Our changing fortunes

	This graph shows the changes in the exchange rate between the £ and the euro over a 10 year period. Actually, when we first came in 2004, the rate was even higher.
	This show the improvements made for us over the last year.

You can see the drastic effect that the financial crisis had on our finances from 2007 to the end of 2008 and imagine what an impact that meant for our living standard. Losing a third of our monthly income was hard, very hard. If there had been a corresponding drop in the cost of living it might have been OK but of course that did not happen.

This year things have slowly but steadily improved. We are not back to the heady heights of 2004 but at least we feel better off than we did at the start of 2014. Our hope is that the improvement continues. More to the point though,  we NEVER want to return to the dark days of 2007-09.