30 - Sunday, March 8, 1987 - North Shore News

THERE’S A rumor going around that

Canadians

wishing to purchase American currency do better by ex-
changing their Canadian dollars in the United States
rather than in a home-town bank.

Forget it. Just for an experi-
ment we visited a U.S. bank in
Washington state on Monday
and purchased $20 U.S. It cost us
$27.31 Canadian.

On Tuesday, the same U.S.
$20 would have cost $27.01 here
in Canada.

Thirty cents isn’t a great deal
of money but it can add up when
travellers are considering ex-
changing several thousands of
dollars.

Remember, too, that these
were cash transactions and there
are hidden charges involved using
other means of purchase. You’d
have to be four different kinds of
a fool to start your travels with a
big wad of Canadian cash in your
pocket, looking for a U.S. bank.

see

Thinking of making some pur-
chases in the United States?
Perhaps you’d better think again.
The days when almost everything
was cheaper (and possibly fan-

cier) in the U.S. are over, I doubt
if Canada Customs ever sees the
old lines of Saturday afternoon
grocery shoppers any more.

Since we have a home in
Washington state I do a fair
amount of grocery shopping
there — under protest. Whenever
it’s reasonable I prefer to tote my
supplies from home.

Almost everything in U.S.
grocery Stores is the same price as
here — but their dollar is worth
close to 30 per cent more than
ours.

For example, the brand of cof-
fee I buy in both countries is
usually $3.59 Ib here. Same in
Washington. Most meats are the
same price, even chicken which
used to be a bargain. Other
poultry can sometimes be worth
purchasing — turkeys were on
sale this week in Bellingham
Safeway stores for 59¢ Ib.

There may be other
“‘bargains’’ available, but the on-
ly foods that I’ve found to be
consistently lower in price are

Future leoks bright for
.C. tourism — study

BILL REID, Minister of Tourism,
Recreation and Culture recently
released the results of the
ministry’s study on first-time
visitors’ perceptions of British
Columbia and the likelihood of
their returning in the future.

“Expo was a wonderful source

‘of research opportunities,’”? said

Reid. “The information obtained
from the huge numbers of travel-
lers, especizily first-time visitors to
the province, will prove to be an
invaluable tool in the preparation
of future marketing and develop-
ment strategies.”’

The report reveals some very en-
couraging travel intentions.
California was reconfirmed as the
province’s major U.S. market with
97 per cent of the Californians in-
terviewed saving their trip met or
exceeded their expectations and 86
per cent expressing a desire to
return to the province. :

Eighty-five per cent of the
Southern Ontarians interviewed
said they would likely return in the

next few years; 60 per cent of the
Eastern Washington residents con-
tacted would likely return in one to
two years.

“Expo introduced a great many
people to British Columbia as a
beautiful and interesting vacation
spot,”’ said Reid. ‘‘Even if only 25
per cent of those good intentions
are followed through on, British
Columbia’s tourism industry will
do very well indeed.”’

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CRAFT WAREHOUSE

eges, bread and milk. Even
oranges, grown in the U.S., are
more expensive to buy there —
39¢ in Canada, 29¢ in U.S. —
but don’t forget the dollar dif-
ference.

be no bargain.

So, you can quit envying the
Americans and their fat dollars
when it comes to everyday living
expenses. You ought to see their
power bills!

travel
wise

by Barbara McCreadie

Small electrical] appliances may
be cheaper in the U.S, We saved
ourselves about $100 on a mi-
crowave oven, purchased as a
Christmas gift. But, we had been
in the U.S. for over 48 hours and
thus qualified for $100 worth of
goods duty free.

Had we been forced to pay the
whole shot it wouldn’t have been
worth it. Also, had we needed to
pay for 48 hours worth of hotels
and restaurants, that oven would

not alone...
thousands of

Our condo measures roughly
900 square feet. We occupy it on
the average of five days a month.
The rest of the time the heat is
turned down to 55°. The hot
water tank is turned off at the main
breaker. The only power being
used is for the refrigerator and the
freezer. Our last month’s bill was
$75. Ouch,

id

Speaking of crossing borders,

Canadians are allowed to enter
the U.S. very freely. But, how |
many of you realized that you are
only allowed to bring in $25
worth of goods that you intend
to leave behind?

The average traveller rarely br-
ings in stuff to leave behind,
unless it’s a gift for Auntie Hilda
if you’re going to be sharing her
groceries for a few days.

Since we have been furnishing
another home we've had dif-
ferent situations arise. New fur-
niture and household goods are
taxed at a flat 10 per cent. Used
stuff is duty free but you can be
sure they look at things fairly
carefully. | brought over an end
table that was about 25 years old,
but didn’t have a mark or speck
of dust anywhere.

More about border crossing:
There is a world of difference be-
tween the officers on the Canada
side. Our people have all read the
same training manual and ask
more or jess the same questions
in the same order.

You should hear some of the
remarks we've heard issued from
the U.S. side. ‘‘Got any grub?’’
was one that had us laughing for
miles.

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