So this is what it feels like to be poor....
Discussion
I earn a decent salary. It needs to be decent with a non-working wife and three small kids to support, but whilst we can't afford to eat out every night, I've at least never been in a position of having to particularly worry about what we put in the Ocado basket or anything like that.
Until now, that is. We're currently on holiday in Switzerland, and it is f
king horrific! Basically, everything, with the sole exception of petrol, is at least twice the price you'd pay in the UK.
New Zealand rack of lamb? Ocado will sell it to you at £15.99 per kg. Migros in Sion will ask £41 (CHF50) for the same kilo! Some nice, juicy New Zealand Gala apples for pud? £1.65 per kg in the UK, or £3.19 (CHF3.89) here. Maybe you'd like some gnocchi to go with it? That'll be £1.50 for a 500g pack on Ocado, or £3.12 (CHF3.81) in Switzerland.
Of course, you could be forgiven for thinking "Sod it, I'll just go to McDogmeat instead." After all, that's bound to be cheaper? Well, that 99p cheeseburger in the UK will set you back a mere £2.05 over here!!!
I do realise that the value of sterling and pretty much every other currency out there has plummeted against the Swiss Franc in the last few years, but what I don't understand is why the Swiss themselves put up with it?
On the one hand, why are they happy to pay twice the price for exactly the same imported product?
On the other, how long is it going to be before their tourist industry prices itself out of existence? We're here because my in-laws rented a chalet here (and no, I'm not comparing ski resort prices above, before anyone asks!), but I can safely guarantee that none of us will be back, since nice as it is, it has nothing that the French Alps can't offer at a significant discount, and I would assume Germany and Austria to be in a similar position for those preferring the barbaric tongue?
Until now, that is. We're currently on holiday in Switzerland, and it is f
king horrific! Basically, everything, with the sole exception of petrol, is at least twice the price you'd pay in the UK.New Zealand rack of lamb? Ocado will sell it to you at £15.99 per kg. Migros in Sion will ask £41 (CHF50) for the same kilo! Some nice, juicy New Zealand Gala apples for pud? £1.65 per kg in the UK, or £3.19 (CHF3.89) here. Maybe you'd like some gnocchi to go with it? That'll be £1.50 for a 500g pack on Ocado, or £3.12 (CHF3.81) in Switzerland.
Of course, you could be forgiven for thinking "Sod it, I'll just go to McDogmeat instead." After all, that's bound to be cheaper? Well, that 99p cheeseburger in the UK will set you back a mere £2.05 over here!!!
I do realise that the value of sterling and pretty much every other currency out there has plummeted against the Swiss Franc in the last few years, but what I don't understand is why the Swiss themselves put up with it?
On the one hand, why are they happy to pay twice the price for exactly the same imported product?
On the other, how long is it going to be before their tourist industry prices itself out of existence? We're here because my in-laws rented a chalet here (and no, I'm not comparing ski resort prices above, before anyone asks!), but I can safely guarantee that none of us will be back, since nice as it is, it has nothing that the French Alps can't offer at a significant discount, and I would assume Germany and Austria to be in a similar position for those preferring the barbaric tongue?
The swiss franc has basically doubled in value in the last few years against sterling which kind of explain the price differentials......mate of mine bought a place out there about four years ago (which is good) trouble is it's now eye wateringly expensive to maintain and to use! We were talking about this only the other day...the annual lads skiing trip might be going somewhere else.
Kermit power said:
paddyhasneeds said:
What's the average take home in Switzerland? I've no idea but always assumed items were priced reasonably relative to earnings.
That may well be true, but not sustainable if you're running a resort hotel and all your customers are in France or Italy instead.Beardy10 said:
Very true...this will kill the Swiss ski resorts...especially as a lot of their visitors actually come from France,German,Italy as well as the UK. The locals obviously tend to just do day trips up the mountain and not spend much money in the resort.
I know it's summer at the moment, so a different dynamic, but there's no French cars around here, and just a smattering of Brits and Germans, although there are a fair few Cloggies and Belgians still.
Amusingly, I emailed my sister (who lives in Geneva) to say I thought I'd have to bite the price bullet and come out for a couple of long weekends of skiing with them this winter, and her reply was "don't worry about the price too much, we drive to Chamonix or Megeve because they're in France and therefore cheaper"!
I did also trundle off from starting this thread to pick up the Telegraph business section (€3.20 in France, and a f
king criminal CHF6.20!!!) to see that the Swiss Central Bank cut interest rates by 0.5% yesterday in a desperate attempt to weaken the currency. 
Kermit power said:
Beardy10 said:
Very true...this will kill the Swiss ski resorts...especially as a lot of their visitors actually come from France,German,Italy as well as the UK. The locals obviously tend to just do day trips up the mountain and not spend much money in the resort.
I know it's summer at the moment, so a different dynamic, but there's no French cars around here, and just a smattering of Brits and Germans, although there are a fair few Cloggies and Belgians still.
Amusingly, I emailed my sister (who lives in Geneva) to say I thought I'd have to bite the price bullet and come out for a couple of long weekends of skiing with them this winter, and her reply was "don't worry about the price too much, we drive to Chamonix or Megeve because they're in France and therefore cheaper"!
I did also trundle off from starting this thread to pick up the Telegraph business section (€3.20 in France, and a f
king criminal CHF6.20!!!) to see that the Swiss Central Bank cut interest rates by 0.5% yesterday in a desperate attempt to weaken the currency. Beardy10 said:
And I should say a lot of them deserve it! The prices you have to pay to buy a bowl of pasta and a medicinal panache at lunchtime in a mountain restaurant are criminal.
Funnily enough I was telling an Austrian friend this morning about my last ski-in to Swizzleland from Austria. A beer and Spag Bol in Zermatt was £45 each. Three years ago... it would be about £90 now. Yes it was lovely food, a magic setting and the service superb, but yeesh! I'm far from unindulgent and generally have at least two ski trips a year but there's no way I could justify doing that every day.
Not just me then
Had a week in Saas Fee beginning of July and thank fk we were full board. The only day of the week where we had to pay for food when the chalet girls got a day off cost us £200 for lunch and dinner. - 2 main courses, a kids meal, a beer and a wine. Saas Fee also has the worlds highest revolving restaurant(used as Telly Savalas's lair in On her Majestys Secret Service) so wanted to go visit. Took me a long time to come round to the fact that a return trip on the cable/funicular for the Mrs and I was going to be £108(daughter went along as part of the kids club she was in ). Eventually paid it on the basis that I doubt I'd be back(skiing not extensive to keep me there for a week).
We came back via Paris, where it all fealt refreshingly cheap in comparison. Never thought I'd say that about Paris
And yes, we filled the car up on the Swiss side of the border before going back to France, only thing that was cheaper.
On a side note the Citadel at Besancon is pretty amazing to visit if you ever get a chance.
Had a week in Saas Fee beginning of July and thank f
k we were full board. The only day of the week where we had to pay for food when the chalet girls got a day off cost us £200 for lunch and dinner. - 2 main courses, a kids meal, a beer and a wine. Saas Fee also has the worlds highest revolving restaurant(used as Telly Savalas's lair in On her Majestys Secret Service) so wanted to go visit. Took me a long time to come round to the fact that a return trip on the cable/funicular for the Mrs and I was going to be £108(daughter went along as part of the kids club she was in ). Eventually paid it on the basis that I doubt I'd be back(skiing not extensive to keep me there for a week). We came back via Paris, where it all fealt refreshingly cheap in comparison. Never thought I'd say that about Paris
And yes, we filled the car up on the Swiss side of the border before going back to France, only thing that was cheaper.
On a side note the Citadel at Besancon is pretty amazing to visit if you ever get a chance.
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