Europe - the cost of having the Euro

[clive francis]

String once bubbled...
I was over in italy for the first week of transistion from lira - euro and a lot of people were complaining prices had all been rounded up. Greece and other countries i know of also complained.

In some places they took the direct Old currency=same number of euros which made some things twice as expensive.

Also of note ive got a friend that lives in italy and he says the general opinion was if theyd been asked to vote on it they would have rejected it.

At the moment im enjoying travelling abroad though as accomodation and things im finding far cheaper than the UK - example recent trip to Madrid a 4* hotel room was some E80 per night between 2 people - thats a lot cheaper than UK equivalent.
Drinks and so on also a lot cheaper.

string do you live in a hotel?

i don't so it is a waste of time comparing costs of hotels as they are a one off payment once in a blue moon.

stuff you use every day i.e. food and drink are what should be graded against.

Restaurants were no cheaper than the UK if you had anything other than a pizza.

Lager was the same price as you would pay in London and in some places we really got screwed on the price of a beer (E10 for 2 small beers no more than 33cl).

spirits worked out only slightly cheaper.

they kept telling us it was very cheap (in the south) but we were working in the north so that wasn't much use or help.

like i said HR did a report and it was 28% more expensive in Bologna than Watford and that was using E1.45 to the £, but it is less than that now.

 

[Tanto]

Here in Italy I hear someone saying that everything doubled in price but salaries stayed the same every week or so. If that was true the country would be in a civil war, instead if you go out for dinner without a reservation you wait for hours, there are only new cars in the streets (more MERCEDES, BMW, AUDI that ever before), boats and ports are booming, everyone is talking on an expensive cell phone and everywhere in the world you go you find italians on holiday!
Truth is some prices went up, some went down, supply and demand is adjusting prices as always.
My salary didn't change, I didn't change my lifestyle, I can do the same things I was doing before and the mortgage for my house is cheaper.
Italians like to complain, but Italy wasn't cheap before the Euro either, plenty of things have always been cheaper elsewhere, "expensive" nations like England and USA included.
I think for most people it's more a matter of "lost identity" rather than a technical/economical issue.
I love the Euro, love having the same currency in many nice coutries I travel, love being able to exchange it everywhere in the world, love being able to easily compare prices, love having a much stronger currency.

 

[annie]

Yes it's called Ireland when we're talking English, not Eire which is Irish Gaelic . . . . .

Anyway I think it's an expensive country alright, but Ireland was that way before the Euro. I'm firmly of the opinion that it's demand and supply that shapes it here. . .we're a nation of moaners but we never ever complain properly or take action. We just carry on paying out.
The arrival of the German chains Aldi and Lidl has started a change though and I believe we'll come to the point where we won't tolerate extortionist prices anymore. Looking foward to that day!

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=45&si=1055253&issue_id=9864

 

[Phish-phood]

Um Ireland is an Island and we accepted the euro!

Anyway, I found when I go home certain things are much cheaper and certain things are more expensive.

Houseprices are roughly equivalent, possibly a little higher in Ireland.

Cost of a night out is more expensive in Ireland than in Britain but this is not just due to the euro because alcohol was always more expensive in Ireland.

Cost of petrol is way cheaper, cheapest we got it over there last week was 84cent as compared with 74-90pence/litre in Britain. (84cent is roughly 56pence)

Exchange rate between Britain and Ireland means that I find the amount I spend roughly balances itself out during a stay with my family although Ireland is slightly more expensive now that it was before the euro.

 

[clive francis]

Tanto once bubbled...
Here in Italy I hear someone saying that everything doubled in price but salaries stayed the same every week or so. If that was true the country would be in a civil war, instead if you go out for dinner without a reservation you wait for hours, there are only new cars in the streets (more MERCEDES, BMW, AUDI that ever before), boats and ports are booming, everyone is talking on an expensive cell phone and everywhere in the world you go you find italians on holiday!
Truth is some prices went up, some went down, supply and demand is adjusting prices as always.
My salary didn't change, I didn't change my lifestyle, I can do the same things I was doing before and the mortgage for my house is cheaper.
Italians like to complain, but Italy wasn't cheap before the Euro either, plenty of things have always been cheaper elsewhere, "expensive" nations like England and USA included.
I think for most people it's more a matter of "lost identity" rather than a technical/economical issue.
I love the Euro, love having the same currency in many nice coutries I travel, love being able to exchange it everywhere in the world, love being able to easily compare prices, love having a much stronger currency.

you must be the only person who feels like that as every person i spoke to in the 2 months i spent in Bologna said prices doubled over night and italy is now more expensive.

i don't know how everyone has new cars and boats.

well i do everyone has it on tick (credit), as you don't get paid enough money to buy out right (they wanted to cut my £27K by 40% to bring it in line with Italian salaries!!)

italy is officially in recession which means the economy is well and truely up the creek without a paddle.

as for the prices of houses, they were more expensive in or close to the town than equivalent sized places where i live.

Lager (Beer) is the same if not more than the UK

Europe is no longer the cheap holiday option for the UK that is used to be

 

[Tanto]

clive francis once bubbled...
Europe is no longer the cheap holiday option for the UK that is used to be
[/B]

If you wanted to keep the cheap holiday option you should have joined the Euro in time, now the pound went down (good for your exports) and we italians we'll be spending more time in London!

We really need to think long term and beyond "national" to judge the Euro.
I told you, italians moan and complain all the time, but we're having a good life. Salaries, it's supply and demand there too, you make what you deserve based on the competition available.

Interesting that you were in Bologna, one of the best cities in Italy in terms of fun and good life (food, dance, culture, art, women ect).
Did you have a chance to discover what women from Bologna are famous for?

 

[fgray1]

The problem with the europeans is you think your entitled to everything. Your production rates are terrible. You think you have the right to have 6 weeks vacation a year, paid health care, paid sick leave, and about 8 paid holidays a year. An employer has to hire 10 people to get 5 that are willing to work. Then you add the taxes to all of that, a business man don't have a chance. You want the government to take care of you fron craddle to the grave. Thats why the cost of living went up in the past few years all across Europe. Progress requires sacifice and I found most europeans are not willing to sacifice anything. In the end you forget that the government doesn't make ,sell, or service anything that produces an income and makes a profit. So if they need more money they simply take it from the tax payers. This results in less money for the worker to spend, less procucts needed to be made, less people needed to make the product or services needed. Its a cycle that can only be fixed by you. I wish you the best in your future. Your going to need all the luck you can get. As for me I've lived in both Europe and the U.S. and I think the U.S. Wins hands Down.

 

[Tanto]

fgray1 once bubbled...
a business man don't have a chance.
.

Interesting...
A very simplicistic view embarassing even for a ten year old kid.
Sad how a debate over the Euro ends up "my country is better than yours".

And please stop considering all european dumb, we know we pay a lot of taxes, but we believe it is a sign of civilization that here the poor can get good hospital care instead of being dumped out of the hospital because he has no credit card or insurance.

And we don't need your wishes or any more luck than you do. Check the debt that the US accumulated in the past 20 years, see what happened to your industry, but most important, check the quality of life of the middle class and compare it to what you see here in europe.

And getting back to the Euro, what if all 50 states had different currencies?

 

[fgray1]

Did you read the part were I've lived in both places.
The main reason America is what it is, IS BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT WE STICK TOGETHER. Europeans hate each other, They hate their lifes and they hate America for what it has accomplished in just 200 years. The main problem with you guys is you live by the saying DON"T CONFUSE ME WITH THE FACTS MY MINDS MADE UP.

 

[Tanto]

I lived in both places too, I love America and I love Europe, with all the differences between the various peoples.
You may have lived here but you sure have confused ideas. Perhaps you should have spent more time here, or kept your eyes open, the ears open and the brain on.
You even think we are all the same, all think the same way, all have the same expectations... Seems to me oversimplified thoughts of a simple mind.
Plenty of europeans love the US, and all my american friends love europe. This at times when the US president is a plain idiot, which is still better than the embarassing dwarf tycoon soft-dictator criminal we have here.
You americans stick together no matter what? In how many states mixed marriage was a crime? Is that how you stick together?
Please spare me this childish BS!