Change is inevitable, but the amount you get given is not

Every morning, Angela Hundal makes sure she has Dh15 in her purse before hailing a cab to work. The ride usually costs just Dh13, and if she is pleased with the service, she happily gives the driver a Dh2 tip. But all too often, as she rolls up to her Dubai office, Ms Hundal finds herself tipping regardless of the service. Handing over crisp Dh10 and Dh5 bills, she is typically greeted with the phrase: "No change."

While Ms Hundal says she might not miss that Dh2 at the end of the month, she can't remember the number of the times cab drivers, petrol attendants and cashiers at the supermarket did not have the correct change. "When you start adding up the amounts of change you're not being given - even when it's rightfully owed to you - it amounts to a small fortune," says Ms Hundal, who arrived in the UAE from the UK two years ago. "I find that our city is filled with businesses that simply don't have change."

Indeed, in a land where ATMs dispense nothing lower than Dh100, the big bill is king. The cost of everyday items are typically rounded up or down before your eyes, leaving the coins we have in circulation on the sidelines. While Dh1 might come in handy for a chocolate bar at the office, when was the last time you used a 50, 25 or 10 fils coin? And then there is the tiny copper 1 fils coin with a Bateen whale on it, about half the size of an American cent.

Many consumers feel these coins have become increasingly invisible and irrelevant as legal tender - and the consumer often pays for it. We've all been there. You run into your local supermarket for a snack, and the small bag of crisps and bottle of water come to Dh4.85. After paying with a Dh5 bill, how often will 15 fils appear in your palm? Not often, according to Sean Landreth, a business development manager from Canada. When he arrived in Dubai two months ago, he was made aware of this problem by his sister, who currently works as a teacher in Abu Dhabi.

"She gave me the heads up after being here for a couple weeks," Mr Landreth, 27, says. "She said it happens to her all the time, and now she insists on having the correct change out of principle." Mr Landreth struggles to recall a trip to the store where he has been given the correct amount of change. "It could happen a couple of times in a day, and just depends on the amount of times I am in a situation of receiving change or even in the mindframe to notice," he explains.

He says that the main issue is not that customers need the money. It is that cashiers, cab drivers and other merchants seem to overlook the change that is due. These small oversights can add up to sizeable sums of money. Say, for example, you've run in to pick up a last ingredient for a dinner and it costs you Dh2.25. The cashier returns Dh2 to your hand and says: "Sorry, don't have 25 fils." You let it go because you are in a hurry.

However, suppose that same grocery store has 1,000 other customers who don't receive their 25 fils. Daily, that comes to Dh250. Yearly, that's Dh91,250, simply because they didn't have the correct amount of change for customers. Individually, if you are short-changed 25 fils every day, you lose out on about Dh90 every year. Mr Landreth points out that, at times, he feels rude for asking for his change back and doesn't like to press the point.

"I just hope it is not a mandate by the business for the cashiers to short-change customers," he says. Jannine Holtzhausen, the chief executive of Spinneys in Dubai, says the company's policy is quite the opposite. Not only should customers always receive the right amount of change, but when it's not available the cashier should always round up to the nearest dirham. "There was a time when change was a serious problem, but it seems to be getting a little better," Mr Holtzhausen says. "You couldn't get enough change from the Central Bank. I haven't checked up on it in a couple of months."

The UAE Central Bank did not return calls for comment. Mr Holtzhausen says that one solution to the problem would be to eliminate the smaller coins and do some sort of rounding system. But the problem, he says, is there are plenty of items in Spinney's that are weighed. If you sell grapes for Dh10 per kilogram and you buy 6.25 kilograms, inevitably you will not be dealing with round numbers. Rowena, who works as a customer service assistant at a Spinneys in Abu Dhabi, says having the right amount of coins in the cash register is an issue.

"The bank gives us rolls of coins and we start our shifts with enough money to give change back to customers," says Rowena, who preferred to keep her last name anonymous. "But by the end of the shift we also don't get the small 10 fils and 5 fils coins from customers, so we are forced to explain we don't have the right change." Georges Mojica, the general manager of Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society, insists his stores are always precise with the change owed to customers. But he admits the smaller coins have a way of getting lost in the shuffle.

"People have a tendency to disregard the smaller change, especially in times of inflation," Mr Mojica says. "I mean, who cares about 1 fils?" He says that if the correct change is not available, like Spinney's, they will round up and give the customer more money rather than less. But in Mr Landreth's experience, he finds the trip to the supermarket rarely results in more dirhams in his pocket. "That hasn't been my experience at any grocery store," he says.

Carol Talbot, a training and development consultant with Matrix Training Solutions in Dubai, says it is not unusual for her to receive a sweet or piece of candy from cashiers instead of change. "Some supermarkets in Dubai give you a sweet because they don't like to give you the smaller coins," she says. "I've been noticing that more in the last few years." Ms Talbot, who arrived in the UAE nearly 20 years ago from the UK, says all of the UAE coins, apart from the Dh1, are now largely irrelevant. She says that decades ago, when prices were cheaper and bargaining was more common, the one fils, 10 fils and 50 fils coins were used frequently and exchanged between customers and vendors.

"Change mattered more in the past," she says. "Even then, 50 fils made a difference. These coins don't really buy anything anymore." Now, instead of using these coins at the store, she keeps them piled in her car's ashtray. "So if someone cleans my windscreen at the petrol station, I'll give them a handful of coins," she says. @Email:jtodd@thenational.ae With additional reporting from Katie Stevens

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

What should do investors do now?

What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?

Should I be euphoric?

No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.

So what happened?

It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.

"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."

Should I buy? Should I sell?

Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.

"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.

All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.

Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.

Will the rally last?

No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.

"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."

Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet

Ban fruit juice and sodas
Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
Don’t eat dessert every day
Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
Eat everything in moderation

On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

Shelina Janmohamed: Why shouldn't a spouse be compensated fairly for housework?

Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality

The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?

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The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler

Price, base / as tested Dh57,000

Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine

Transmission Six-speed gearbox

Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm

Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km

The five stages of early child’s play

From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:

1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.

2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.

3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.

4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.

5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.

About Tenderd

Started: May 2018

Founder: Arjun Mohan

Based: Dubai

Size: 23 employees

Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

The specs

Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo

Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm

Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km

On sale: December

Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

COMPANY%20PROFILE

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COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books

If you go

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.

The trip

The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.

The hotel

There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.