About Me
- Kristi
- The Boy, 2 Muttleys and I have finally realized our dream of living 1 mile from the Lindt Chocolate Factory. Leaving Atlanta (the World of Coke) for Zurich (the World of Chocolate) hasn't come without challenges, incredible fun or giggles. Follow along as I chronicle our adventures as we acclimate to this new Swiss lifestyle.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
My Turn to State the Obvious
So a subject that has been beaten to death, smacked around and put through the proverbial wringer by Swiss Expats, is how expensive Switzerland is. Depending on the wind currents in any given year, Switzerland consistently falls somewhere in the top 10 most expensive places to live in; which means the World, the Planet, and technically the Universe, that is unless you believe in Aliens with Champagne tastes and caviar dreams. For some reason I can't get the image of ET driving a Bentley wagging his really long, lit finger while listening Notorious B.I.G's "Mo Money, Mo Problems". I need help...seriously.
Economics in its simplest form tells you why, the more money a country and its people have, the more expensive the cost of goods and services are. Switzerland trails Norway with the second largest GDP in Europe, minimum wage garners you an impressive 40,000 Francs per year (give or take) and taxes are some of the lowest in the world. I get the Economics thang, but it doesn't make my 50 rappen Ibuprofen go down any easier. I am not exaggerating and if anything I rounded down, but I bought a 10 pack of double-strength Ibuprofen for 10.80 Francs. I can get 200 Ibuprofen in the States for less than that. Just taking a 50 rappen Ibuprofen gives me a headache.
Before I even stepped on Swiss soil, I made peace with the fact it would be astonishingly more expensive here. For the most part I have maintained this inner peace, but yesterday when I received a bill for our Annual Doggy Tax which worked out to be 10 times higher than what we paid in Atlanta, I found the nearest corner, slid into a fetal position and started sucking my thumb...all at the risk of reversing my orthodontic work.
Is EVERYthing more expensive here? Well, sorta but not entirely. To keep my sanity and my inner peace, I am constantly searching for a Swiss Bargain and while this is a phrase that typically falls into the "oxymoronic" category, once in a while something can cost less than in the US:
1. Chocolate and Cheese: Well freakin duh, but pound for pound...quality chocolate and cheese are both less expensive here than in the States. Sure you can get processed cheese and Hershey Chocolate (Sorry PA, but Hershey Kisses are more like chocolate farts to me) for less, but you can definitely score here with quality chocolate and cheese. I recently went to a friends house for a dinner party and she had the most amazing Swiss double or triple cream cheese I have ever tried. She paid 9 Francs and it could easily have cost twice that in the States.
2. Wine: In my humble opinion, and many may disagree with me on this subject, I think an 8 Franc bottle of wine is typically of better quality than a $8 bottle from the States. The lack of import fees on European wines likely have something to do with this. The impact of import fees can be seen in how comically expensive crappy American wines are here.
3. Electric: We have only gotten one bill for electric in the 5 months we have lived here and it was $100. Compared to what we paid in the states, this is peanuts.
4. Garbage: The Swiss do garbage different. Instead of billing you for monthly pick up, you pay roughly 1.60-2 Francs per 35L bag. When you first discover this "pay for what you actually use" system, it seems borderline insane to pay close to 2 Francs for a garbage bag. BUT, if you recycle properly, push the garbage down daily and ignore the creeping stench towards Day 6, you can get away with one bag per week. For us, garbage pick up works out to be just under 8 Francs per month which is about half of what we paid in Atlanta.
5. Fruit and Veg: Now, I am treading on thin ice here but again when you consider quality, the fruit and veg at your run of the mill food store is better and cheaper than in the States for in season produce. Out of season and/or organic produce is cheaper in the States.
6. Water: If you buy bottled water in Switzerland, well then you are throwing your hard earned money away. Bye bye rainbow colored pretty Swiss Money. You are too pretty to be in my wallet. The water from the tap is ice cold and free of any chemical taste, precisely what you are paying Evian or Dasani for.
7. Cable and High Speed Internet: We pay less for cable and internet here, 85 Francs vs $115 per month, but the rub is we can't understand 3/4 of what is broadcast on our TV. Most channels are in a different language, so technically you could argue cable is way more expensive here based on number of channels an English speaker can actually use...but on paper, it is cheaper here.
Anything produced, manufactured, packaged, herded or imported can easily be 2-10 times more expensive here. But don't cry for me Argentina, I knew this going in and it is the price we chose to pay for an amazingly rich experience. If I have one really cheap grain of advice for anyone considering a move here, do your best to come to terms with this harsh reality before you come over. Otherwise, you won't be able to see what this country truly has to offer through your blinders of rage .
And with that, any other Swiss Bargains out there that I have not yet discovered?
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5 comments:
Totally awesome post.
I think weirdly enough saffron is cheaper here. It seems like you pay about 15 USD or more for a teeny tiny packet in the US and much much less than that for a larger packet here. Too bad I don't ever use it :)
I have to disagree on the wine. There is import tax (14.50 CHF per liter pure alcohol) and monopoly tax. I'd love to cost compare, same to same, across the border. I suspect we are paying significantly more for imported wines from the EU than can be accounted for by the currency difference.
http://www.eav.admin.ch/themen/00515/index.html?lang=en
http://www.austrade.gov.au/Wine-to-Switzerland/default.aspx
The US wine pricing system is of course crazy, thanks to the bizarre monopoly position given distributors after prohibition was repealed.
Just go to Oslo/Norway and Switzerland becomes cheap again :-) I once paid for a burger in a pub in Karl Johans Gatan around CHF 25 (without fries, vegetable or drink)...
hmmmm... i do agree on the cheese and chocolate, although i find the chocolate here to be too rich and milky. i do love Hershey's, so we have different tastes there. after having shopped at Costco's, i disagree on the fruit and veggie prices, but i do find swiss food to be more fresh. i also love that the expiration date on meat is 2 days! at first i thought i was buying bad flesh but now i think they may not treat it with chemicals to keep it fresh, which i like. vanilla beans are a bargain here. also, eyeglasses are great. and i have recently found a fantastic dentist that was 95% cheaper than my NYC quotes. ah, and cookie cutters are not cheaper but they ARE more amazing.
i find that being unemployed in zürich sucks and that simply means i have to get myself out there and find some work.
oh, and the cable and high speed may be cheaper, but most buildings can't get HD channels. it's like living in the early 90s.
Kathy, so funny you mentioned Saffron because the day I posted this a classmate had a package of it. It was labeled 4chf and I about fell out of my chair. That is dirt cheap compared to the States.
Cristoph, I have been to Norway and I totally agree it is the most expensive place I have been to. Reason being, it is likely the one European country more rich than Switzerland. There for economics at work...earn more, pay more.
Melania, I agree that being unemployed isn't optimal. I plan on getting out there shortly myself!
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