactions.  It all boils down to how thing used to work.  These new Internet financial organizations are not so burdened by an aniquainted system of processes.

 

Purchases from Anywhere

Day 74 - I put a Canadian downpayment on an Apollo Ghost e-scooter last night from a house in a Sri Lankan jungle. 

I was thinking how much easier it is to travel nowadays. When we first started exploring the world, money was a bit of a problem. We used to have to purchase travellers' cheques before the journey and hold on to them for dear life. If something unexpectedly came up, there was no easy way to get more money than what one was carrying.  I never figured one could count on a convenient embassy for assistance.  Granted, travellers' cheques were a little safer than cash. We once had all our TC's stolen from a hotel room in Nairobi, Kenya but Thomas Cook replaced them the next day.

   

By comparison, money is no longer much of a travel concern because of online banking, credit and debit cards, and a globe filled with ATMs. 

I wanted to lock in a current, sale price on this Canadian-designed e-scooter.  However, I want the shipment to British Colombia to occur after we're back in April 2022.  The Montreal company was happy to take a downpayment to ensure my pricing.  Last night's order went through like a breeze and I paid the card right away from a bank account. 

I never use credit cards for credit, but rather as an easier way to make payments (with rewards). In fact, I always pay 'ahead' on my credit cards for most normal, monthly expenditures.  I like always seeing a positive balance on my statements.  Needless to say, I have never, ever paid an interest charge in my lifetime, except on a few low-interest, student loans back in the day.

Money Troubles

I'm a convert. No, that is not the correct use of the word.  I meant I am fairly used to converting units of measurement.  Math is a complex language but even basic measurements take learning and familiarization.  

Let's think of temperature as my example.  I'm pretty adept at thinking in either Fahrenheit or Celsius now.  I no longer convert as either can be second nature.  In fact, if you asked me to convert the current outside temperature of 11°C, I'm not sure I'd immediately know that means nearly 52° on the other scale.  However, I know the feeling of eleven degrees and I'd agree that it is about as uncomfortable as 52°F.

How does this relate to money, you might wonder?  Well, now that we're retired, we spend a lot of time in locations that do not use Canadian currency.  Initially, there's a need to check to see what that a particular price really means.  

Is an SR1800.00 bottle of arrack (distilled hard liquor made from the fermented sap of coconut flowers) in Sri Lanka only half to one-third the price of a bottle of booze at a BC liquor store?  It takes practice using the new monetary units before one feels adept.  The prices for necessities rapidly become ingrained.  And yet, when looking to purchase an unusual item, conversion can often be required as local buying power enters the mix.

Luckily, I carry a phone now.  So, a currency calculator is always in my pocket.  I can input a specific amount in any of my saved currencies and have the exact, corresponding price in all of the others.   It is like magic and works with the latest rates saved if one's offline.

The first few weeks being in a new location would be hard without access to a mobile currency app.

Span Tower 24

Today, out of the blue, I got a marketing email from a Sri Lankan construction company. It was to an old email address, so they must've been ensuring their lists are up-to-date.  For years, I've been inquiring from various sources about property on the island.

Span Tower completes only smaller projects, most under 10 stories. The capital of Sri Lanka is now awash with enormous megabuildings and shopping complexes. Those who sent me information today seem to build normal residences rather than luxury condos designed for international speculative investment.  This is the sort of building in which ordinary hardworking people could eventually own.

   

So, I did a bit of research on the projects coming up for completion soon. That let me Google Map the areas to find one which would be of interest to us. Some folks spend a lot of wasted time thinking about impossible things. I suppose I should be grateful that I can daydream about things that we could actually afford.  It'd be nice to own a place we could use for winters or rent out.

Comparing Acers

Jay made an appointment for the dentist as he thought a bit of filling may have fallen out during our winter in Mexico. The hygenist called in the doctor and said everything looked all right. I had always thought a dentist would find things to fix if given a chance. Jay was lucky to escape without requiring any sort of anesthesia, I guess.

 

I brought Jay uptown but as we didn't know how long he'd be, he walked down the hill.  Actually, he was back about the same time as I spent time in the mall. 

This photo wasn't going to end up on Flickr. I took it while shopping at the uptown, Walmart Supercenter. I often snap a picture of a product in a store so I can return home and find out about it at my leisure on the Internet.  I've discovered that picking out a new laptop in 2021 is confusing. There are models created especially for different markets. To make things even more complex, each model can be customized and configured in about a hundred ways. Now, computers are quite like snowflakes in that no two are exactly identical! 

This makes easy price comparisons next to impossible. I want to buy a replacement travel computer that is light and sturdy for carrying in my backpack. The ASUS we've been using for a few years is fine but it needs a battery replacement. In some cases, it is better just to start with something brand new. 

Anyway, the photo gave me something to blog about today.

This Was Tuesday

We only see the inside of a bank a couple of times a year. Today, was one time for 2021. We had a 10:00 AM meeting with our banker to renew some GICs and shift funds into accounts that will minimize our taxes. It is always nice to chat with Frankie.

I hit the scanner again in the afternoon.  I'm glad I've made this a summer project as getting old snapshots scanned and organized will take a while.  I repurposed an existing Flickr album to include only images taken of our group of friends.   It'll be a while before I hit the film photos taken during the first few years in Canada.  I didn't get my first digital camera until 2002.  I didn't start putting all digital photos online until the mid part of that decade.

Then, I pulled from early experiences. I uploaded a roll of film from our first trip to Thailand in the spring of 1991. Next, I went back to an even earlier time to put a number of photos from a trip to the Maldives.  It is fun breathing new life into old prints.  It is also very satisfying getting rid of the original prints.