Today I want to tell you a little bit and vent about the current situation we're experiencing in this country. It's no secret that Venezuela has been through difficult times, and despite everything, we always look for ways to move forward. But everything becomes more complicated than before because you have a little one who depends completely on you. The last severe economic crisis I remember was in 2016-2018, and I'm afraid of going back to those times. For now, there's plenty of food in the supermarkets, there are no purchasing limits or anything like that, but if everything continues like this, I'm too afraid of going back to those days where if you had money, there was almost nothing to buy, and if you didn't, you literally had to improvise and eat whatever you could. Those times left a trauma in me, and I don't want to relive that. Today I want to show you what I bought with $84, an amount that isn't easy to earn for a Venezuelan.
Although it has never been easy to SURVIVE in this country, these last few years have been “normal” with food prices a little more affordable, but for the last two months it has become too difficult. Prices have risen dramatically, making it almost impossible to buy all the food you need for the month. Even buying vegetables is often a difficult task because even that is very expensive. Today we bought a few things at a supermarket near my house. It should be noted that this purchase was not strictly for basic necessities, as I still have some food at home. It was more of a supplement and some "treats" that we wanted to give ourselves, and even so, there were still things we needed to buy.
Although I briefly thought $84 would be enough money, that wasn't the case. In fact, I was close to going over my budget. The most expensive items right now are powdered milk and meat or chicken. Followed by vegetables, the rest of the items are also expensive, but not as expensive as buying milk or chicken.
Chicken at this supermarket costs $4.39 per kilo, and the most disappointing thing is that when you defrost it for cooking, it's more ice than chicken. But I still had to buy it since it's practically indispensable in this house. I wanted to buy meat, but even the meat was more expensive than the chicken, so I couldn't afford it.
Whenever we go shopping, my son is happy and asks me for many things. It's hard to deny him when you like to pamper him and you know what it feels like to go shopping with Mom and not be able to choose something. He lives happily without knowing how much we suffer when we do the math, haha.
Vegetables always have a different price every time I go shopping. Prices rise excessively almost daily, which means I simply have to limit myself to buying two carrots, two bananas, four potatoes, and don't even get me started on fruit. It's almost impossible to buy apples, pears, and so on; they're very expensive.
It's truly a very difficult situation that fills me with worry every day, and even more so now that I'm unemployed. The most important time of the year for us is approaching, and I'm worried about not having the resources to spend a quiet Christmas at home. I've been looking for a job online but haven't been successful. I really need it because at this point, I highly doubt that making a living from art is my best option. In fact, it stopped being the best option a long time ago; I only draw as a hobby. And well, here I show you some of the things I managed to buy with $84.
Obviously, I also bought chicken, but I couldn't put it on the table because it was thawing, and as I mentioned, it wasn't all “basic” stuff because I still have some food left at home, but even so, I still needed to buy ham, sausages, and other cold cuts because I didn't have enough money. At this rate, I'll have to learn how to draw furries or do NPC Lives on TikTok, hahaha.