change you can believe in

You’re looking at approximately $23 worth of change in Euros (16 Euros).   By tomorrow, it should be worth more against the dollar.

With my 16 Euros I can buy a roast chicken, loaf of bread, cheese, coffee and still have money left over for dessert.

In San Francisco, a roast chicken and bread salad at Zuni Cafe costs $49.00 (and isn’t nearly as tasty as the $7.00 roast chicken from the rotisserie truck here.

Why am I telling you this?   Because I’m pissed off.   I’m pissed off because I can’t afford to exchange all my hard-earned, increasingly worthless US dollars into Euros at the moment because of poor money management, not on my part (and believe me, I’m no financial genius), but on the part of the US government.   The government that I just paid tens of thousands of dollars to on April 15th… or else.

Thanks to their poor management and favoritism to the very rich (I’m talking to you Geithner, Bernake et al), I spent the past year slaving away 24/7 to earn money, much of which is now being spent on wars, bank bail outs, interest rates to China and corporate tax breaks.

Sure, the French will tell you their taxes are high, but it seems they’re getting some value for their money.   Their healthcare system is rated number one in the world, so they don’t live in fear of being bankrupted by illness.   Their roads are well maintained so they don’t blow out their tires on a simple drive to the grocery store (and get taxed when they’re forced to buy new tires).   They don’t work inhuman hours for an ever decreasing wage.   Public servants, teachers and people who actually produce things aren’t treated as second class citizens to be bilked by the rich and powerful.

So where’s the change (aside from the pittance in my hand), President Obama?  I understand that Bush got us into this mess, but from where I’m sitting, which is thankfully far away, things are only getting worse for the working class.

Ironically, the only way I can live the American dream these days is to be in France, where while I still can’t afford to buy a home, at least I can afford a chicken.

france on $1.41, no $1.43, no $1.46 a day

Unlike Van Gogh’s depiction of the potato eaters, mine would be a self-portrait.

I decided not to transfer all my money (what there was of it) into euros when I got here, so I’m watching in horror as my pittance shrinks.   I think they call it a bad long call on the market.  Or losing in Vegas.    I live in fear that a one point fluctuation will cause the collapse of my financial empire.

Right now the exchange rate is verging on 1 euro equals 1.46 dollars (it was closer to 1.43 when I started writing this).  And don’t get me started on the bank fees.

Let me translate in to terms an American can understand.   Say you’re paying 400 euros a month in rent.   400 euros sounds great, doesn’t it?   That’s because we think in units, therefore to us, a euro equals a dollar, which used to be the case.   But now your 400 euro rent has become $584 a month which would be fine if you already hadn’t allocated that extra $184 you thought you had on food.  And your rent keeps growing as the dollar shrinks.   This applies to your entire budget.   It’s like some hideous balloon mortgage.  Add to that the ATM and international fees that my American bank charges for doing nothing (they call it a “relationship fee”).

It makes me want to get all my money out of American banks and put it into euros.   The American banking system would probably never recover.

The best thing you can do for yourself is when you do your mental calculations, just double it (which is about what it’ll wind up, once your bank takes its cut).   Don’t get fancy with halves and percentages, it’ll just screw you up.   After frenzied calculations, I thought I got this great deal on olives until I got home and realized I just bought a $12.00 jar of olives (they were delicious by the way).

I’ve been here two weeks and I’ve only accumulated five centime coins at the bottom of my purse. In the states, my purse would be five pounds heavy with all the pennies accumulated in that amount of time. That’s what they do in America, they take your big money and throw pennies at you. And face it, pennies are totally worthless, unless you need a penny, in which case you can invariably never find one and you wind up with even more pennies. It’s a vicious cycle and probably the real reason so many Americans are addicted to credit cards.

Pound for pound, the euro is a great value.   With American money, five pounds of change will yield you at best, a potato or two. With the Euro, that same weight can buy you potatoes, bacon bits (lardons), chives, sour cream and butter, which is a much more satisfying meal.

It’s been nine days since my last withdrawal of 100 euros. And I still have 8 euros left (a pocketful of change). Not a lot by any standard, but I can definitely make due. There are potatoes au gratin, sautéed potatoes, potato salad, mashed potatoes, twice baked potatoes, French fries…I could probably go a month and not eat the same meal twice, just with potatoes.

Don’t think I’m complaining. I feel very fortunate to be eating my potatoes in such a lovely setting. Right now, I’m sitting in the backyard, about to tuck into a delicious baked potato. The sun is shining and a beautiful big black and white bird is hopping across the lawn. It sort of reminds me of a penguin. I wonder how it would taste roasted with garlic?

the euro and you

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