Canada Housing/Debt: Trust me, I'm a landlord.

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JawKnee: Mar 24, 2007; You'll take the ride to leave this town along that yellow line

I don't have kids so I have no idea how much a good stroller is worth - is everyone here getting all indignant about strollers costing a few hundred actually a parent?

# ? Mar 16, 2015 01:36

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# ? May 21, 2024 20:28

unlimited shrimp: Aug 30, 2008

carry your infant like humans have for tens of thousand of years you lazy neolithics

# ? Mar 16, 2015 01:44

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

JawKnee posted:

I don't have kids so I have no idea how much a good stroller is worth - is everyone here getting all indignant about strollers costing a few hundred actually a parent?

Also, who really gives a gently caress what people choose to spend their money on or why? I've seen people spend more than that on a bottle of wine. Just because I wouldn't do that personally doesn't make it my place to judge someone who does, assuming they can afford it.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 01:47

Furnaceface: Oct 21, 2004

PT6A posted:

Also, who really gives a gently caress what people choose to spend their money on or why? I've seen people spend more than that on a bottle of wine. Just because I wouldn't do that personally doesn't make it my place to judge someone who does, assuming they can afford it.

Pretty sure most people cant afford it, hence the purpose of this thread. :v:

# ? Mar 16, 2015 02:02

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Furnaceface posted:

Pretty sure most people cant afford it, hence the purpose of this thread.

That seems like an odd assumption, given there's zero evidence that the increase in household debt is happening due to expensive strollers.

At worst, it's a one-time purchase, and it's an amount that most people probably could afford if they didn't also spend money on other unnecessary things. it just seems like an odd target, but I've seen similar discussions elsewhere. I mean, it's functional, and even a $1200 stroller is still cheaper than the cheapest all-inclusive vacation, which has literally no utility at all.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 02:10

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Jesus shut the gently caress up

# ? Mar 16, 2015 02:42

JawKnee: Mar 24, 2007; You'll take the ride to leave this town along that yellow line

Why?

I mean, comparing baby stollers to wine bottles is silly, but so is complaining about them (or trying to point to them as some great failing of logic in the masses) in the first place.

Again: how is your perspective on baby stroller costs informed?

# ? Mar 16, 2015 02:47

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Yeah totally I mean, money has no value any more. The BMW is now the new corolla and million dollar condos are the new middle class norm so eat poo poo rich shamers!

# ? Mar 16, 2015 02:53

JawKnee: Mar 24, 2007; You'll take the ride to leave this town along that yellow line

so what would you say the corolla of baby strollers is, then?

# ? Mar 16, 2015 02:56

Kalenn Istarion: Nov 2, 2012; Maybe Senpai will finally notice me now that I've dropped :fivebux: on this snazzy av

JawKnee posted:

I don't have kids so I have no idea how much a good stroller is worth - is everyone here getting all indignant about strollers costing a few hundred actually a parent?

We paid $800 for ours and that was a good price for the mileage we've had out of it.

JawKnee posted:

so what would you say the corolla of baby strollers is, then?

He has no idea :ssh:

The one we got is an Uppababy, and they're resoundingly adored by almost everyone who buys one. Middle of the road would be a graco or something like that for 200-300, you can get cheapo umbrella strollers for $50 or less but they're junk and the break all the time, and aren't really useful for babies.

As a parent, spending a bit extra on a stroller that is robust and has storage space, is light, easy to use etc will save so many headaches. Lots of people I know with fairly modest income have splurged on that over almost everything else in their stable of baby gear, and in the grand scheme of things, kids are going to cost you in the hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime so whatever, who cares how people spend their money after they've made that terrible financial decision.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 03:09

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

The top 10 rated strollers on consumer reports average $300 USD. But like all vancouverites, you can't really put a price premium on the boost in self esteem you receive when you show off some ostentatious thing to make sure everyone else knows that you're better than they are because you have a bigger line of credit I guess

# ? Mar 16, 2015 03:18

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Cultural Imperial posted:

The top 10 rated strollers on consumer reports average $300 USD. But like all vancouverites, you can't really put a price premium on the boost in self esteem you receive when you show off some ostentatious thing to make sure everyone else knows that you're better than they are because you have a bigger line of credit I guess

lol if you need a line of credit for a $1200 purchase, I mean, drat. Your rear end can't afford a child if you don't have that much disposable cash on hand.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 03:20

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

from stroller chat to my sisters construction company, this thread covers everything

# ? Mar 16, 2015 03:23

flashman: Dec 16, 2003

PT6A posted:

lol if you need a line of credit for a $1200 purchase, I mean, drat. Your rear end can't afford a child if you don't have that much disposable cash on hand.

You are a retard.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 04:01

blah_blah: Apr 15, 2006

flashman posted:

You are a retard.

That has to be one of the most uncontrovertibly true statements imaginable. It's not even a statement about whether you should or shouldn't have children, just that, quite simply, you cannot afford it if you don't have $1200 in your bank account.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 04:15

ANIME AKBAR: Jan 25, 2007; afu~

Every responsible parent keeps a couple grand in savings to waste on bullshit luxury goods in case of an emergency

# ? Mar 16, 2015 04:28

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Well, I suppose you can, but you're probably going to end up living in poverty. If you need a LOC to cover a $1000 expense with 9 months of planning, you're in a bad place financially and you shouldn't bring a child into that. It is a bad choice for you, it is a bad choice for the child.

This is not to say that spending $1000+ on a stroller is a good idea by any means, just that you should be able to do so, so one's possession of an expensive stroller shouldn't be evidence that you have a giant LOC or whatever.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 04:31

JawKnee: Mar 24, 2007; You'll take the ride to leave this town along that yellow line

Cultural Imperial posted:

The top 10 rated strollers on consumer reports average $300 USD.

JawKnee posted:

I don't have kids so I have no idea how much a good stroller is worth - is everyone here getting all indignant about strollers costing a few hundred actually a parent?

feel free to re-read the end of that lone sentence at your leisure

# ? Mar 16, 2015 04:35

Furnaceface: Oct 21, 2004

JawKnee posted:

feel free to re-read the end of that lone sentence at your leisure

He is overreacting quite a bit, but he kind of has a point. If youre waiting until the kid is born before doing stroller research then youre probably not very good with money in the first place. :v:

# ? Mar 16, 2015 04:45

Lexicon: Jul 29, 2003; I had a beer with Stephen Harper once and now I like him.

The problem with this thread, as in life, is that the income/asset/success distribution is likely quite large (not at all a value judgement, just a statement of fact) and the extremities can't possibly empathize with or even conceive of the reality of the other side. No wonder every topic diverges into chaos - strollers in this case.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 04:56

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Lexicon posted:

The problem with this thread, as in life, is that the income/asset/success distribution is likely quite large (not at all a value judgement, just a statement of fact) and the extremities can't possibly empathize with or even conceive of the reality of the other side. No wonder every topic diverges into chaos - strollers in this case.

Whoa hold up there dr. heidegger. This is about the perception of money and ultimately the overarching result that is debt. Low interest rates are like reducing the coefficient of friction for the propensity of vancouverites to become profligate social climbing assholes. That people treat money like it isn't worth anything is my opinion based on the observation of the crazy loving spending habits of my vancouverite associates and some of the rear end in a top hat posters in this thread. I don't need no stinking empathy to understand how they feel because I know they're all worthless scum.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 05:23

Kalenn Istarion: Nov 2, 2012; Maybe Senpai will finally notice me now that I've dropped :fivebux: on this snazzy av

Cultural Imperial posted:

The top 10 rated strollers on consumer reports average $300 USD. But like all vancouverites, you can't really put a price premium on the boost in self esteem you receive when you show off some ostentatious thing to make sure everyone else knows that you're better than they are because you have a bigger line of credit I guess

No, I get a boost to my self esteem when my kids smile or learn how to ski, but I'm glad you can make yourself feel better by giving you a way to be mad about how people spend their money.

Lexicon posted:

The problem with this thread, as in life, is that the income/asset/success distribution is likely quite large (not at all a value judgement, just a statement of fact) and the extremities can't possibly empathize with or even conceive of the reality of the other side. No wonder every topic diverges into chaos - strollers in this case.

I can say, having been both poor and reasonably comfortable, that both pt6a and CI are shitbirds, and also that the vast majority of people in either end of the spectrum manage to exist without holding such toxic opinions as 'you don't deserve children if you're poor' or 'being successful is bad'

# ? Mar 16, 2015 06:51

UnfortunateSexFart: May 18, 2008; ð» ððð« ð·ððð·
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Moving away from baby talk...

My wife's best friend just got $500,000 from her parents after their Kitsilano house was in a bidding war and went for over $2,000,000. Her parents were Latin American immigrants and far from wealthy, but bought 30 years ago.

This is how Canadians buy property in Vancouver now. There's really no other way.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 07:52

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

Funnier than First Dog and less wordy too:

quote:

Beauty is clearly in the eye of the beholder. On Saturday, up a rapey alleyway, in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, first home buyer, Doi, with mother Gina by his side (and a little of Gina's money in his pocket), duked it out with six others at an auction to secure his first home. Doi said of his purchase "it's a beautiful little house." And more on that later. Sadly, like many first home buyers in Australia though, Doi won't be living in his first home. He'll be renovating it before renting it out.

The reason Doi won't suffer the indignity of opening his front door to the sounds of late night alleyway hand jobs is because he, like most first home buyers, likely can't afford to. Something sick and twisted has happened in major Australian cities - first home buyers have no incentive to live in their first home any longer. Because of incentives like negative gearing, an investor will likely put zero down, take an interest only mortgage because the rent still won't cover the costs and claim a tax deduction on the loss at the end of the financial year - the hope is the capital gains will eventually make up for the rental losses.

First home buyers have little chance to compete with this madness. So their response is join the party. Buy something, rent it out and stay at home with the folks. If that's not sick and twisted enough, Doi paid $840,000, $140,000 over the reserve, for his first home (the sick) and it looks like this (the twisted).

A beautiful little house, ain't it? Even a new coat of bright yellow paint to cover up the rust stains.

63 square metres of the Australian dream. 1 bedroom and an external laundry and bathroom to remind you of colonial times. The good news is, despite Sydney property prices tearing upwards 14% in 2013 and another 12% in 2014, after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates 1.25% in 2012 and another 0.5% in 2013, in February this year, the RBA saw fit to cut another 0.25% into this lunacy without any lending restrictions in place. But this is totally cool because in their words, "the Bank is working with other regulators to assess and contain economic risks that may arise from the housing market."

And what are those other regulators up to? APRA or the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority used all of their authority to write Australia's banks a letter.
APRA�s new mortgage standards focused on quality, not quantity of lending In its letter to the banks, APRA indicated that it will increase the level of supervisory oversight on mortgages given recent developments in the housing and mortgage markets. That said it does not propose to introduce across the board increases in capital requirements or caps on particular types of loans.
The financial terrorists at APRA must be pleased with themselves that they'd managed to write a letter to the banks about their lending standards by December 2014. After the Reserve Bank knocked 2% off interest rates starting in 2012. See if you can pick where the RBA started cutting interest rates and Australian property investors in Sydney and Melbourne (represented by NSW and Victoria on the chart) started getting horny with cheap money and ploughing it into Australia's two largest cities?

I know. It's a total shock that maniacs who borrow nearly 100% on interest only terms to lose rental money to speculate on housing capital gains would love low interest rates. And with the lowest mortgage rates in Australian history, coinciding with the sloppiest lending standards in Australian history, combining with the highest property prices in Australian history, added to the highest household debt to income ratio in Australian history, what would you expect the biggest idiot of a treasurer in Australian history to do?

Start talking about letting first home buyers raid their retirement accounts, so they can get over the angst of missing out on this lunacy and ensure they'll blow their retirement savings and push the housing market up even further.
...such changes may include using superannuation savings for things that Australians do not use them for now, he said, including using super to buy first homes. "I get a lot of people approaching me saying that young people should be able to use their superannuation to fund a deposit on a home, on their first home," Mr Hockey said. "I am concerned about rising house prices and the accessibility to homes and homeownership for younger Australians, but we've got a limited pool of savings. We need to have these conversations."
This is innovation Australian style from treasurer, Sloppy Joe Hockey. If it's not enough to dig up resources and sell them to China and then use that money to borrow more money to to bid up house prices no-where-else but Australia. Why diversify? When first home buyers are lucky enough to dodge this bullet (whether they understand it or not) the man who should be offering caution, sympathizes with them by suggesting they should be able to grab their retirement money and jump into the housing market when it's never been hotter.

But as Sloppy Joe says, "I get a lot of people approaching me saying that young people should be able to use their superannuation to fund a deposit on a home, on their first home". Note Sloppy says he gets a lot people saying that young people should be able to use their superannuation, instead of a lot of young people saying that they should be able to use their superannuation. Which is really the key because this dopey plan has been done before in Canada and who came up with it? It wasn't first home buyers, it was the Canadian Real Estate Association, in the midst of a recession and housing down turn. And those guys don't ask for money to flow to the real estate market to help first home buyer affordability.

If this ain't bad enough, Australia's China fueled boom is all but over. And a guy named Crispen Odey, who likes to have photos taken with his hands clasped together, thinks we're toast. Australia is heading for recession he says. He's dark on the banks, who keep lending to the maniacs who've been bidding up house prices. And he's short on Genworth who does some of their mortgage insurance. The downturn is already being felt in mining towns where formerly hot housing markets have turned to dust in the space of 4 years.

Will Doi feel a cool breeze at his new inner city shed? Well that's assured. If he wants a bath or needs to take a leak, he has to walk outside to do so, but that's someone else's problem. His tenant. Doi's lucky, if Sydney's looney housing market falls apart, he'll never suffer the indignity of foreclosure, eviction and moving back in with his mother.

Australia's bizarre obsession with real estate speculation meant he never had the opportunity to leave mother's house in the first place.

http://www.idiottax.net/2015/03/mortgage-regulation-australian-style.html

# ? Mar 16, 2015 09:59

Saltin: Aug 20, 2003; Don't touch

Cultural Imperial posted:

Whoa hold up there dr. heidegger. This is about the perception of money and ultimately the overarching result that is debt. Low interest rates are like reducing the coefficient of friction for the propensity of vancouverites to become profligate social climbing assholes. That people treat money like it isn't worth anything is my opinion based on the observation of the crazy loving spending habits of my vancouverite associates and some of the rear end in a top hat posters in this thread. I don't need no stinking empathy to understand how they feel because I know they're all worthless scum.

I've never been able to tell - are you also upset with people who can legitimately afford a BMW and high end stroller?

# ? Mar 16, 2015 12:26

EvilJoven: Mar 18, 2005; NOBODY,IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, HAS ASKED OR CARED WHAT CANADA THINKS. YOU ARE NOT A COUNTRY. YOUR MONEY HAS THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND ON IT. IF YOU DIG AROUND IN YOUR BACKYARD, NATIVE SKELETONS WOULD EXPLODE OUT OF YOUR LAWN LIKE THE END OF POLTERGEIST. CANADA IS SO POLITE, EH?; Fun Shoe

I know quite a few upper middle class people who just can't understand why I'm risk adverse and not chasing my harebrained dreams while they lean on the support of a family that made their wealth back when you could score waterfront property just by sticking a claim stake down and telling any natives in the plot to go pound sand.

Then these people tell me how I should be successful like them and turn their nose up at me ya I really wanna key their beemer.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 13:27

Saltin: Aug 20, 2003; Don't touch

EvilJoven posted:

I know quite a few upper middle class people who just can't understand why I'm risk adverse and not chasing my harebrained dreams while they lean on the support of a family that made their wealth back when you could score waterfront property just by sticking a claim stake down and telling any natives in the plot to go pound sand.

Then these people tell me how I should be successful like them and turn their nose up at me ya I really wanna key their beemer.

You should - they secretly all laugh at you when you aren't around.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 15:00

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Saltin posted:

I've never been able to tell - are you also upset with people who can legitimately afford a BMW and high end stroller?

Personally, I'm upset with people who take on a lot of consumer debt for non-necessities, and who don't have any savings to speak of, but I don't see any reason why a $1000 would definitively put someone in either category. I mean, that's the cost of an iPhone that's going to be an outdated piece of poo poo with no battery life in three years anyway. Do you get pissed off with people that own smartphones too, CI, or is it only strollers that really piss you off? What about laptops? What about any of the normal, workaday things in people's lives that can easily cost $1000? Are they okay with you, CI, or should even those who can afford it live like monks just because?

# ? Mar 16, 2015 15:09

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Good monday morning fuckheads!

lol eat poo poo Canada

# ? Mar 16, 2015 15:43

Kafka Esq.: Jan 1, 2005; "If you ever even think about calling me anything but 'The Crab' I will go so fucking crab on your ass you won't even see what crab'd your crab" -The Crab(TM)

As a Canadian I am appalled by your cavalier disrespect of our nation and submit that you and I should internet duel.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 15:47

tsa: Feb 3, 2014

EvilJoven posted:

My wifes company is switching from new home construction to a lot more foundation repair which is great because Manitoba's economy is going to keep chugging along at an OK pace but the housing bubble starting to leak means less people building new homes and more people trying to keep their houses from falling apart because they know they're stuck with them.

Actually at least in the US it was almost the opposite- as the bubble gets worse and worse a significantly high percentage of homeowners are not 'stuck with em' because it becomes far better to just toss the keys to the bank and take the credit hit (which often isn't as bad as people think). In some cases doing so meant you got to live rent / mortgage free for a year or more because of the backlog in foreclosure. It's actually the people who were smarter (or unluckier) and have 30%+ equity that get hosed over.

A result is that home repairs dry up except for the most essential, crucial, needs to happen right now or this place will literally fall apart repairs are made and the post-construction field drys up. So foundation repair is pretty safe, but the place putting up gutters and such is screwed.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 15:51

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Cultural Imperial posted:

Good monday morning fuckheads!

lol eat poo poo Canada

well the price of oil will have to go up eventually.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:01

Kafka Esq.: Jan 1, 2005; "If you ever even think about calling me anything but 'The Crab' I will go so fucking crab on your ass you won't even see what crab'd your crab" -The Crab(TM)

To be quite honest, it might eventually. The oversupply glut might eventually ease, wildcatters in the US might be too leery to get back in as the price rises. That won't help the giant hole in petro-nation/province budgets, though.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:12

tsa: Feb 3, 2014

PT6A posted:

Personally, I'm upset with people who take on a lot of consumer debt for non-necessities, and who don't have any savings to speak of, but I don't see any reason why a $1000 would definitively put someone in either category. I mean, that's the cost of an iPhone that's going to be an outdated piece of poo poo with no battery life in three years anyway. Do you get pissed off with people that own smartphones too, CI, or is it only strollers that really piss you off? What about laptops? What about any of the normal, workaday things in people's lives that can easily cost $1000? Are they okay with you, CI, or should even those who can afford it live like monks just because?

Honestly the fact people went nuts at the suggestion that you can get a decent stroller and not spend 1200 bucks sorta proved his point more than he ever could, people in Canada are clearly spending outside of their means and all the things you are talking about add up. 1200 is on the very high end, it's supposed to be for rich people yet people are pretending like it should be totally normal for a middle class person to buy one. That's just it! It's justifying a 1200 stroller when you could get a good used one for 800, and so on. A fancy laptop when a basic used one would have worked. Though a good smartphone is like a hundred bucks on contract these days. If you can actually afford it, great! But there's a ton of middle class people that can't and try to justify it in ridiculous ways.

I mean this whole thread is for judging people based on their home purchases, not sure why it's a shock to you all of a sudden. It's all part of the same thing, a lot of people are spending way more money than they have because they are financialyl illiterate.

PT6A posted:

That seems like an odd assumption, given there's zero evidence that the increase in household debt is happening due to expensive strollers.

The point is that it all adds up. It's just a hundred here and a hundred there .... and then you have people 300% in CC debt. Like I said, I think the guy was just pointing out that new parents are especially vulnerable to this sort of nonsense -- their child has to have the complete best so swipe swipe swipe.

Kalenn Istarion posted:

I can say, having been both poor and reasonably comfortable, that both pt6a and CI are shitbirds, and also that the vast majority of people in either end of the spectrum manage to exist without holding such toxic opinions as 'you don't deserve children if you're poor' or 'being successful is bad'

Quote where someone said deserve? The only time I've seen it is when people are misrepresenting other peoples' positions. Fact of the matter is having kids when you can't afford them is one of the worst financial decisions you can make, which is fair to point out even if it's not fair in general.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:20

peter banana: Sep 2, 2008; Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.

Kafka Esq. posted:

As a Canadian I am appalled by your cavalier disrespect of our nation and submit that you and I should internet duel.

It's fine, soon saying anything denigrating glorious oil will put his name on a Big Bad No-No List at CSIS, so the problem will take care of itself.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:24

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

tsa posted:

Honestly the fact people went nuts at the suggestion that you can get a decent stroller and not spend 1200 bucks sorta proved his point more than he ever could, people in Canada are clearly spending outside of their means and all the things you are talking about add up. 1200 is on the very high end, it's supposed to be for rich people yet people are pretending like it should be totally normal for a middle class person to buy one. That's just it! It's justifying a 1200 stroller when you could get a good used one for 800, and so on. A fancy laptop when a basic used one would have worked. Though a good smartphone is like a hundred bucks on contract these days. If you can actually afford it, great! But there's a ton of middle class people that can't and try to justify it in ridiculous ways.

Right, but the reason I have $1000 to blow on whatever I think I need is because I haven't already spent it on other things. I didn't get a new iPhone when the 6 came out, I didn't take the vacation I wanted this winter, I didn't go out for dinner every time it crossed my mind, I didn't buy a new flat-screen TV because my current one is fine even if it's old and not as big as I want, I'm not getting a new car or lease to replace my paid-in-full car, and so on. If you're repeatedly spending money on unnecessary things, yes, it'll bite you sooner or later, but you can't base that off seeing a single purchase, whether it's an expensive stroller, a new iPhone, a gaming PC, or a lavish vacation.

The fact that people have no willpower and are spending too much money on dumb poo poo is a very serious issue, and buying a $1000 stroller might be symptomatic of that, but then again it might not be and instead just be a single, possibly ill-advised, bad purchase.

I probably have $2000 in art in my apartment that does absolutely nothing for me except hang on my wall and look nice. That's objectively a dumber decision than spending money on something with even slight utility, but it doesn't matter because I still have plenty of savings and no debt. If I'd bought all that stuff using credit card debt, yeah, it's a problem.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:32

Sundae: Dec 1, 2005

quote:

It's justifying a 1200 stroller when you could get a good used one for 800, and so on.

Not to go back to stroller chat (I'm asking this more as a general question), but is paying obscene prices for ordinary products the Canadian national pastime or something? I see a lot of things in this thread (apart from housing) that apparently cost 5-10X as much as equivalent, good-quality items in the states even after conversion.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:32

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Sundae posted:

Not to go back to stroller chat (I'm asking this more as a general question), but is paying obscene prices for ordinary products the Canadian national pastime or something? I see a lot of things in this thread (apart from housing) that apparently cost 5-10X as much as equivalent, good-quality items in the states even after conversion.

Yes, pretty much everything is more expensive in Canada. Lots of people who live near the border go to the US regularly to shop for things.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:39

Precambrian Video Games: Aug 19, 2002

Remember when the Conservatives went on that quest to find the source of markups in Canada and possibly do something about them? Whatever happened to that? All I heard was that they cut tariffs on sports equipment and baby clothes, and then reclassified a whole heap of otheritems, raising tariffs on them instead.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:49

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# ? May 21, 2024 20:28

Lexicon: Jul 29, 2003; I had a beer with Stephen Harper once and now I like him.

PT6A posted:

Yes, pretty much everything is more expensive in Canada. Lots of people who live near the border go to the US regularly to shop for things.

My folks live right on the border, and spend virtually all of their food, non-durable and durable goods dollars in the USA. Even with the CAD taking a massive poo poo, by not doing so they'd pay thousands of dollars more a year.

I'm sure there's a thousand sob stories to be had from Canadian retailers, but if that's the sort of arbitrage two consumers can realize, maybe Canadian retailers, could, you know, try harder.

# ? Mar 16, 2015 16:51

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