Malagasy money for beginners

Malagasy people speak of money in terms of Franc Malagasy. Most vasaha. known as foreigners know this, especially those of us who have lived here for more than 7 years.  This is important information because if you speak in the official money terms of ariary then you will be a target for being taken advantage of and you will lose your money and be scammed..

Who falls into this area of not knowing the real language of money
NGO workers
Missionaries
tourist
The above three groups are only here for a month or two  maybe a year or two and learn only the basics from tourist guides selling fantasy or projects for profit/ non profit organizations and religious thoughts but without the basic training of the realities here on the ground.
transient workers from Asia and other poor countries , though they do learn more quickly than the group which is
dumber than a box of rocks and ignorant residents who are immature as to the culture and customs of this society.
These arrogant residents believe that 26 million Malagasy people should change their habits to accommodate a few thousand Vasaha people.  These vasaha live in a bubble and have no clue to their self righteous  behavior.

I stress this because if you want to fit into the society here you will need to learn the way money is handled and that is by speaking in terms of Franc Malagasy.  Ariary is no more accepted than the metric system is accepted in the USA.  If you speak in Ariary you will be viewed as a ignorant outsider and you will pay more for every purchase of goods and services. 

Money is printed in Ariary but the math is converted into Franc Malagasy times 5.  1000 ariary is 5000 franc malagasy.  By speaking in the language of Franc Malagasy you will save in money some 20% , and
more if you are also  aware of the prices since most prices are bargained for.   If you bargain in Ariary well you just as might as well accept you have lost before you started.