Strategiry
Two of my all-time favorite Bushisms are "strategiry" and "decider-in-chief". I love the Bushisms so much that Mika bought me the page-a-day Bushisms calender two years in a row. One day when I was watching a press conference, I heard Bush claim that he was the "decider-in-chief". I was so excited that I actually witnessed one of the Bushisms for the following year's page-a-day!
As much as I enjoy "decider-in-chief", strategiry is the topic of my post today.
I almost didn't ship anything in my unaccompanied baggage shipment because according to information given to me at the JPPSO (shipping office), both the unaccompanied baggage shipment and the household goods shipment were due to arrive within a day of each other. Now, why would I go through the hassle of sorting out things that needed to go into each of these shipments if both were going to the same place and arriving at the same time? Strategiry.
I went ahead and set aside some items for the unaccompanied baggage shipment just in case. I am so glad I did and I'm pretty darn proud of what I included in the shipment!
2 sleeping bags
1 set of queen size sheets
4 small blankets
2 bath towels
1 Aero Bed
1 large box of toys
and our computer.
There were some other things in there too but these were the ones we needed most.
We have borrowed furniture, kitchen items, and linens so our basic needs are met. However, the rock hard bed and sandpaper sheets we were sleeping on caused long sleepless nights. The aero bed, my nice soft sheets, and big fuzzy blanket were a dream come true! The boys' are still on the rock hard bed but we put the sleeping bags down on top of them for extra padding. When we broke open the box of toys, the kids went crazy. They stayed in their jammies all day and just played. All is well.
Ways that I was not strategic:
I failed to include pillows and curtains.
Strategiry will be required in another, more important, area of our lives in the next few years: finances.
If you withdraw euros from the banks on post you pay more for them than a bank off post. I don't know if everyone on post knows this or not, but they should put a memo out. Matt withdrew euros off-post two times and on-post two times. Both times that he withdrew on-post the atm did not use the actual current exchange rate. It was off by a few points. A few points, what does that matter? $9. That is how much more it cost us to get euros out on post compared to off-post. It is a cryin' shame.
Another very important aspect of shopping with the euro is the VAT form. Germans pay 19% sales tax on everything. It is actually included in the posted price so there are no surprises. Since we are not residents of Germany we don't have to pay the VAT. So, we go on post and purchase a VAT form for $4. Then when we make a purchase off-post using the euro we turn in the VAT form to the retailer and they either take off the VAT and then charge us our price or they charge us and then we take the VAT to a special desk and they give us our money back. What happens if you don't have a VAT form? You pay the VAT. I think you can save your receipt and take a VAT form and get your money back somewhere, but that isn't the preferred way.
Finally, Mastercard charges 1% currency conversion rate, while Amex charges 2+% and Visa charges 3%. So, IF the retailer accepts credit (the IF is big) then you get a good exchange rate because it is the actual current exchange, but you get charged an exchange fee.
This is where strategiry comes in.
1. keep VAT form in car.
2. get money off post.
3. pay in cash.
Problem solved. A little bit of planning will save us a ton of money in the long run.
That my friends sums up today's lesson on "strategiry".
As much as I enjoy "decider-in-chief", strategiry is the topic of my post today.
I almost didn't ship anything in my unaccompanied baggage shipment because according to information given to me at the JPPSO (shipping office), both the unaccompanied baggage shipment and the household goods shipment were due to arrive within a day of each other. Now, why would I go through the hassle of sorting out things that needed to go into each of these shipments if both were going to the same place and arriving at the same time? Strategiry.
I went ahead and set aside some items for the unaccompanied baggage shipment just in case. I am so glad I did and I'm pretty darn proud of what I included in the shipment!
2 sleeping bags
1 set of queen size sheets
4 small blankets
2 bath towels
1 Aero Bed
1 large box of toys
and our computer.
There were some other things in there too but these were the ones we needed most.
We have borrowed furniture, kitchen items, and linens so our basic needs are met. However, the rock hard bed and sandpaper sheets we were sleeping on caused long sleepless nights. The aero bed, my nice soft sheets, and big fuzzy blanket were a dream come true! The boys' are still on the rock hard bed but we put the sleeping bags down on top of them for extra padding. When we broke open the box of toys, the kids went crazy. They stayed in their jammies all day and just played. All is well.
Ways that I was not strategic:
I failed to include pillows and curtains.
Strategiry will be required in another, more important, area of our lives in the next few years: finances.
If you withdraw euros from the banks on post you pay more for them than a bank off post. I don't know if everyone on post knows this or not, but they should put a memo out. Matt withdrew euros off-post two times and on-post two times. Both times that he withdrew on-post the atm did not use the actual current exchange rate. It was off by a few points. A few points, what does that matter? $9. That is how much more it cost us to get euros out on post compared to off-post. It is a cryin' shame.
Another very important aspect of shopping with the euro is the VAT form. Germans pay 19% sales tax on everything. It is actually included in the posted price so there are no surprises. Since we are not residents of Germany we don't have to pay the VAT. So, we go on post and purchase a VAT form for $4. Then when we make a purchase off-post using the euro we turn in the VAT form to the retailer and they either take off the VAT and then charge us our price or they charge us and then we take the VAT to a special desk and they give us our money back. What happens if you don't have a VAT form? You pay the VAT. I think you can save your receipt and take a VAT form and get your money back somewhere, but that isn't the preferred way.
Finally, Mastercard charges 1% currency conversion rate, while Amex charges 2+% and Visa charges 3%. So, IF the retailer accepts credit (the IF is big) then you get a good exchange rate because it is the actual current exchange, but you get charged an exchange fee.
This is where strategiry comes in.
1. keep VAT form in car.
2. get money off post.
3. pay in cash.
Problem solved. A little bit of planning will save us a ton of money in the long run.
That my friends sums up today's lesson on "strategiry".
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