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Nov. 17, 2007 Most American daily lives aren't affected by the exchange rate. Not so, if you happen to be an American living in France off US Dollars. American expats living in France while earning their money in the States are rather hard hit these days by the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Euro. Not only is the dollar taking a steady dive, the Euro is getting stronger. The result makes for an even steeper drop in the US dollar against the euro and a painful result for those of us living in France while living off the US dollar. I'm a self-employed single mom who moved to France for two reasons. First, it was always my dream to live in France. Secondly, my teenage daughter is French and American. Although she's always lived in the States, it's always been my intention to move to France when she was still a child so that she would become fluent in the language, culture and politics. On Sept 9th, 2006, we finally made the big move. When we arrived the exchange rate was around .77 on the dollar. That meant each $100 US dollar was worth 77 euros or every $1000 US dollars is worth $770 US dollars. I knew the exchange rate when we moved here. I was willing to bite the bullet and take the loss as it was still a gain. We still got to live in the South of France. My daughter still got to go to a French school, learn French culture, become fluent in French and become introduced to French politics and the French way of life. More than a year has passed. My daughter is fluent in French, we've moved to a higher region in France where we're experiencing snow and the dollar is continuing to drop. In fact, it's dropping lower than it's ever been against the Euro and hitting other lows that it hasn't seen since the 70s. Now my dollar is worth .68 to the euro. That means $100 is worth 68 euro or $1000 is worth $680 euro. Spending 45 euro at the grocery market is the same as spending just over $65. Spending 13.50 euros at the movie theatre is the same as spending nearly $20. If I earned euros the exchange rate would affect me, unless I vacationed in the States and then the weak dollar would help. The problem is that I don't earn euros. I earn dollars. I have a business in the States that I run from here, in France, which means my overall income decreases each time the dollar falls or the euro rises. Both dynamics are in play at the moment. One of the ways I've dealt with the declining dollar is that I've expanded my business so that I also do business in other parts of the world (besides the US), like the UK and the EU. A low exchange rate for the US means that US products for foreigners are cheaper. This means more foreigners can afford to purchase US good - like Ford and GM. Yes, I see a lot more American made cars here than before. The declining dollar also helps the American tourism market. Everything is cheaper for UK and EU residents in the States. For a long time, the dollar was strong which made US travel difficult of prohibitive for many Western Europeans. That has changed with the decrease in the US dollar against the euro. So while there are some benefits to a lower dollar against the euro, those benefits don't help people like me who make a living off US dollars and live in France, or those Americans who live off their US retirement and live in France. There are more and more people in the world who make their living exclusively online. This allows for more and more people to live anywhere they desire, as long as it's not prohibitively expensive, and they can find an internet hook-up. I'm grateful for learning how to work exclusively online. It has a lot of benefits and has allowed me freedoms and opportunities I would not otherwise have. And now, with this steadily decreasing dollar, I'm allowed the opportunity to discover new growth and avenues for my business. Like Sophie always says, I can find a silver lining to anything. Other Exchange Rate Articles How the Declining Dollar Affects European Travel The Exchange Rate: Travel in Barcelona The European Exchange Rate and travel in Berlin, Germany The Dollar Drops Again! How the Exchange Rate Affects European Travel Thanks! | 
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