Shopping Spree

On my way home from bird-watching yesterday, I stopped at a neighborhood grocery store and bought the following:

• 2 boxes of cereal
• 2 1-litre cartons of fruit juice
• 1 can of powdered milk
• 1 package of chocolate cookies*
• A candy bar...OK, five candy bars*
  
  *Studies have shown that dark chocolate is good for heart patients!
  Unfortunately, these were white chocolate cookies and milk chocolate candy bars...

The total for this shopping spree was 17,700 West African francs (cfa). At today's exchange rate of 400 cfa to the dollar, that trip cost the equivalent of $44US! When I arrived in 2003, the same items would have cost about 15,000 francs. With an exchange rate that hovered around 550 cfa to the dollar, this was equivalent to only $27US (and that wasn't cheap--$5 to $7 per box of cereal!).

So, yesterday's shopping trip cost about $17 more than it would have 5 years ago. Rising prices account for about $5 (15% if I've done my math right). The drop in the dollar accounts for about $12 (30%, give or take).

This makes me all the more thankful for my church and the friends who donate to my support each month. I am financially solvent because of your generosity!