As the dollar is worth less it's going to buy less because costs will rise dramatically. You see it happening now. Milk, beef, eggs, cheese, bread - all the staples have been steadily rising and heaven help anyone living in a tourist area that can't get out of there to shop! Prices usually double anyway in those areas during peak seasons which makes it even harder for locals to buy what they need within budget. We got our gas bill for the past month - we are forced to heat with propane because it's the only thing available and it is absolutely ridiculous! $200.00 for the month!!!! We live in a smallish place and keep the temperature reasonable, don't overuse any appliances and don't even live in a really cold climate. The economy is shrinking, the dollar is going down, prices are rising and unemployment but Bush keeps smiling and waving and saying that everything is alright. To get uglier, I have a small amount of money in the bank that I left there without touching for the past 3 months. I decided that I was going to use the account for some savings so I went online to check it out and guess what - I was denied access! A visit to the branch and I was told - too bad, you didn't use it so we closed it. I asked what they did with the money? Don' know said the surly teller. Don't care, said her expression. I told her that was theft - where was the call, or the letter - cripes I just got a statement they could have warned me on that!!! Don't know said the teller. That's the way we do things - here take this brochure and call them if you have a complaint. When I asked if I could speak to the manager she said 'yeah'...but not today, she's too busy. Jerks.
Anyway, here is piece from Cathy Buckle who writes about living in Zimbawe now - I thought it kind of fit. sammieswife.
Saturday 9th December 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
A shameful and very distressing report has just been released in Zimbabwe. This time it does not come from the UN or any other international body, but from Zimbabwe's own Ministry of Public Service and Social Welfare. Research was undertaken and statistics gathered right across the country and included 58 rural districts and 27 urban areas.
The report says that living standards in Zimbabwe have dropped by 150% in the last ten years. Malnutrition in children under 5 has increased by 35% and the number of people without access to health care has increased by 48%.
Seeing the percentages in black and white is bad enough but when you see for yourself the evidence of this dramatic decline, it is truly terrifying. In the last month the basic cost of living in Zimbabwe went up by 47% percent. When you go shopping in a supermarket, everywhere you look people are carrying almost nothing. Finding sources of affordable protein is almost impossible. Meat is a luxury now - out of reach for almost all Zimbabweans. Long, long gone are the days when we would buy strips of biltong to snack on as we walked or when butchers would break off pieces of beer sticks to quieten niggling kids. Now people are buying scraps, bones and something called "shavings" which are the white crumbs which accumulate under the blade of the saws and butchery knives. Cheese is off the menu permanently; eggs and milk are very close behind. This week one single egg is selling for 200 dollars and half a litre of milk for 600 dollars (add 3 zeroes for the real cost). A cup of milk or an egg for breakfast is now the height of luxury and when you understand that, then you understand why malnutrition has increased by 35% in young children.It hardly bears thinking how bad nutrition levels must be in the vast majority of our adult population. Adults who, when you ask them if they have had breakfast say they are not hungry because they have had a "very big drink of water" to fill their stomachs - it will see them through till lunch time.
Outside the supermarkets these days there are the usual swarm of street children but if you look a bit harder, in between the hordes, you see the really desperate ones. Old men, skin and bone, bare feet, shaking hands, sunken eyes and it makes you just weep to see the depths we have dropped to. So very many people need help now but so few are able to help anymore.