Tingog.com

Whenever I travel to another country, the first thing I check is the price of a single pack of cigarettes (usually Marlboro Reds). I’ve often found this a good a measure of the cost of commodities in that area. Of course, I’m talking about this because earlier during the day, I talked to a friend who lives in California, and I asked him what was the first thing he did when he arrived in the United States.

His answer of what he did first was that he quit smoking. It’s too expensive, he said. And, frankly it is. It’s around $5.00 for a pack of cigarettes. Compare that to around $1.00/pack in The Philippines and you realize why my friend quit smoking.

I don’t smoke myself. But, as in any other rule, there is always an exception. I don’t smoke except when I travel. I always smoke exactly 7 cigarettes, no matter how long the trip, always 7 cigarettes. It’s one of the weird quirks that I have. But, smoking full time is just not my thing anyway.

But, consider this thought, when you do move to another country and can’t quite get a grip of how the cost of goods compare to the goods in The Philippines, just ask how much a pack of cigarettes are and you will get an idea of how much your peso is worth in that region of the world.

Another commodity to check out, as this is usually available, is the price of Coca Cola. Anyone else use other standards?