I spent 1,400 Yen on ramen yesterday. It was incredible. Black garlic oil, thick noodles, the works.
But here's the thing — I almost didn't order the extra egg because I was doing 'mental math' based on a rate from 2021. I thought I was spending $15.
I wasn't.
Because of the current Yen weakness, that bowl of ramen was barely $9. My fancy oat milk latte back in NYC costs more than that.
So the problem is our brains are lazy. We stick to these 'anchor' rates in our heads from years ago. 'The Euro is about 1.10,' or 'The Yen is 100 to the dollar.'
Wait — this matters. If you're traveling on a budget and using anchor rates, you're either going to starve yourself or overspend like a billionaire. Neither is good.
Actually, scratch that. Overspending is worse. You'll get home, check your statement, and realize you spent $400 on 'cheap' souvenirs because you didn't check the 4 PM London close before you swiped.
It took me 11 minutes to set up a proper currency alert on my phone. That 11 minutes saved me about $120 over the course of the weekend. Just check the rate before you buy. Every. Single. Time.
