There’s no such thing as a free lunch, especially when inflation’s involved. Inflation in the Netherlands, my home country, has spiked to a surreal 17.1%.
Warmth
I’ve recently been allowed to sleep in an attic at a friend’s house. There is no heating, but there couldn’t be given the exorbitant energy prices. I thank God that I get to sleep in a room, many are not so lucky. With luck, I’ll be able to sleep there in the coming months.
I can’t be there during the day because the neighbors might notice. It is illegal to sleep here. My friend could lose her house if they found out.
In the evening, I sneak upstairs and stop by my friend’s front door to download files from her Wifi. I enter the room quietly and crawl under the horse blankets: it’s warm in there.
I then endlessly listen to podcasts on Fountain, so I don’t have to think for myself and earn a few satoshis. I don’t fall asleep until around three o’clock and wake up at five o’clock. I have trouble falling asleep because of my worries, but I do fall asleep and wake up broken at seven o’clock.
When I wake up, the day has already been ruined, and I have a difficult time getting going. But I do. I wash with a washcloth and bucket water. Silently, so that the neighbors do not hear.
I wonder how I will survive this winter. I am not alone, my friend cried when she got her energy bill last week. I promised her to pay some money, but we both know I got nothing.
Energy
I eat bread for breakfast, but this is becoming increasingly difficult as everything becomes more expensive. Because of the energy crisis, bakeries are even closing. Fortunately, for the time being, I get a lot of food.
I will do anything to avoid spending money. I still have to spend practically all my money for another year and a half (548 days) before I am out of debt. Things go the way they go. I survive minute by minute, day per day.
I go to my addresses all day long. I can come here for something to eat, a cup of coffee, and if I really lose it: a shower. I usually flee to the library across the street as soon as possible for warmth and electricity for my phone.
I read the free newspapers, sometimes check Twitter, and get panicky about the state of the world, the crisis, everything. Social media gets me more restless and too much always gives stress and frustration.
I hope the libraries stay open, you don’t know with all that’s happening in the world. To save energy, I can easily imagine them closing the library or, at the very least, turning off the lights and heating.
I need free energy but I know that nothing in this life is free. I’m afraid of energy blackouts.
Food
My day consists of anxiously working and waiting. I sell newspapers outside or work part-time in a back office: the inflation eats the little money I make. I’m ashamed to admit that I occasionally beg for money or worse.
But people are so caught up in their own problems that they don’t even notice me anymore. My rescuers are always elderly ladies, they don’t buy my homeless paper but give me paper money or groceries (Deodorant and expensive women’s products are especially useful because they are out of my price range).
I don’t know what will happen. I prefer to retreat into myself. Wishing not to be there anymore. I simply turn myself off like a robot and fast forward to something better.
Because of the crazy inflation, the money is evaporating before my eyes. It‘s especially painful when shopping for groceries. “Inflation reduces your debts,” they claim. So far, I haven’t noticed anything. Everything is becoming more expensive, and my paycheck is disappearing due to collection agencies that always know where to find me.
I occasionally get a cheap sandwich or some leftovers for lunch; a friend uses ToogoodtoGo for cheap food; she usually pays. I now cook in groups as well. Everyone brings ingredients so that we can cook for a few days and then divide the food. Some people in my group are afraid of hunger, while others are simply lonely and prefer to talk rather than eat.
Everything is so uncertain. I feel empty and my life sucks. When I go for a walk in the park after my work, I feel a little better. The sun is still shining brightly. Leaves fall to the ground and dogs bark. I’m not thinking about myself or the void that stares at me. I continue to breathe.
I desperately try to bring in sats, about 500 sats every day. I use several apps to accomplish this for as long as I can charge my phone. I’m trying to save for a future dream, though I’m not sure what that dream looks like anymore. What dreams remain if the entire world is shattered?
Only a room, food, warmth, and energy.
Homeless Mokum
I am homeless in Amsterdam. I am rebuilding my life with Lightning and Bitcoin. If you want please donate some sats:
Thank you all so much, so thankfull!
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+10000
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Sorry for your troubles. Are there other people from Amsterdam here on SN? I'm curious to learn more about the current situation there.
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I do know about the Netherlands. You can somewhat soothe your friend by telling her that in November en December she will get €190 from the government, and starting 2023 the prices of electricity and gas are by law not allowed to go about a certain amount [1].
If she has a low income than she can also get €1300 this year and again next year to help her pay the bills.
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Yay price controls. Leads to lines and shortages. Yay free printed money to drive more inflation.
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As I understand it, the Dutch government will spend about € 23 billion on price limits.
Which means they will need to borrow more, for higher rates. Which in the long run the tax payer will have to pay for one way or the other 🫠🙄
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Government "solutions" for problems they created.
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Good man ! Support..
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seriously, awesome community, support +1 !
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+1000 Keep fighting ! Never give up, Bitcoin will protect you.
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @nym 20 Apr
If they bought Bitcoin it would have protected them during this time.
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Keep writing and don’t lose hope.
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+65000 Get yourself something to eat, stay safe. You will make it through this.
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Your story is so raw and heartbreaking to read, I grew up in one of the poor neighbourhoods in South Africa, during apartheid, and while we were poor, we never felt destitute, because we were all in it together, you don't realise you're poor because everyone around you is the same, yes some are better off than others, but the range isn't that wide.
You're not exposed to people of wealth or atleast I wasn't until I got older, and you get to see what the divide looks like. Having to deal with it on your own is an entirely different ball game.
The survival strategies are completely different and it sounds like since the Netherlands is not as "lawless" as here, we can get away with a lot of things we call backyard farming, where you set up a place in your yard and rent it cheaply to people. It's illegal but no ones going to enforce the rules here, so people do as they like

Inflation

Inflation "eroding your debt' only really works if you're a company or institute that has consistently growing cash flows or you can now raise cheaper debt and offset that with asset appreciation, for the average person inflation doesn't make your debt easier to pay because your income is capped so take that one with a pinch of salt
Inflation does also work for you IF you're earning in another currency, so lets say my friends in Zimbabwe, are willing to work for South African Rands because it eats into their debt they raised back home much faster. But if you're earning in the currency you're financed in, not much of a difference for the average borrower.
I wish you all of the best and hope your commitment to stacking sats does pay off in the future.
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+5000
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @pi 9 Oct 2022
In Berlin, Germany, all lights are off at night, to save energy.
In the UK, small businesses are closing at a rapid pace, due to unsustainable energy prices.
Stay strong!
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Here in the United States office buildings stay lit all night long and on the weekends with no employees in these other than maintenance crews. While our power company has sent us letters stating that they will pay us to curb our power consumption during peak times. It's all nonsense. Power stations produce the same exact amount of power and you can't CONSERVE it. There are demand times and that's because of data centers harvesting data and demand for HVAC in winter or summer.
Government and big businesses will waste power anyway while you are allowed to tap in at their whim.
Having recently visited Amsterdam Airport to enter the European Union I can easily see the power consumption inside and I also see the cellphone power stations in need of repair.
My advice to anyone including myself is to pray and get as close to God as possible. God has unlimited resources and whatever we get from God should be given to God by acknowledging that it's his and we are grateful for the gift. This will increase your ability to serve and you will enjoy life as a conduit for The Supreme Godhead!
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This is so sad :(
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Now, SN, imagine what the stories of all the Africans and other third-world dwellers are.
If it brings a hope of solving these issues, Bitcoin is the most important thing happening in the world right now.
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Check out this https://microlancer.io/ for stacking sats with microtasks
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This is scammy.
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