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Post by tiffany on Oct 27, 2014 11:59:06 GMT
I am surprised and curious, what do you ladies buy in the states that is not available in Canada? and are the prices so different? I buy most of my clothing on line, probably from the same stores/catalogs that you have there? Californian, the shopping in the States is so much cheaper than it is in Canada. We pay more than double for the same item, plus we have higher taxes. The last time I went to the States, I bought a pair of Seven jeans for $29,99 US. Here in Toronto, they were $79.99 before tax. I like to shop at Nine West when in the States, as you get a lot of the same items as we do, but they are half the price. My friends drive to Buffalo twice a year to go shopping, and they make a weekend out of it. Even with the cost of gas and hotel room, they still come out ahead. It’s not just clothes that are a lot cheaper in the States. When I was in Nashville for Christmas a few years ago, I couldn’t believe how cheap the meat was, particularly the Turkey. We would spend about $40.00 more for the same size Turkey as you do.
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Post by purvis on Oct 27, 2014 14:15:04 GMT
My husband and I would go to Bellingham Wa. and buy our groceries twice a month. Turkeys, veggies ,milk and eggs were just some of the articles that were considerably cheaper. Last year in Florida I found that now some of the items are the same and sometimes more expensive.Things have changed but clothing is still better priced and with more selection to choose from . I'm more than happy to help out the American economy.
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Post by californian on Oct 27, 2014 15:22:50 GMT
It doesn't surprise me that Canada, and especially Alberta is doing so well, Purvis, the whole country is swimming in oil...I remember reading the book "Mrs.Mike" I think is called, about Alberta and Calgary in the early 1900, very different times! Have a good week Purvis and enjoy your time in Florida.
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Post by Boop on Oct 27, 2014 16:33:21 GMT
Oh, and the cheese!! Cheese is very inexpensive in the State. When I lived in Vancouver, we also took many trips to Bellingham with cheese at the top of the grocery list. Also, when my husband and I lived on our sailboat in Victoria, almost every weekend we sailed to a port in the States, Friday Harbour, Roche Harbour, Annacortis WA. Not only were these nice weekend getaways but we always came home with cheese............and wine!
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Post by californian on Oct 27, 2014 17:37:15 GMT
Hi Boop, my father loved cheese, every time he came to visit from Argentina would spend all the time looking a cheeses while I shop for groceries, could not take him away from the aisle! And I think we tried at least half of them.
Nice sailing from Victoria to the San Juan's, my daughter and her ex had a house and a boat in Roche Harbour (he kept the boat , not sure where it is now, she kept the Chris Craft) I love the entire area, what a nice part of the NW and BC!
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Post by Boop on Oct 27, 2014 18:38:15 GMT
Hi Boop, my father loved cheese, every time he came to visit from Argentina would spend all the time looking a cheeses while I shop for groceries, could not take him away from the aisle! And I think we tried at least half of them. Nice sailing from Victoria to the San Juan's, my daughter and her ex had a house and a boat in Roche Harbour (he kept the boat , not sure where it is now, she kept the Chris Craft) I love the entire area, what a nice part of the NW and BC! Cali, your father and I would get along nicely..........I love cheese too and spend a lot in the cheese aisle when I go shopping. In fact, I fell in love with Dutch cheeses so much after my return from Amsterdam that I've ordered many rounds from Henri Willig in Amsterdam since then. Very costly shipping, but oh my...not only do I order their cheese but the Stroopwafels and Butter Bon Bons as well!! We had over 15 years of sailing the San Juans as well as Desolation Sound in BC but I always looked forward to our trips to Roche Harbour and Friday Harbour. Roche always held a special place in our hearts and we had many "fluffy duck" drinks in the bar overlooking the harbour! I'd say the Chris Craft was an excellent choice, they are a beauty boat! And, congratulations californian, with your post above you've become a full fledged forum member...proving that you love to talk as much as the rest of us!! lololol!!
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Post by Tulips on Oct 27, 2014 22:00:24 GMT
I am surprised and curious, what do you ladies buy in the states that is not available in Canada? and are the prices so different? I buy most of my clothing on line, probably from the same stores/catalogs that you have there? Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes!!! Then clothes. Food I can't get in Canada. There are loads more yogurt flavours in the US. A bottle of wine that costs $30.00 in Canada is under $10 in the US, although you can only bring 2 bottles back without paying taxes and duties.
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Post by Tulips on Oct 27, 2014 22:02:36 GMT
Boop:You being a Canadian like myself how do you manage to do so much shopping in the US and get it over the boarder?. I'm off to Florida in 10days for some Christmas shopping but although I can bring back up to $700.0 in goods I can't figure how I would have the luggage space to do so since I will be taking one checked bag and one carryon. Last year before returning from Florida in Nov. I had to buy a second to be checked bag but with the new charges this year have decided not to do that again this year. Hi Purvis! I always ensure that I stay at least 3 nights when I travel to the States to maximize my duty free allowance and I'm always truthful on my declaration forms and more often than not I'm over my limit. When passing through Canadian customs I haven't been challenged ever on the amounts I've declared. For the most part, I'm not excessively over...usually I declare anywhere from $600-$900. When I travel with my daughter, because we live at the same address and only have to fill out one form, we declare about $1600. I travel very light, with throwaway clothes when off to San Francisco, Seattle or Vegas so I don't lack for room. When I shop in the States, I always keep a running tally mentally of how full my suitcase is before I purchase and I've never had to buy an extra case yet. On my trip to Vegas in November I'm only taking my carry on with very few items of clothing as it's only 3 days and my backup is my daughter...she'll have a suitcase and a carry on so she will be able to "help" Mom out..LOL! When I went to Italy I had two suitcases and a carry on and my declaration form was for almost twice my limit. The customs guy asked for my receipts, which I had every one and there were lots, and started adding them up. About of a third of the way through my receipts he just gave up and sent me through........ I am truthful as well and have only had to pay duty once and that was when I came back from Norway. I've applied for Nexus, so it isn't worth it to me to not be truthful.
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Post by Boop on Oct 27, 2014 22:19:52 GMT
Hi Purvis! I always ensure that I stay at least 3 nights when I travel to the States to maximize my duty free allowance and I'm always truthful on my declaration forms and more often than not I'm over my limit. When passing through Canadian customs I haven't been challenged ever on the amounts I've declared. For the most part, I'm not excessively over...usually I declare anywhere from $600-$900. When I travel with my daughter, because we live at the same address and only have to fill out one form, we declare about $1600. I travel very light, with throwaway clothes when off to San Francisco, Seattle or Vegas so I don't lack for room. When I shop in the States, I always keep a running tally mentally of how full my suitcase is before I purchase and I've never had to buy an extra case yet. On my trip to Vegas in November I'm only taking my carry on with very few items of clothing as it's only 3 days and my backup is my daughter...she'll have a suitcase and a carry on so she will be able to "help" Mom out..LOL! When I went to Italy I had two suitcases and a carry on and my declaration form was for almost twice my limit. The customs guy asked for my receipts, which I had every one and there were lots, and started adding them up. About of a third of the way through my receipts he just gave up and sent me through........ I am truthful as well and have only had to pay duty once and that was when I came back from Norway. I've applied for Nexus, so it isn't worth it to me to not be truthful. Yeah, these customs personnel are trained to pick out the untrustworthy, I think. I always make direct eye contact whether I'm at my duty free limit or over it and make sure I respond to their questions in a friendly manner. Truthfully, I was more than expecting and willing to pay duty on my trip back from Italy....I lucked out!
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Post by chech on Oct 27, 2014 22:33:54 GMT
Yeah, these customs personnel are trained to pick out the untrustworthy, I think. I always make direct eye contact whether I'm at my duty free limit or over it and make sure I respond to their questions in a friendly manner. Truthfully, I was more than expecting and willing to pay duty on my trip back from Italy....I lucked out! I must look trustworthy...despite the line of cats behind me at every border stop. In the 14 tours, I have no idea how exact I've been with my declaration. I take a stab in the dark. I've never claimed over the amount and the one time they asked, I told him I'd bought fridge magnets, t-shirts and chocolate...which is usually all I get. He said he didn't care about souvenirs. He asked about alcohol, cigarettes and expensive items like jewelry, purses etc. He even told me not to check off food for chocolate (or as he put it...don't waste their time checking off chocolate as food....which I'd agree with. Chocolate isn't food. It's a state of mind! LOL). So, if I remove souvenirs from my exemption, I've never bought more than $100 worth of anything else - usually a silver necklace pendant for my sister. I've already told everyone here that I'm not bringing back coffee from Panama. I would declare that and it's not worth the hassle on my arrival in Toronto...I want to get to the hotel there in time to catch kickoff of Monday Night Football. LOL
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Post by Tulips on Oct 27, 2014 23:11:01 GMT
Chech, I honestly don't think you will have a problem with coffee if you bring back the bean kind. They never batted an eye with the 5 bags I brought from Costa Rica. I declared them.
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Post by Boop on Oct 28, 2014 0:34:32 GMT
Guess I'm receipt-anal.........The night before I leave to come back home is "receipt-tallying" night. I keep every receipt, no matter how little.....yes, even candy and chocolate, and add them all up on a piece of paper which I wrap around the receipts and have ready to transfer to my duty form. But maybe next trip........I'll exclude the edibles!!
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Post by californian on Oct 28, 2014 1:38:00 GMT
Well, normally the "edibles" do not make it all the way home...or very few do.
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Post by purvis on Oct 28, 2014 4:50:25 GMT
Guess I'm receipt-anal.........The night before I leave to come back home is "receipt-tallying" night. I keep every receipt, no matter how little.....yes, even candy and chocolate, and add them all up on a piece of paper which I wrap around the receipts and have ready to transfer to my duty form. But maybe next trip........I'll exclude the edibles!! I do the same thing my last nite of a vacation . However I don't add the small things such as chocolates,or frig magnets and since I don't buy much on European or UK tours I rarely spend $100.00. However going to the US is a different thing. I often spend $300.-500.00 and keep good records as the last thing I need is to run into difficulties at customs. One of the worst places to go through customs is Calgary Alberta. I don't know if they have a prize for the meanest officer or not but it sure looks that way. Fortunately flying back from Florida one goes through Toronto to get back to Edmonton.
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Post by Boop on Oct 28, 2014 5:50:25 GMT
Guess I'm receipt-anal.........The night before I leave to come back home is "receipt-tallying" night. I keep every receipt, no matter how little.....yes, even candy and chocolate, and add them all up on a piece of paper which I wrap around the receipts and have ready to transfer to my duty form. But maybe next trip........I'll exclude the edibles!! I do the same thing my last nite of a vacation . However I don't add the small things such as chocolates,or frig magnets and since I don't buy much on European or UK tours I rarely spend $100.00. However going to the US is a different thing. I often spend $300.-500.00 and keep good records as the last thing I need is to run into difficulties at customs. One of the worst places to go through customs is Calgary Alberta. I don't know if they have a prize for the meanest officer or not but it sure looks that way. Fortunately flying back from Florida one goes through Toronto to get back to Edmonton. LOL...I guess we all have our customs and screening stories Purvis! I had a very mean screener coming through Toronto on my way home from Switzerland. I was in jeopardy of missing my connection to Victoria and he deliberately held me up by insisting on putting my carry on through the screener several times. He then did a very slow, methodical removal of everything in my bag. I had purchased a Swiss Army pen in Lucerne and I guess it had a tiny little knife in it somewhere...much to my surprise. He said I had a choice...to leave it (which likely meant he'd be taking it home with him) or to mail it to myself. Since it was a gift and cost a fair amount, I ran upstairs and found a gift shop to mail it, ran back down to go through screening again, ran to catch my connection and had the plane not been delayed, would have missed my connection. I was seething but you certainly can't argue with those screeners, can you? As I was walking down the jetway and about to walk through the door of the airplane I realized I had left my backpack where I had set it down in the boarding waiting area. I almost passed out.....turned around and ran back to the area where I had set it down.........and there it was waiting for me........omg, I think that is the most stress I have ever encountered. All my expensive goodies were in that backpack and the boarding area was just chockerblock full of travellers!! Very honest travellers!! Oh, and the nightmare moral of the story.......I was so stressed about missing my connection, I put the wrong address for myself on the package! My very keen local postman figured it out and I received the pen a week after I got home !!
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Post by purvis on Oct 28, 2014 7:32:43 GMT
What we really need is a site entitled horror stories in airports . As you say we all have one. Purvis
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Post by tiffany on Oct 28, 2014 11:29:46 GMT
Yes, wine is much cheaper in the US as well, and it’s too bad you can only bring back two bottles. I usually bring two bottles back with me if I’m driving, but I don’t if I’m flying. I don’t want to have to carry them.
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Post by chech on Oct 28, 2014 13:58:35 GMT
As I was walking down the jetway and about to walk through the door of the airplane I realized I had left my backpack where I had set it down in the boarding waiting area. I almost passed out.....turned around and ran back to the area where I had set it down.........and there it was waiting for me........omg, I think that is the most stress I have ever encountered. All my expensive goodies were in that backpack and the boarding area was just chockerblock full of travellers!! Very honest travellers!! I had the same thing happen in the Zagreb hotel on the day we were leaving. I was standing outside the bus thinking my back felt awfully light and realized by backpack was still in on the table in the lobby....talk about uber-panic! And it was there. Two tourmates were sitting on the couch in front of it, so it looked like it belonged to them.
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Post by chech on Oct 28, 2014 13:59:45 GMT
Chech, I honestly don't think you will have a problem with coffee if you bring back the bean kind. They never batted an eye with the 5 bags I brought from Costa Rica. I declared them. Hmmm...with the new automated passport thingys...did it mean going to a live person to explain? (I'm so used to walking on through).
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Post by Tulips on Oct 28, 2014 16:10:31 GMT
With the automated thing, you still have to show the print out to a person. I ticket the food box coming back from Chile and they just asked what the good was. I told them and off I went. They didnt ask to see it.
They didn't ask to see the coffee from CR either.
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Post by californian on Oct 28, 2014 17:48:34 GMT
It seems Canadian authorities are more picky than USA's, I have never had to stop or show receipts, just declare the approximate amount, I would be in trouble if they ask me for receipts, I keep them but just to check the CC statements if I have a doubt, I just write "souvenirs" and I imagine that includes the chocolates (the few that made the trip back), magnets, little piece of cheap jewelry; one time, I even "invented" the amount of 100 dls, because I had only spent $ 5 Euros on a pair of earrings and I was ashamed to write that amount! Although in the past (25-30 years ago) they were more prone to check the contains, especially from people coming form So. America, I had "Colombia" stamped two times in my passport and that seemed to trigger additional evaluation. Chech, be aware when you return from your Panama trip!
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Post by chech on Oct 28, 2014 19:51:59 GMT
Cool, Tulips...I might consider coffee as a gift for some here....especially since we'll visit a coffee plantation. We'll also visit a stud farm.....oh wait. Nevermind. And yes, I will have Columbia stamped twice as I enter en route to Panama and enter again for the extension, so I'll have a page full of Columbia stamps. I look on the bright side....I might get to meet some dogs at the airport.
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Post by chech on Oct 30, 2014 0:34:38 GMT
One week!
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Post by Boop on Oct 30, 2014 2:06:09 GMT
One week! one day!
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Post by Tulips on Oct 30, 2014 9:53:47 GMT
One week! Same!
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Post by Oz-T on Oct 31, 2014 22:05:42 GMT
Geeez, this place is going to be quiet with the trio of Chech, Tulips & Boop away enjoying their trips. I hope everyone has a great time away holidaying and $hopping....
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Post by Boop on Oct 31, 2014 22:57:46 GMT
Geeez, this place is going to be quiet with the trio of Chech, Tulips & Boop away enjoying their trips. I hope everyone has a great time away holidaying and $hopping.... LOL.....no, I'm not away yet! The one day I wa$ referring to above wa$ one day to Chech'$ birthday! I'm not gone until Nov. 24th $o you'll ju$t have to put up with my babble on the board for a while longer... ...and I'm drooling over the $hopping $oon to be in my future! (did I mi$$ any? ) ((and p$....being away never $eem$ to $low any of u$ down!!))
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Post by Oz-T on Oct 31, 2014 23:17:50 GMT
Ahhh, then not so quiet after all! I bet you're looking forward to your $hopping $pree, Ms Boop. In fact, your neighbour sent us this photo of you during one of your training exercises....
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Post by chech on Nov 1, 2014 0:03:12 GMT
And I won't be far...the tale will be posted daily and with wifi likely on the bus....well! I'll be in heaven! I'll also post the link to the tail on TT's FB page and #trafalgarinsider to see if that generates traffic.
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Post by Oz-T on Nov 1, 2014 0:14:23 GMT
Wow, WiFi on the coach.... Chech heaven! Hope your Spanish language skills are up to date in case you need to ask where the local cats are (for photo opportunities). And I do have one question that needs researching, Chech... Do the cats down there wear Panama hats?
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