đ« Easter Eggs Doubling in Price in 2025 + đ» High Salary Software Jobs + Getting 'Good' at Money Stuff
The money stuff that you wish they taught in school
A quick apology, this was scheduled to send on Tuesday last week (which is why itâs talking about Easter Eggs!) but for some reason it didnât send đ€·đœââïž. Iâll do an extra catch up newsletter over the next week to make up for the missed one.
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Your Questions & Answers
đ« Why are Easter Eggs so Expensive This Year?
đ» Why are Software Jobs so Highly Paid?
How Do You Get âGoodâ at Money Stuff?
đ« Why are Easter Eggs so Expensive This Year?
Q. âI think Easter Eggs and Bunnies and stuff are so much more expensive this year. Whatâs going on?
-Dayna, 16, Vic
Answer
Hey Dayna, look, Iâve got some bad news for you. If you think theyâre expensive now, youâre not going to like what happens next year. So between last year and this year, chocolate prices are up about 10% which means that your $8 pack of hunting eggs (seriously, how good are hunting eggs) was $8.80 this year.
But next year, that same box is predicted to be $16.
Yeah. Double. Not good hey.
The reason is pretty simple.
Chocolate relies on one really big ingredient to make it: cocoa.
Cocoa comes from cocoa beans. Cocoa is a tricky crop. It can only be grown in a small number of places in the world where the conditions are just right.
So more than half of the entire supply of cocoa beans in the world come from just two countries: Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
That is whatâs called âconcentrationâ in economic terms.
And it means that if cocoa crop production in one, or both of these countries gets negatively affected, thereâs less cocoa to supply the world market.
And when there is less supply, but demand stays the same, prices go up.
Thatâs whatâs happened in 2024.
In those two countries a really nasty combination of bad weather, trees that are getting older (and producing less cocoa) and agricultural pests and diseases have all occured over the last year. The result? Far less cocoa is being produced.
Cocoa prices for next year are already double what the long-term average is. And the companies like Cadbury and Mars Inc and Lindt that make chocolate have to buy that cocoa if they want to make product to sell. But if they donât raise prices, they wonât make any money (profits).
Businesses exist to make profits. So theyâre going to raise their prices. A lot.
So Easter next year is going to be more expensive than this year.
I hope that explains whatâs going on with the cost of your Easter chocolate this year and whatâs probably going to happen next year!
đ» Why are Software Jobs so Highly Paid?
Q. âIâm good at school, but mostly at writing-based subjects. A bunch of my friends are good at maths and engineering type subjects. And the careers counsellor is telling them all about these great high-paying software programming jobs that they can apply for if they do certain courses at uni. The jobs and careers Iâm getting suggested donât have anywhere near that pay. Why do those jobs get paid so much more?
-Hugh, 16, Brisbane
Answer
Hey Hugh, this is a fantastic questionâŠ
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