Pound slumps, again!

[Joppa]

Pound/euro was looking relatively healthy this morning, moving to 1.148 when a couple of good economic data was released - rise in house prices and higher-than-expected inflation. But our friend - BOE governor Mervyn King, again talked down the economy in addressing UK parliament by saying that outlook was gloomy and BOE was again thinking about cutting interest paid to banks to stimulate more lending. This killed off the rally and sterling has now slumped to below 1.13, 1.1282 as I write and still falling, a 4-month low.
Where will the pound go? I fear stg will now head towards 1.11, the next support level.

[jojo]

Everytime the pound looks as tho it may recover, Merv comes along and p***** on it!!!! EVERYTIME!


Jo xxx

[Suenneil]

Originally Posted by jojo

Everytime the pound looks as tho it may recover, Merv comes along and p***** on it!!!! EVERYTIME!


Jo xxx

I think sitting it out and waiting for it to improve in the short to medium term is a waste of time! Think we have to accept this is what its going to be (plus or minus one or two cents!) for the foreseable future.

Luckily for me it matters not one jot! because I dont use / need sterling for anything at all. But I do understand how tough it is for people who do ... my parents for example who live up near Tarrogona have lost a lot in the exchange of their UK pensions this past year - which in turn makes their cost of living seem hugely expensive now to what it was Spain is no longer a cheap option for retirement in their case!

Sue

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Suenneil

I think sitting it out and waiting for it to improve in the short to medium term is a waste of time! Think we have to accept this is what its going to be (plus or minus one or two cents!) for the foreseable future.

Luckily for me it matters not one jot! because I dont use / need sterling for anything at all. But I do understand how tough it is for people who do ... my parents for example who live up near Tarrogona have lost a lot in the exchange of their UK pensions this past year - which in turn makes their cost of living seem hugely expensive now to what it was Spain is no longer a cheap option for retirement in their case!

Sue

Interestingly we were saying this earlier. Spain used to be the cheap option, but nowadays its simply another European country, it has all the "mod cons" and facilities of any other European country (mostly), so therefore, why should it be cheaper to live here than anywhere else?

Of course there are regional differences, but that the same anywhere else and of course you tend to find that the cheaper areas of Spain are usually the ones that are a little further away from the "bright lights" and a little more "old fashioned". These attract the expats, which then creates a need for the "mod cons" and then of course the prices rise!!!

Jo xxx

[Hombre]

I know what you mean....but where we live..(northern Catalunya, coastal resort )...prices do seem to be stable, even dropping. Mrs Hombre has been spending the same amount on groceries for 5 years now. I keep telling her to let me know if she needs more, but she insists she is managing OK. Having said that, we do all our own cooking, using fresh local produce, do not eat takeaways or processed foods or ready meals...maybe that is a major contribution. Each to their own.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Hombre

I know what you mean....but where we live..(northern Catalunya, coastal resort )...prices do seem to be stable, even dropping. Mrs Hombre has been spending the same amount on groceries for 5 years now. I keep telling her to let me know if she needs more, but she insists she is managing OK. Having said that, we do all our own cooking, using fresh local produce, do not eat takeaways or processed foods or ready meals...maybe that is a major contribution. Each to their own.

You havent had the mass tourist explosion there tho have you!! I think thats what happened down in the costa del sol a few years ago and what was once a small holiday resort has turned into great big towns and citries with the prices to match! That said, certainly food prices have kind of stablised, they keep trying to put things up and then they put them back down lower than they were before?!? . And they finally seem to be catching on to the BOGOF type offers here now too!!!

As for the pound, well for those of us getting paid in sterling, I guess we just have to call it parity in our heads (until it is!!!!!!) and anything extra is a bonus!?


Jo xx

[SteveHall]

Originally Posted by jojo

As for the pound, well for those of us getting paid in sterling, I guess we just have to call it parity in our heads (until it is!!!!!!) and anything extra is a bonus!?


Jo xx

OMG - yet again we agree! After years of thinking 3 for 2 (3 euros=2 GBP) I'm thinking 1 for 1 now.

Just quoted on a UK job (to be paid in GBP) and I worked my proposal out on 1 for 1 "...and anything extra is a bonus"

As I expect them to ***** for a 10% discount for some vacuous reason I guess I will get "parity"

Frightening, frightening, Jojo

[bakeja]

Agree with all of these posts - I think in terms of 1:1 as a rough approximation when I see something quoted in pounds. I also agree with Sue that if you live here and are already "euro denominated" in terms of assets, income and expenditure (and liabilities!) then just relax and don't think about day to day movements. I think both Britain and Spain, having had the most OTT housing booms before the recession, will be well to the back of the queue in terms of seeing much improvement in their general economies.

[Hombre]

Originally Posted by jojo

You havent had the mass tourist explosion there tho have you!! I think thats what happened down in the costa del sol a few years ago and what was once a small holiday resort has turned into great big towns and citries with the prices to match! That said, certainly food prices have kind of stablised, they keep trying to put things up and then they put them back down lower than they were before?!? . And they finally seem to be catching on to the BOGOF type offers here now too!!!

As for the pound, well for those of us getting paid in sterling, I guess we just have to call it parity in our heads (until it is!!!!!!) and anything extra is a bonus!?


Jo xx

Well Jo....we have a population of 20000 in the winter and 120000 in the summer. maybe not "mass tourism " per se compared to CDS but a big enough swing to affect prices, housing demand etc etc. When we arrived here 7 years ago the population was 12000 so I guess its only a matter of time before we get sucked into the merry go round.

[Suenneil]

Originally Posted by Hombre

Well Jo....we have a population of 20000 in the winter and 120000 in the summer. maybe not "mass tourism " per se compared to CDS but a big enough swing to affect prices, housing demand etc etc. When we arrived here 7 years ago the population was 12000 so I guess its only a matter of time before we get sucked into the merry go round.

Im still not sure you will be Hombre. I live in Estepona which does see a significant increase in visitors during the tourist season (both Spanish and non Spanish) ... but I still think its generally cheaper here in Estepona than it is in Marbella, Elviria, San Pedro etc etc. in rents, food, eating out, drinks etc etc.

If we have a coffee somewhere in town for example its usually around 1.10/1.40 - whereas when Im in our Marbella office at lunchtime I pay 1.80/2.40 !!! ... here in Malaga where I work most of the time its the same - more or less on a par with Marbella.

I would imagine the supermarket chains are pretty much of a muchness in terms of price - we use Mercadona for 95% of our shopping and I dont think the prices at Mercadona Estepona are any different to Mercadona in Marbella.

You seem to pay for the "name" rather than the place! lol ... in which case I hope everyone still thinks of Estepona as an out of the way place and too far to come from Marbella for a coffee or a beer!

Sue