IntroIntro

Since October last year, I started tracking expenses we were able to pay with sats. At least for some items I expect we'll keep buying well into the future. That's where this series started.

This is the 5th installation of the series. It's designed to show how our purchasing power changes for stuff we buy with sats. (Link to previous post: PSI Part 4, Feb 2026).

This time, in addition to the usual monthly changes, we finally have enough numbers to see QoQ changes. Let's go!

Background, LimitationsBackground, Limitations

I want to only track items we actually paid for with sats. In South Africa, where we spend part of each year, that is possible in many ways. However, we also spend considerable amounts of time outside of SA, living nomadically.

More on what that means for this series later.

The Numbers, NaoThe Numbers, Nao

Monthly Sats InflationMonthly Sats Inflation

Units: Electricity in kWh, water in kilo liters, phone data in Gb, fuel and milk in liters.

Inflation in terms of sats has been mixed this month. Water hasn't had any reference in Feb, so the change shown is since January. I suspect it would have been slightly negative for March if we had bought water last month, but to be clear: that is just speculation.

Long story short, we've actually seen our purchasing power increase for the first time in a while. That's something, and made me smile a bit after getting battered for quite a while now.

QoQ Sats InflationQoQ Sats Inflation

Units (as above): Electricity in kWh, water in kilo liters, phone data in Gb, fuel and milk in liters.

Prices represent the average paid across each quarter.

Well, this summarizes the pain we've all witnessed as our beloved fiat shitcoins kept buying more and more bitcoin. It sure isn't pretty, but also a reminder that bitcoin isn't only number-go-up.
But, despite the purchasing power bloodbath, we can spot some nuance. What stands out to me is how comparatively little our cost for water increased and the same for fuel to a lesser degree.
I should point out this was before the shenanigans in Iran started. I'm fairly confident that relative gap for fuel could close rather quickly.

SummarySummary

I'm very happy for the little breather from continuous inflation. Sure, QoQ shows the cumulative pain which is real. But then again, it's also part of the journey when you try to live off sats.
We're living this way for a reason and won't complain about the bad spells when the majority of our long-term experience has been so good.

What's Next?What's Next?

We already left South Africa late March. Our plan sees us return around October or November. That means this post will likely be the last "official" post of the series until we return to SA.

This year, our travel plans will take us through parts of Europe and Asia. None of the places are exactly known for being good spots to spend sats.
However, I will post sporadic updates if we happen to discover merchants from whom we can buy comparable stuff with sats.

What Happens to the Series?What Happens to the Series?

I thought long and hard, but decided against tracking fiat purchases and converting them back to sats for this series. For two reasons.

First, I want this series to be about sats inflation. Not hypothetical sats inflation. The latter can be had with any price chart and a supermarket receipt. The former should feel, and be, more real.

Secondly, it's quite likely we won't have enough comparable items. We likely won't buy fuel at all. Neither water, and electricity is unlikely too. That only leaves milk and phone data where regional price differences will have far more of a price impact even when measured in sats than providing actual signal.

I'll rather pop in if I come across some places where I can spend sats and make comparisons on the fly. My hope is in a few years from now, we'll be able to buy in far more locations. Heck, maybe this series even still exists by that time!

On the plus side, when we return to SA towards Q4, we will likely have to stay for at least one year for administrative reasons to do with regaining/maintaining citizenship status. It's complicated and I won't bore you with the details, but in effect, it means we're likely to be "stuck" for a minimum of 12 months, likely more, almost continuously.

So the official part of the series is only paused until we return. Which we will. Meanwhile, I will try my level best to unearth more sat spending opportunities on the road to have at least some numbers to provide some comparisons until then.

Thank YouThank You

Thank you for the support and interest so far. Again, this isn't the end. But it is a good time to say thanks for reading. It really helps when you're not writing stuff for the void only. xD

1. No purchase made, so no data. In case of monthly gaps, change is measured against the last available set of prices. ↩