Two years ago, recently after I began working at Iceland Review, I wrote about November being the month of shopping spree in Iceland (and later expanded on the topic in my “Manic Buyers” column). Since many people find November dark and depressing they get a thrill out of traveling to foreign cities for a long weekend, buying Christmas presents and filling up the wardrobes of the entire family.

This they could do with a clear conscience because everything used to be so cheap abroad compared to Iceland’s prices at home. Only one year ago I was in Boston and one dollar was around 60 Icelandic krónur. At the same time, one euro was worth between 80 and 90 krónur. That currency rate was perfect for Icelandic shoppers—everything was so cheap!

Suddenly our world has been turned upside down. Not only has our dear króna become worthless, but the raging inflation is burning up the little money we do have. That is, if we have any money at all. Most Icelanders only have debt, which steadily grows with the inflation (most Icelandic household debt like housing mortgages is indexed to the CPI). And to make matters worse, the price of groceries (which are mainly imported and therefore at the whim of exchange rates) and everything else shoots up when the króna collapses and inflation remains high (almost 15 percent at the moment).

So there won’t be any shopping outings for us this coming November. We can’t afford the flight and even if we did, we wouldn’t be saving anything by shopping abroad with such a weak króna. One dollar has more than doubled in one year compared to the króna and one euro is now worth over 170 krónur. Even with the locked currency, it won’t drop lower than ISK 130 (and such attempts have now been abandoned anyway).

So what do we do now? How do we get through the upcoming dark and depressing November? Well, I guess we could light a candle, have a cup of hot chocolate and listen to some good music—like the new album by Emilíana Torrini—and come up with ways of creating cheap but thoughtful homemade Christmas presents. This year quite a few people will get a jar of my debut version of redcurrant jelly (shhhh, don’t tell!).

Also, you could come and cheer us up. Instead of us traveling abroad for Christmas shopping, why don’t you come here and do yours? With the collapse of the króna, shopping in Iceland has never been so cheap, probably even cheaper than in your home country. Just imagine, one dollar and one euro will buy you twice as much as it did only one year ago. Hey, even eating and drinking out has become cheap for you!

Ever wanted a traditional Icelandic lopapeysa sweater? Ever admired Icelandic design? If you have, now is the time to start buying, because we will manage to solve this economic crisis eventually, and Iceland will become as expensive as it has always been.

Wouldn’t it be nice to take a stroll down Laugavegur (Reykjavík’s main shopping street) on a dark November’s day, do some shopping and then have a taste of Icelandic Christmas at the next jólahladbord Christmas buffet? Then you could join a quest for the Northern Lights and before you leave the country, soak in an outdoor swimming pool or natural hot spring and feel the stress drain from your body while the wind is howling overhead. If you’re lucky there will even be enough snow already to go skiing.

Try being an Icelander for a few days—a manic buyer marveling over how cheap everything is away from home—while watching us uncharacteristically not spending a dime on anything. We will welcome you with your foreign currency. As far as I understand, that’s just what we need these days.

So what do you say? Are you up for a reversed shopping spree?

ESA – eyglo@icelandreview.com

P.S. In light of recent developments, may I just add: "Oh! Darling. Please believe me. I'll never do you no harm." (Imagine Iceland's Minister of Finance Árni M. Mathiesen singing to British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling in honor of Lennon’s birthday yesterday. And of course, imagine peace.)