I do most of my shopping in Spokane and Kalispell. I use them as mini vacations more than shopping trips. We have free access to property in the Flathead area so it makes it a quick and beautiful resting spot.
The one thing people really don't realize is the price of everything in Canada. Everything is very expensive. Even a pack of socks at Costco in Kalispell is $10 where here you pay $15. I bought an electric shaver for $90 in the Spokane and the same one here is $140. An Eddie Bauer baby stroller with car seat is $200US but up here it is over $300. I realize the infrastructure down there is much better and it is quicker to transport goods, plus the duty etc for bringing any goods across the border. It is still ludicrous how bad we are taxed, and then there are hidden taxes in everything that we don't even realize. Plus the companies in Canada are just gouging us to make up for a less inflated economy in the US right now.
Even with the cost of gas, if you do enough shopping you can at least break even, plus you had a bit of vacation. I am heading down next Friday for a week and I can't wait to be gone. I worked over 260 hours in three weeks so I am going to spend some of my hard earned cash in the US.
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