Shrinking Canadian dollar
Wondering how the state of the Canadian dollar will effect other Canadians travel plans. It has made our site rental jump from $3,200 American to a payment of $4,022.60 Canadian. ouch!
Forum Discussion
- Yes, the exchange rate is a bit of a pain, but at the current exchange rate there are still some offsets. On our return from the US last spring, I filled up with diesel at home and did the cost comparison factoring in the exchange rate, diesel in the US was still cheaper.
We also find that lower food prices in the US generally offset the exchange loss.
Yes, other stuff is more expensive, but even RV campsite costs are more favourable, I'm sitting in an RV park here in Canada at $40CDN/night, that would be $28US for a comparable US park with full services if I looked around almcc wrote:
These comparisons do more to reinforce having second thoughts than to alleviate them. Last spring the dollar was at or around ninety cents. Last night it was at $0.78 before what the bank charges. Our annual lot rent goes from $3,200 U.S to $4,160 Cdn. Every $1.00 worth of groceries goes to $1.30. The basic lower price is not in the 30% range to offset this.
Yes, the exchange rate is a bit of a pain, but at the current exchange rate there are still some offsets. On our return from the US last spring, I filled up with diesel at home and did the cost comparison factoring in the exchange rate, diesel in the US was still cheaper.
We also find that lower food prices in the US generally offset the exchange loss.
Yes, other stuff is more expensive, but even RV campsite costs are more favourable, I'm sitting in an RV park here in Canada at $40CDN/night, that would be $28US for a comparable US park with full services if I looked around- I try to not to worry about it. I snowbird in mexico where the Can dollar against the Peso has not changed. Trouble is some RV parks down there have the nasty habit of charging in US dollars.
her&I wrote:
almcc wrote:
These comparisons do more to reinforce having second thoughts than to alleviate them. Last spring the dollar was at or around ninety cents. Last night it was at $0.78 before what the bank charges. Our annual lot rent goes from $3,200 U.S to $4,160 Cdn. Every $1.00 worth of groceries goes to $1.30. The basic lower price is not in the 30% range to offset this.
Yes, the exchange rate is a bit of a pain, but at the current exchange rate there are still some offsets. On our return from the US last spring, I filled up with diesel at home and did the cost comparison factoring in the exchange rate, diesel in the US was still cheaper.
We also find that lower food prices in the US generally offset the exchange loss.
Yes, other stuff is more expensive, but even RV campsite costs are more favourable, I'm sitting in an RV park here in Canada at $40CDN/night, that would be $28US for a comparable US park with full services if I looked around
Yes, the conversion this morning is $0.77 but at my bank that's the rate (no extra bank charges).
If you are concerned about the C$ going lower you may want to buy US$ now and park them in a US$ account for next winter then use the money to pay CC charges, it works well with a US$ CC. We find that our stay in the US isn't a financial burden at current exchange rates, and we did survive the $0.67 C$ a few years ago! I'll bet that fuel will still be a bargain down there this winter.almcc wrote:
We also survived the $0.67 era but my fixed income value has eroded considerably since.her&I wrote:
almcc wrote:
These comparisons do more to reinforce having second thoughts than to alleviate them. Last spring the dollar was at or around ninety cents. Last night it was at $0.78 before what the bank charges. Our annual lot rent goes from $3,200 U.S to $4,160 Cdn. Every $1.00 worth of groceries goes to $1.30. The basic lower price is not in the 30% range to offset this.
Yes, the exchange rate is a bit of a pain, but at the current exchange rate there are still some offsets. On our return from the US last spring, I filled up with diesel at home and did the cost comparison factoring in the exchange rate, diesel in the US was still cheaper.
We also find that lower food prices in the US generally offset the exchange loss.
Yes, other stuff is more expensive, but even RV campsite costs are more favourable, I'm sitting in an RV park here in Canada at $40CDN/night, that would be $28US for a comparable US park with full services if I looked around
Yes, the conversion this morning is $0.77 but at my bank that's the rate (no extra bank charges).
If you are concerned about the C$ going lower you may want to buy US$ now and park them in a US$ account for next winter then use the money to pay CC charges, it works well with a US$ CC. We find that our stay in the US isn't a financial burden at current exchange rates, and we did survive the $0.67 C$ a few years ago! I'll bet that fuel will still be a bargain down there this winter.her&I wrote:
...We also survived the $0.67 era but my fixed income value has eroded considerably since.
I saw this first hand with my F&MIL. They didn't know about inflation and what it could do to a fixed retirement income over 20+ years.
What should be a little scary to our northern neighbors (and here also) is in the US we have been experiencing 10-15 years of very mild inflation. Once our Fed's start to raise interest rates, that trend will stop. If our inflation does goes up, and the exchange rate gets worst, that will be a perfect storm for some with a fixed income.- Somebody should beat this into the heads of RV park owners in Yuma, AZ. We have many Canadian friends in the winter and the dwindling dollar already made a big difference last season. Shorter stays and on top of that the out of country medical insurance costs.
bobsallyh wrote:
Please do not get me started on travel insurance. At least we can pay it in Canadian dollars and know what the cost actually is.
Somebody should beat this into the heads of RV park owners in Yuma, AZ. We have many Canadian friends in the winter and the dwindling dollar already made a big difference last season. Shorter stays and on top of that the out of country medical insurance costs.- The cost of food, gas & refreshments is so much less in the USA that should help some. Esp the low costs in Texas.
John&Joey wrote:
I took an early retirement full pension offer in July, 1996. It was a very good package at that time but there has been a lot of life lived since then and that amount has lost it's shine. Fuel was in the $2.98 CND a gallon on July 1, 1996 and it is $6.56 CND this morning. The 1996 average retail cost of a dozen eggs was $2.85 CDN and is $3.87 CND this morning. Add 24% in exchange rate and that fixed income sure looks meager.her&I wrote:
...We also survived the $0.67 era but my fixed income value has eroded considerably since.
I saw this first hand with my F&MIL. They didn't know about inflation and what it could do to a fixed retirement income over 20+ years.
What should be a little scary to our northern neighbors (and here also) is in the US we have been experiencing 10-15 years of very mild inflation. Once our Fed's start to raise interest rates, that trend will stop. If our inflation does goes up, and the exchange rate gets worst, that will be a perfect storm for some with a fixed income.
