There are many things that threaten my online income. However, none of them are as big a threat as this killer. No, I’m not talking about Google bitch slapping me – that’s nothing compared to this. I’m not talking about getting banned from any ad networks either – I don’t allow any ad networks to account for more than 30% of online income.
In the past five years, this killer has cost me hundred of thousands of dollars in lost income and the worst part is, I have no control over it and there is really nothing I can do about it. You see, I get paid in US dollars and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that US dollar is turning into a Mexican Peso against other world currencies. If I lived in the US, this wouldn’t matter as much but I live in Canada and have to convert my US dollars into CAD to pay for stuff here. Each time I convert, I get less and less because the US dollar is in the toilet.
My last currency exchange was done at $1.018 CAD for $1.00 US. What the hell is happening to America? How can the most powerful country in the world let their dollar drop like this? I remember the good old days when my CAD dollar was call the Canadian Peso and I would get $1.60 CAD for ever $1.00 US. It was awesome to give the bank a $10,000 US check and have them credit $16,000 CAD into my account. When I do that today, I get $10,180.
This wouldn’t be so bad if the cost of living in Canada wasn’t higher than in the US (add in the fact that I live in the most expensive city in Canada). It would also be nice if businesses that import their stuff from the US start to lower their prices, but they don’t. The price differences on cars are now huge! For example, a new Porsche 911 Turbo cost $123,000 US ($127,000 CAD at today’s exchange). Walk into MCL Motorcars and they want $177,000 CAD for it. I told MCL I could save $50K by buying the car from the US and importing it to Canada. They said Porsche would not honor the warranty. I said $50K pays for a lot of repairs!
At the rate things are going, the Canadian dollar will be worth more than the US by the end of this year (or sooner). I believe reversing the US dollar’s fortune is going to take an administration change, which should have happened three years ago. I couldn’t believe Bush got re-elected.
For those of you living outside the US and getting paid in US funds, how has to decline of the US dollar affected you? It’s costing me a fortune.