Our purchasing power has decreased significantly in recent years. Salaries are stagnating, the cost of living is increasing, and social and fiscal charges are weighing more and more on our budgets. Faced with this situation, many solutions exist to increase our purchasing power. We will examine together the ways to get out of it, but first, let’s go over in detail the causes that led to this catastrophic situation…

The decrease in purchasing power can be explained by several factors, which are the result of recent major crises. First, there was Covid, which had a great impact on the world economy, and more recently the war in Ukraine, which produced several disastrous effects. First of all, Russia was an important partner and an essential link in the distribution chain of our raw materials. By imposing an embargo, we have deprived ourselves of these precious raw materials, and more particularly of gas and oil on which we are extremely dependent. This has had the effect of increasing the price of gas and oil in Europe, but also the price of agricultural products such as wheat, soybeans, and barley, and at the same time increasing the price of meat for sheep and cattle, which is the main food.

As if this were not enough, Ukraine was also one of our main suppliers of wheat, potatoes, and barley. Faced with this unprecedented crisis, in order to help consumers and cushion inflation, the government imposed a tariff shield on basic necessities, which, in addition to its participation in the war effort in Ukraine, resulted in an increase in state spending. This increase in the budget has led to stagnation of wages, inflation of prices of basic necessities, increased tax and social charges and the number of unemployed. This situation weighs heavily on French households, and in particular on the most modest, hence the origin of the current social crises.

To counter the decrease in our purchasing power, several solutions exist. First of all, it is possible to reduce expenses by adopting more responsible purchasing habits, for example by comparing prices and opting for cheaper products. It is also possible to generate additional income by working part-time, investing in profitable projects, or developing an entrepreneurial activity. It may also be time to question one’s profession, either by aspiring to a higher position or by simply changing careers…

One way to do this is to invest in training that will fit our free time and budget, no matter how small. There are many ways to get training today. If you don’t want to immerse yourself in book-based training, which can be difficult, there is first of all synchronous training, provided by teachers in person or now increasingly at a distance, through broadcasting platforms such as Team or Skype, to name but two. However, it should be noted that even if the price of the second method is more affordable than the first one, you will not fail to have schedule constraints, but also significant costs that could limit the use you could make of it.

In parallel to synchronous training, asynchronous training is increasingly emerging as a solution for those who want to free themselves from imposed training schedules and, above all, who have a more modest budget. Many offers on the market coexist and are differentiated mainly by adapted learning methods. First, there are e-learning courses that use the principle of recorded video, which are therefore not very interactive (Udemy, LinkedIn), and others that offer much more interactive training, with interactions that simulate face-to-face training. Among the latter, we will mention the eduenligne site whose courses are interactive and multimedia, and whose prices are more than affordable.

We have reviewed a few solutions that we hope will help you get through the current crisis and look to the future with more serenity. No solution is perfect, and it’s up to each of us to find the one that suits us best, the important thing being the achievement of the goals we set for ourselves.

J. Goffinet, web editor