source
Having 2 jobs is tiring as this is what I had to do for about a year whilst living in the UK. You do get used to it after a while, but it still sucks as bills need to be paid somehow.
I was speaking to an old work colleague this morning catching up as you do and she mentioned she is having to do extra things. She works in a normal office doing admin work but in the evenings is doing her second job running a mini travel agency for businessmen. She used to be a travel agent for various companies and is picking up those clients again so she can put her children through university. She mentioned she never received a salary increase last year and doesn't expect one this year either which is understandable, but still sucks.
I teased her saying that can't be great as travel is not exactly up and running properly just yet. Apparently many of her old clients have downsized their companies and has been inundated to take over what personal assistants were doing before Covid hit and were retrenched.
I have heard of many others doing extra jobs to try and maintain their current lifestyles as the cost of living has increased that much since lock downs started in March last year. Salaries haven't exactly kept up with inflation and we are all going backwards slowly.
Every time I visit the shops I am taken back with how much everything is now costing and this is no longer a joke. I read the US Dollar is expected to have a rough time after their printing press parties and was expecting the worst for our local Rand currency, but amazingly enough it has increased in value not only against the Dollar, but also the British Pound.
source
Currently at R13.53 to the Dollar which is remarkable considering we were at R19 this time last year. This I think tells it's own story on how weak the Dollar really is and not the strengthening of the Rand.
JOHANNESBURG- South Africa's rand firmed on Friday and looked set for weekly gains, thanks to a rise in commodity prices and a weakening U.S. dollar as investors turned to riskier but high-yielding assets.At 1530 GMT the rand was 1.16% firmer at 13.4725 per dollar, trading at a new 28-month high.
The rand rallied 2% this week and has gained more than 8% against the dollar this year so far.
With this information then why are imported products and especially fuel not coming down in price? We all know when something goes up in the shops it never comes back down again as that is now the normal price.
My business passes over the difference when our raw materials drop but have never seen it anywhere else. Fuel is a cost to businesses as everything needs to be delivered but the items are never reduced when fuel prices drop considerably.
I feel sorry for the majority of the population as when I hear of the middleclass taking on extra jobs to make ends meet then they must be really suffering. Unemployment here right now is at the highest it has ever been with many companies still in survival mode. Things are starting to look up though with more cars on the road plus I gauge by certain customers orders how big they are which normally tells e where the economy is. The one client does local and export orders and they are back to ordering the same volumes as before lockdown started.