A Subway meal of a footlong turkey, chips and a drink would cost between seven and eight bucks in the US.
At the end of March, when the dollar was trading at about parity with 100 yen, I finally bit the bullet and took my mother in law up on her offer to loan me money to pay back my student loans. I’d been paying on those onerous fuckers for over seven years, eating transfer fees that took about 10% off the top, and enduring currency trades of about ¥120 : $1 since individuals don’t get anywhere close to bank exchange rates. Before the exchange rates went so low, I would have had to borrow more money from her to get them paid off completely, like a few thousand dollars more.
I still owe money, but it’s interest-free, and I have no bank fees or exchange fees to skim off the top of my remittance.
Buying stuff from the US is a bit cheaper now too, but the shipping is still a factor, so unless it’s not available here it’s still usually better to get it locally.