🍫 Easter Eggs Doubling in Price in 2025 + 💻 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 it’s talking about Easter Eggs!) but for some reason it didn’t send 🤷🏽‍♂️. I’ll do an extra catch up newsletter over the next week to make up for the missed one.

You know when you’re in class and someone asks a question and you go:

• “Oh, I was going to ask that” or,

• “Oh, I didn’t have that question before, but now I want to know the answer to it”

That’s what this is supposed to be like (but with money stuff, not English or Biology).

The format of this newsletter is simple:

• 3 questions from teenagers and young adults like you and my answers.

• 💬🤔 Got your own question about money that you want to ask? If you send it through this week there’s a good chance you’ll get an answer next week! You can submit it here (and it can be totally anonymous if you prefer 🙂).

• To find out why this newsletter exists (and a little about me), you can read the FAQs.

---

A quick reminder…

🔒 Money Chats now has some content just for those who have upgraded their subscriptions:

• 📌 This post about Sam Kerr’s paycheck is an example. 

• 📌 This one about Taylor Swift tickets and ‘Brand Taylor’ is another. 

• 📌 And this once a month ‘Best Of’ newsletter is another.

• 📌 Upgraded subs also get full access to a searchable archive of all 40+ posts and 120+ questions from all past editions of Money Chats.

Also, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has upgraded their sub so far. The messages you’ve sent through when you’ve upgraded have made my day every time I’ve received them 😄.

---

Your Questions & Answers

• 🍫 Why are Easter Eggs so Expensive This Year?

• 💻 Why are Software Jobs so Highly Paid?

• How Do You Get ‘Good’ at Money Stuff?

🍫 Why are Easter Eggs so Expensive This Year?

Q. “I think Easter Eggs and Bunnies and stuff are so much more expensive this year. What’s going on?

-Dayna, 16, Vic

Answer

Hey Dayna, look, I’ve got some bad news for you. If you think they’re expensive now, you’re 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 what’s called ‘concentration’ in economic terms.

• And it means that if cocoa crop production in one, or both of these countries gets negatively affected, there’s less cocoa to supply the world market.

• And when there is less supply, but demand stays the same, prices go up.

That’s what’s 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 don’t raise prices, they won’t make any money (profits).

Businesses exist to make profits. So they’re going to raise their prices. A lot.

So Easter next year is going to be more expensive than this year.

I hope that explains what’s going on with the cost of your Easter chocolate this year and what’s probably going to happen next year!

---

💻 Why are Software Jobs so Highly Paid?

Q. “I’m 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 I’m getting suggested don’t have anywhere near that pay. Why do those jobs get paid so much more?

-Hugh, 16, Brisbane

Answer

Hey Hugh, this is a fantastic question…

---

• The rest of this newsletter including the other 2 Q&A’s are available to paid subscribers.

• 📆🚨Only in April 2024: if you originally signed up for a free sub in 2023, then you can upgrade your sub for a one-time offer of just $5 per month (billed annually).

• No need to do anything, the 50% discount will appear for those who are eligible.

You can see your options by clicking this button: