Canadian Dollar

[slickest1]

Here I sit at home (B.C.) this winter and did not go south (AZ.).
There are a few reasons the low Canadian Dollar being one.

I was sitting and looking out the window at the snow we don't usually get much of and what do I see? Robins 4 of them. I have never seen Robins around here at this time of the year.
The Canadian Dollar is so low that even the Robins aren't going south!!
To all that are in warm places ENJOY!!

[colliehauler]

Motels and airlines do it all the time. It's better to make a small profit then no profit. I seriously doubt that they would rent a site for below their cost. I would say they are very business savvy.

[almcc]

happycamper002 wrote:

almcc wrote:

...The other thing we notice at this time of the dip is that some parks offer reductions to Canuks, the park we are at offers 5% off for Canuks and I understand some parks offer Canuks "at par" rates.

If you do some planning, the hit isn't as bad!

RV Parks offering Canuks at par with USD aren't savvy entrepreneurs. The expenses for utilities and other services for upkeep won't offer such discounts for their services...not at over 30 percent discount. As the CDN $$ had diminished in value is reflected in the past year or so.

This reminds me of a joke about a couple of fruit vendors selling their produce the same amount they paid for their ware.

At the end of the day, they were overjoyed having sold all their stuff so they decided to buy another truck so they could load more and sell more persimmons.

I would avoid that RV park like a plague who runs this business model.

I guess it depends on how those entrepreneurs "slice and dice" the discount and do their homework. In terms of utilities (electric), those costs could be excluded from the discount (or not) depending on what mark up the park charges compared to the actual cost to the park, maybe the discount represents the electrical markup. In our park if I pay full electric cost in US$ it's still less than what I pay back home for each KWH including the 30+ exchange so it's not a big deal.

Other factors include what the "break even" cost would be with a substantial loss of occupancy (some of the parks down here are 25 to 50% Canadian) compared to a discount, and what the owner can do to reduce "non sunk" costs.

Are you telling us that entrepreneurs down here aren't savvy or are "soft"?

[happycamper002]

almcc wrote:

...The other thing we notice at this time of the dip is that some parks offer reductions to Canuks, the park we are at offers 5% off for Canuks and I understand some parks offer Canuks "at par" rates.

If you do some planning, the hit isn't as bad!

RV Parks offering Canuks at par with USD aren't savvy entrepreneurs. The expenses for utilities and other services for upkeep won't offer such discounts for their services...not at over 30 percent discount. As the CDN $$ had diminished in value is reflected in the past year or so.

This reminds me of a joke about a couple of fruit vendors selling their produce the same amount they paid for their ware.

At the end of the day, they were overjoyed having sold all their stuff so they decided to buy another truck so they could load more and sell more persimmons.

I would avoid that RV park like a plague who runs this business model.

[almcc]

We've been retired for a while now and we've seen swings in the C$ from 67 cents to 1.06 and now back to 74 cents. One thing that we did is to use Knightsbridge to purchase US$ then dump it into our US$ account to pay off our US$ credit card. We take enough US$ down to keep us in cash but we put almost everything on the CC's down here. The rate we get is better than the bank rates, about 50 basis points above the BOC rate and about 2% better than the banks charge. We used to get our investment guy buy US currency for us on their trading desk until he was stopped (by his bank!), that rate was a bit better than Knightsbridge.

The other thing we notice at this time of the dip is that some parks offer reductions to Canuks, the park we are at offers 5% off for Canuks and I understand some parks offer Canuks "at par" rates.

If you do some planning, the hit isn't as bad!

[homefor2]

First of all think about how many winters do you have left to travel 1,3,5 ? Problem is you don't know. When your health or insurance costs go crazy for us Canadians, you may not be able to go. Putting it off because of the dollar is not an option for me at this point. I drastically reduce our heating costs, cancel our cell phone plans, cancel my cable and internet and anything else I can. We are taking cash to avoid credit card rip off rates and we reduce the number of meals at restaurants. We don't buy stuff we don't need while away. Many things are cheaper down south like fuel, booze and some groceries. We watch for the sales on meat etc. and stock up. It takes a bit of effort but we are not sacrificing fun in the sun and good times with our friends. Don't sit at home in the cold dark weather if you really want to go. Who knows if it will be your last winter travelling. There are no trailer hitches on a hearse. (Can't take the $ with you)

[bighatnohorse]

So how much do you spend on heating during a Canadian winter?
It seems like there should be some savings by eliminating your heating bill that could offset the cost disparity in the the dollars?

[slickest1]

road2002runner wrote:
My feeling is that - just value your currency in the country you are traveling in and the value it will give you. This fall we took a cruise - the cruise cost was in USA$ - we purchased our insurance, and air fare $ hotels in Canadian$ in Italy it was Euro and in Croatia it was Kuna. I feel Canadians have a BIG hang up on the word DOLLAR. If (say) we had "THE LOONIE" and USA had "A GREENBACK" there would be no , or less problems.

Now if you go to England you require POUNDS - is it Denmark you have Krona? same thing in AUZ & New Z. Japan etc - you use THEIR currency and make the adjustment. I worked for almost 50 years - saved SOME money and I am NOT NOW going to let semantics (re Money) get in the way of a vacation or holiday, or stop me from checking out my bucket list.

I have yet to see a Brinks truck follow a hearse.

The brink's truck is usually before the hearse. You need one at today's cost of a funeral!! LOL
But you guy's are right, if you wait for everything to be just right it may be too late.

[road2002runner]

My feeling is that - just value your currency in the country you are traveling in and the value it will give you. This fall we took a cruise - the cruise cost was in USA$ - we purchased our insurance, and air fare $ hotels in Canadian$ in Italy it was Euro and in Croatia it was Kuna. I feel Canadians have a BIG hang up on the word DOLLAR. If (say) we had "THE LOONIE" and USA had "A GREENBACK" there would be no , or less problems.

Now if you go to England you require POUNDS - is it Denmark you have Krona? same thing in AUZ & New Z. Japan etc - you use THEIR currency and make the adjustment. I worked for almost 50 years - saved SOME money and I am NOT NOW going to let semantics (re Money) get in the way of a vacation or holiday, or stop me from checking out my bucket list.

I have yet to see a Brinks truck follow a hearse.

[MPI_Mallard]

The dollar bites HOWEVER,,,, the amount of money Frau Blücher and I save while were down here more than makes up for the difference in our money and as we stay the whole winter it gets better the longer were here also we bought a neat lil' mini freezer that we filled with prime rib steaks, roasts and ribz (the real costly stuff) to off-set our costs (and we'll be comin' home with a big load of wings, there HUGE down here) so add to the fact that we havn't seen a Canadian winter in 6 years and I can buy a 40 pounder of me favourite Seagrams twisted lime gin for $19 sheckles a bottle all I can say is life's a bowl of cherries, where else can you go on vacation for 6 months for what were paying??

Red Green: Nothing bugs a handyman more than a stripper that works too slow.

[slickest1]

pawatt wrote:
Several parks in South Texas are taking the Canadian dollar on par with the US dollar. Rio Grande Valley. Come on down, you will be warmly welcomed.

That is a good thing to know. We have not been there yet but it is on the list. Thanks!!

[slickest1]

2oldman wrote:

slickest1 wrote:
The Canadian Dollar is so low that even the Robins aren't going south!!

Good one.

Humor was the intent of my post!
Seriously The Canadian dollar seems to follow the price of oil.
The sad part of it all the exchange rate never seems what it really is.
We were just across the border last week and used our Visa card for a couple purchases. Our dollar was at $.74 thereabouts and by time Visa did their thing and it cleared our bank it cost us $1.38.
On some things like gas it is still cheaper.
Next time it's cash.

[2oldman]

slickest1 wrote:
The Canadian Dollar is so low that even the Robins aren't going south!!

Good one.

[happycamper002]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-23/canada-s-economy-contracts-on-worst-factory-output-since-2013


A country's debt is not a measure of how currency should rise or fall. Several factors determine the health of a country's economy.

Fall in GDP, diminishing export, rise in imports and less investments make the economy weaker.

If all of the above are reversed, things would look rosy. True, that US debt as opposed to Canada is mind boggling but it (US economy) also promises big return for investors in the long run.

Canada's manufacturing production output has been lackluster in the past quarters, along with the price of oil that's also causing problems with OPEC.

So don't expect the Canadian Dollar to make leaps and bounds in the immediate future.

BTW: GNP as opposed to GDP. . . two different "animals" 🙂

[moisheh]

Currency values is not always a science. More like an Art. It has a lot to do with perception. If money traders do not like your government nor it's politics your currency will be undervalued. Being as we cannot discuss politics that is the extent of my post!

Moisheh

[rv2go]

I have discussed the the Canadian dollar with all our snowbird friends from Canada and each agrees that it balances out by coming south. Not having to heat the house. The cost of gas or fuel. A lot is saved by going into Mexico for dental and drugs(the legal kind). Then of course, they all say that Beer and liquor is cheaper.