Gas taxes, GST, carbon tax, tax, tax and more tax…for a region of the country, for that matter North America, that is so unaffordable, have you had enough?
We have a couple of options here in Surrey and South of the Fraser; we can choose to endure, and most of us do, the level of taxes that are required to live in the area, or we can choose to cross the line and take advantage of some savings South of the Border in the USA.
Keep in mind that no everything is a deal down the in the US, but for the day to day stuff, the tangible items, like gas, dairy and other goods, the savings are enough to nudge me to shop south of the 49th.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love my country and I am Canadian through and through, but when push comes to shove and I can get goods and services for less, why would I not shop elsewhere.
We do it all the time, so what makes shopping in America so bad? Most of us vacation there, so why should shopping be any different, especially if I am shopping across the line for the affordability it gives to my family?
One of my guests this morning on Pulse of the Fraser was Peter Shawn Taylor, a journalist back east who wrote an interesting piece on Fat Tax, the taxing of convenience foods. Governments believe that they can change your eating habits by imposing a tax on what you eat…you only tick most of us off and we shop elsewhere.
You can read that article right here.
Peter also mentioned the term ‘NUDGE’. Government feels that they can nudge you into the direction that they want you to go by either incentivizing or in most cases, penalizing you and your certain behaviours that you might have.
My friend and cohort Neil Morrison wrote about his NUDGE last week, smoking and trying to quit. Neil believes that if there was more of an incentive than what is currently out there that he may very well be able to give up the habit…God knows he’s tried!
But Neil is like many, the tax on cigarettes, which is excessive and now will cost the average smoker about $12-15 a pack, isn’t enough of a penalty to quit.
I spoke about going across the line to shop…and I am going to test the theory. I am heading across the border to pick up some supplies and then I will compare them to pricing back here in Canada. I will not cherry pick, I’m just going to shop and then compare prices when I return. Some things might be deals while others, not so much.
I will see if my itch will be scratched here. If I can find a way to save $20 a week, that is $1000 per year.
I will give you my report with a little receipt evidence tomorrow.
In the meantime, please have a listen to Peter and I discuss his report and nudging.