Anyone change a P500?

One of the strangest things I have encountered in my 2 years here to date is \'change\'! Not change as in things staying the same but breaking P500 or P1,000 notes for smaller ones. I get my money as needed from the ATM. It only pays out in P500 or P1,000 notes. Now in the UK (I guess the same in US) I would just call at my local corner shop or Petrol (Gas) station & either just ask them to break the note up or by an item of small value.

Not here. No shops (SM excluded) have change, in fact they ask you for change. It is a constant battle to keep small notes in my pocket because everything seems to require P20 or P50 or P100 and I just end up with my 500\'s again. I get that most locals don\'t get to use large notes earning a few hundred a day but plenty get wages from ATM\'s as well.

Is it just me or do you have the same problem & anyone found an easy work around?

One of the strangest things I have encountered in my 2 years here to date is \'change\'! Not change as in things staying the same but breaking P500 or P1,000 notes for smaller ones. I get my money as needed from the ATM. It only pays out in P500 or P1,000 notes. Now in the UK (I guess the same in US) I would just call at my local corner shop or Petrol (Gas) station & either just ask them to break the note up or by an item of small value.

Not here. No shops (SM excluded) have change, in fact they ask you for change. It is a constant battle to keep small notes in my pocket because everything seems to require P20 or P50 or P100 and I just end up with my 500\'s again. I get that most locals don\'t get to use large notes earning a few hundred a day but plenty get wages from ATM\'s as well.

Is it just me or do you have the same problem & anyone found an easy work around?

Keith, no it is not just you, we get exactly the same problem. What also surprises me is that the local supermarket often does not seem to have change in their tills either. Bing will often ask me for any change that I have got, which then leaves me trying to change a P500 note the next time I purchase something

Colin

[John Amend-All]

Yes, same problem hereabouts. Our workaround is to get all our monthly cash requirements from the bank. We don\'t use ATMs and when in the bank we can at least request 100 and 200 peso notes, leaving the larger denominations for the big bills. My wife carries all the cash in a moneybelt until it is locked up at home.

The thing that amuses me is receiving those little candies for odd centavos of change.

John

[coutts00]

As I run a store, we have a policy actually its my courtesy policy, the purchase must equal 10 % of the value of the big bill or sorry we have no change, at 6 am in the morning some bright spark will come in with a 500p or 1000p note and buy 20p worth of phone load and expect change for his jeepney ride, it takes me 12 hours to build up enough change and by the middle of the next day it is gone. We lose customer when we don\'t have change but now most know I won\'t just change their money for them, so in some way its all my fault you guys are having problems. Its the snowball effect, when I stopped doing it, everyone else stopped doing it.

My advise go to a business that handles a lot of big transactions, the hardware store or the grocery, go to the customer service desk and ask if they could change a bill for you, you should have no problems.

[dylanaz]

Thats exactly what I do....

When I get those 500 or 1000 bills I buy something in SM Supermarket or a big place... even McDonalds if you have to.

Yes... EVEN THEY will ask if you have smaller bills... I just say NO... because if McDonalds doesnt have change... who else WILL ?

Even if the little guys have change... dont bother them... Like C said... it can take them a long time to have enough for the next customer...

[michael16136]

In the US and Europe, most (perhaps all) retail establishments start the day with a specific amount in the till. Here, since no one trusts anyone with any money, they start out with zero in the till and wait throughout the day to accumulate money that can be used for change. I do not make any particular effort to carry small bills, and when a clerk tells me there\'s no change, I just walk out, figuring that it\'s not my job to make sure that the store can transact business.

[dylanaz]

In the US and Europe, most (perhaps all) retail establishments start the day with a specific amount in the till.

True... you probably dont see any different unless you go somewhere like Detroit, Queens, Central LA etc... many stores in those places had signs out when I visited \"NO BILLS LARGER THAN $20 ACCEPTED\"

Same here... just ... they dont have signs out   

[BenK]

The easiest way to get around that for me is just to get an odd amount of cash out of the ATM, like 1,400, that way I get some 100\'s. If I keep bills smaller than that in my wallet, Mrs. Sticky-Fingers tends to help herself, but I guess 100 is the threshold for checking with me first.

The easiest way to get around that for me is just to get an odd amount of cash out of the ATM, like 1,400, that way I get some 100\'s. If I keep bills smaller than that in my wallet, Mrs. Sticky-Fingers tends to help herself, but I guess 100 is the threshold for checking with me first.

I always give the 20\'s and 50\'s to Bing because they are usually so dirty and screwed up that I don\'t want them in my wallet. I particularly like the ones you get from fish and meat markets ... ugh!

Colin

[coutts00]

You like the ones you get from the fish and meat markets? Why?

Wayne

You like the ones you get from the fish and meat markets? Why?

Wayne

That was an attempt at sarcasm, it never works and I should stop doing it.

In some of the open markets I have been to where you get the women gutting fish and hacking up large chunks of meat, they all seem to have a large Bum Bag full of screwed up notes that remind you where they came from long after you have left.

Colin

You like the ones you get from the fish and meat markets? Why?

Wayne

That was an attempt at sarcasm, it never works and I should stop doing it.

In some of the open markets I have been to where you get the women gutting fish and hacking up large chunks of meat, they all seem to have a large Bum Bag full of screwed up notes that remind you where they came from long after you have left.

Colin

Colin,

Your sarcasm gland is fully functional  I bet all the Brits got that one  and remember:

[donstruan]

For the wife and I, it becomes a little game. We both store three types of denominations. The big bills are stored in a safe spot, then we have the 100\'s and lesser, and finally the heavy and cumbersome coins. I\'m sure it also makes it harder for all of our money to be robbed, God forbid.

Even if I have plenty of 20\'s-100\'s, I will always try to use a 500P bill when the purchase warrants it, like at a restaurant. After a few days with 3 or 4 purchases, you should have plenty of change.

I don\'t even think about using a 500 or 100 peso bill at smaller places. There\'s no point.

[oscar]

 

This problem I always have with taxi´s, no change.

I once paid in Jollibee with 1000, the girl said, full of respect: sir, that is a lot of money.

Once I lost 4 x 1000 peso bills in a taxi. I think I made the taxi driver a happy man !!

[Steve & Myrlita]

This problem I always have with taxi´s, no change.

I once paid in Jollibee with 1000, the girl said, full of respect: sir, that is a lot of money.

Once I lost 4 x 1000 peso bills in a taxi. I think I made the taxi driver a happy man !!

Most taxi drivers especially in Manila & Cebu in the middle or end of their work day will definitely have change for a P500. It\'s mostly a matter of whether or not he wants to change it. They will try to say no in hopes the \"Rich Foreigner\" will let him keep the change. Some actually expect the foreigner to pay 5x more. Stay on your toes. Many are honest but some are not.