Hyderabad: Many housewives who had saved money in small denominations from household expenses gave a pleasant surprise to their families after the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
Wednesday saw many women reveal to their spouses how much they had secretly saved up. Shopkeeper Hussain Abid said, “My wife had saved over Rs 1 lakh and she handed it to me in the morning. It was a pleasant surprise. She kept stacks of small change which is now going to help us handle buy of and vegetables for some days.”
Another housewife, Ms Laxmi Rao, said, “Every year for Diwali we keep notes of Rs 100 aside. I usually keep these at home. When this announcement was made I counted the cash that I had collected over the last three years and it came to about Rs 25,000. My sons and husband were amazed as I am the only one who has valid currency in the house.”
Small change like Rs 5, Rs 2 and Rs 1 coins and Rs 10 notes are kept aside by homemakers for paying vegetable vendors and for grocery items. Whatever remains goes into the “home bank”, which proved to be very handy. Others were not so lucky. Ms Sunita P. said, “I converted Rs 5,000-worth of Rs 10 notes into Rs 500 notes. Now I will have to get new notes and that is going to put me in a fix as my husband might not return the sum after I give it to him.”
