We adopted the euro, but we still think in leva

We adopted the euro. For better or worse. All our lives, we’ve been used to using the lev. Our brains are used to the lev. It’s what we’ve used to judge everything until now.

And this is not so much about prices – we all feel them. It’s about having an orienter. About that inner sense we’ve built up over the years through the lev.

When we see a price only in euros, our brain looks for something to hold on to. Is it expensive? Is it cheap? And almost immediately, we start converting it into leva in our heads.

For example, you fill up with diesel. You see that you paid €1.33 per litre. And automatically, you start converting it into leva. Not because you don’t understand the euro, but because in your head you already have a sense of what feels “cheap,” what feels “fair,” and what feels “expensive” – a sense you built over years of paying in leva.

That’s exactly where the difference is.

In euros, we see the number.

In leva, we understand what it means.

And when we see both prices, we somehow keep measuring in leva – and that gives us a greater sense of control over our money.

That’s why, with BoroBit version 2.6.0, we’re trying to make the transition easier.

All income, expenses, payments, calculations, and analyses can now be viewed in both euros and leva. The two appear side by side, just as we actually use them right now.

Everyone can choose which currency to use as the main one and which one to keep as a reference.

If you want to switch more quickly to the euro, you set it as your main currency and keep the lev as your orienter. That way, you’re already in euros without losing touch with the way you’ve thought about your money until now.

If you still think in leva, you can keep it as your main currency and have the euro simply next to it. And when you’re ready, you just switch.

The idea is not to stay in leva forever. The idea is not to lose our orienter while we get used to the euro.

The transition is not just about prices, but about habits. And habits change slowly.

But this isn’t really just about the euro and the lev.

It’s about the fact that people need an orienter to understand what an amount actually means.

Until now, the most natural orienter for us has been the lev. Because for years, it’s what we’ve lived with, shopped with, saved with, and paid with.

But people don’t understand value through currency alone.

Sometimes an amount becomes clearer when you see it as gold, 1 kg of white bread, or 1 hour of labour. Then you’re no longer just looking at a number – you have a more real sense of what stands behind it.

That’s where the idea for this feature in BoroBit came from.

At first, we started with the idea of making the transition to the euro easier.

But the euro and the lev are not the only orienters that can be useful when someone wants a clearer sense of their money.

That’s why we expanded the idea beyond the two currencies.

Not just in euros or leva

That’s why BoroBit now lets you choose what to view your values in. Not just in euros or leva, but also through orienters such as gold, 1 kg of white bread, 1 hour of labour, bitcoin, and other currencies.

This is not just another way to display an amount.

It’s about making it easier for people to feel what stands behind an amount.

For example, €400 is just €400 if you look at it as a number.

But that same value can also be seen as around 300 kg of white bread. Or as 48 hours of labour based on the country’s average wage. Or as 3.57 grams of gold.

And that’s when the number starts to carry meaning.

Not because the value has changed, but because you now see it through something concrete – for example, how many hours of work it would cost you.

Everyone has a different orienter

That is exactly the purpose of orienters in BoroBit – to give value a form that people can understand more easily.

For one person, that might be the lev. For another, the euro. For a third, gold. And for a fourth, something much more down-to-earth may speak most clearly – like 1 kg of white bread or 1 hour of labour.

That’s why we introduced several main orienters, so that everyone can choose the one that makes the most sense for them.

Everyone decides for themselves what their main orienter should be and what their second one should be.

You can view everything mainly in euros, with gold as your second orienter.

You can think in leva, with the euro right next to it.

You can even keep 1 kg of white bread or 1 hour of labour as your second orienter, if that gives you a clearer sense of the value of your money.

The original value remains

BoroBit does not hide the original amounts on your bank accounts and transactions. They remain visible where they matter. The new orienters do not replace them – they simply offer another perspective on the value behind those amounts.

Where the data comes from

Each orienter is based on a specific data source.

Exchange rates come from the European Central Bank (ECB) and are updated daily.

The data for 1 kg of white bread and 1 hour of labour is based on information from the National Statistical Institute (NSI), available from 2010 onwards.

We use gold as a global orienter of value, but we show it in grams because that makes it easier to understand in everyday life.

Bitcoin and the other market-based orienters are also based on public data.

This way, these orienters are grounded in real data and provide a more concrete measure of value.

Where you’ll see it in BoroBit

That’s why this feature is built directly into the app – in Portfolio, Cash Flows, details, and settings.

In some places you’ll see it more, in others less. But the idea is the same – not to look at your money as just numbers, but to have a clearer sense of what it means.

Because sometimes what people need is not more charts, but a better orienter.

What matters is not exactly what you measure your money in.

What matters is not losing sight of what your money means and the value it holds.

With this version of BoroBit, we want to make it easier for people to understand the value of their money.