Today my wife and I were looking forward to a day of shopping. We even went cross border into Washington State to try and find some deals, just like the old days pre-Covid.

The border wait was minimal. When we got to the Costco across the border, we saw numerous BC license plates in the parking lot. We assumed everyone was there saving money. Boy, were we wrong.

We had hoped to save some money on early Christmas shopping. But with the exchange rate being $1.37 CAD for each $1 USD- we really needed to do the math before buying anything. Some of the items said the same price as they do in Canada. Which meant we’d be paying more money and then have a possibility of paying duty coming home.

After Costco, we tried our luck at Fred Meyer and then Walmart. Same sort of results. No savings to be had. We did pick up a couple items that aren’t available in Canada, so at least we came away with those.

At the end of the day, I do not recommend wasting time and effort to travel southbound for my Canadian friends. But with the exchange rate the way it is- my American friends will find good savings coming up to Canada.