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?
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. 
DaGuv said:
What a daft thread this is. Do you have any sense of economics??? Its all relative, you will find that the average swiss doing an average job will take home a lot more when compared to the equivalent Brit.
Why is it daft? Do you know of any other currency against which Sterling has lost roughly half its value in 5 years? If there are any, I've not been there.I wasn't aware this was the case before coming here, and I didn't look too closely, as my in-laws are paying for the chalet. Now that we have seen the prices, none of us will be back other than to fly into Geneva and bugger off over the French border, and from what I've seen on here so far, the large majority of other posters are in agreement.
Whilst the fundamentals of exchange rates are simple enough, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty to discuss regarding why the Swiss tolerate such a high exchange rate.
I had one last conversation about this before leaving Switzerland for France (which now feels third world cheap in comparison) with a hotelier in the resort we were in.
He told me he has not one single booking for the winter season, and many of his peers are in the same boat, and all wondering if their businesses will survive.
Having a strong currency isn't much fun in his shoes.
He told me he has not one single booking for the winter season, and many of his peers are in the same boat, and all wondering if their businesses will survive.
Having a strong currency isn't much fun in his shoes.
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