Hey guys!
Who do you believe has the cheapest groceries?
Canadians or Americans?
Hi, I'm Bonita from Surviving Three Boys and a Girl and today you're going to find out
who has the cheapest groceries, is it the Canadians?
Or is it the Americans?
Just before I start, don't forget to subscribe to my channel.
Alright, I want to start off by saying that when I did this research, I did it through
a Canadian perspective.
So what do I mean by this, is that anytime I found a USA product, I would convert it
at a $1.30 and the reason I chose $1.30 is cause that is this weeks conversion rate.
And then I applied to the product that I was using for USA.
Are you ready for the results?
Drumroll please.....the results are actually, it's not quite black or white answer, believe
it or not.
If you are a Canadian and you are thinking oh I'm going to go across the border and go
buy me some groceries because it's cheaper there, do your research before you go because
technically some items are actually more expensive in the states when you convert it at the dollar.
Unless the dollar is at par, sometimes they might be cheaper, but not, even then it may not
even be cheaper.
So what do I mean by this, well, let me tell you.
For example, actually I use milk, I use eggs, I use diapers, apples, cheerios, laundry detergent,
and toilet paper.
I used different items, kind of random, just to see what it was compared to Canadians.
And I did it all through the Walmart page in the US because it was always the same in
different states.
And then when I compared it to the Canadian brand when I am trying to find the same brand
every time.
The Canadian, I would use Walmart if I could, but if it wasn't available, then I would use
a comparable site such as like Superstore or Loblaws or Provigo in Quebec.
I want to clarify that when I took the average amount, I took 24 states in America, and then
I used BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec for Canada.
Now, were Canadians technically were not, we're more expensive on obviously the dairy
products because of our quota system here in Canada, but it wasn't a huge amount, if
I were to take, I took actually, all these different grocery items, and I did 6 weeks
of groceries with all these items, and I didn't purchase these items every single week, like
diapers I only purchasedon week 1 and week 4 as per my little program here.
And I purchased let's say 3 milks every week that's kind of what happens in my family.
And technically, with all those different items, even with like the milk or eggs, like
the supply management items, those were more expensive, but yet, total wise, after each
week, the Canadian groceries became cheaper.
Isn't that amazing, I actually thought it was the opposite too myself until I started
doing the research.
You're probably thinking as if it's more expensive in the states than *Canadians*, and like I
said because I'm converting at a $1.30 that's how I'm comparing to see if it's more expensive
or not.
But again, like I said, some of the items are still not necessarily that much cheaper
in the states when you are at par.
Especially if you are going to factor in travelling, that gas amount you are going to use, or the
flights, or whatever you are using.
Again, do, if you are thinking of going to the states to go do grocery shopping because
you think it's a lot cheaper, highly recommend looking at your what the conversion rate is
and then research the items you're thinking of buying.
I know that some of you know grocery items in the states can be cheaper in different
stores, maybe Walmart is not necessarily the cheapest store in the states.
I always follow a few people on Instagram, and they always do, I did my grocery haul
for $100 a week at Aldi's.
And I'm thinking what is Aldi's, I keep hearing how Aldi's has these great sales.
We don't have Aldi's here, we don't necessarily, in Canada, we don't necessarily have a specific
store, grocery store that you will be a lot cheaper than other brands, Costco maybe because
you are buying in bulk, but if you compare all the grocery stores together, they're kind
of all the same, obviously some stores may be a little bit more expensive, but again
it depends on the size and bulk items.
To give you a quick run down of the items that I look at, I again, I said milk, and
when I'm going to give you these prices, I'm going to give you the price in the Canadian
amount and the US, when I give you that amount it's actually converted in Canadian dollars.
So let's say something is at $1 in Canada, in the US it's at $1.30 it's because I converted
it at $1.30.
If that makes sense.
For example, now milk, milk was actually more expensive here by 89 cents for 4 gallons,
for 4 gallons, for 4 litres sorry.
The milk was $4.80 in Canada on average, Quebec was really high actually, $6.99 for a gallon
of milk.
In the states, it's $3.91 Canadian, so there was an 89 cents difference.
Rice, cheaper in Canada, more expense in the states by $2.
A box of Cheerios, a family size box of Cheerios, I would have thought it would cheaper in the
states, nope, it's actually a $1.57 cheaper in Canada.
So if you were to convert that back to Canadian price, ugh to the American price, $1.57, 20
cents difference still.
So it's still cheaper in Canada.
Ground beef, came to $5,89 a lb in Canada as $6.39 American.
41 cents difference.
So obviously if you were to have a par on the dollar it would be cheaper in the states.
Laundry detergent, this one is shocking, laundry detergent was actually $5.44 cheaper in Canada.
Eggs, because it's part of the supply management system here in Canada, they were $1.10 more
expensive.
Diapers were $16, strawberries actually are cheaper here by 55 cents and carrots are cheaper,
ugh no, carrots are more expensive by a $1.
And toilet paper was more expensive here as well.
But again, if you were to take all these items that I actually priced out, and you were to
buy these, well not every week, but like as per normal shopping routine, your dairy supplies,
like your milk, your eggs, those are going to be more expensive, but you're, there not
a huge amount, you're not paying a big amount for these items.
And if you were to buy Cheerios, you're going to buy some ground beef or some diapers.
It actually adds up to being cheaper in Canada.
Who knew right?
Again, I want to make sure that you understand that not everything will always be the same.
So, something may be cheaper here in Canada, and something might be cheaper in the states.
Just do your research before you go, that's my biggest recommendation.
As much we, these are just certain items that I researched, obviously other items may be
a lot cheaper there or expensive.
I don't know.
Again, check online before you check, you go and buy it over there.
To conclude this whole video, I want to say that it was cheaper to purchase items in Canada
vs the states with the current dollar that we're at.
If it was at par it would be slightly different, but again I would actually consider the travel
cost.
And also, another thing to consider, is, how much, what is the average income in Canada
versus the average income in the states.
I didn't do the research for this.
I'm sorry, I can only do so much research in a week with the kids at home.
But that is another aspect to think about.
What is the average income for a Canadian and if it's let's say 50,000, well, we spend
about 20% of our income on groceries, well ok, so what is the price versus our income,
is that good or not?
And another thing to think about is ok, what is the average income in the states.
If it's lower, how does that compare to their grocery prices.
Is it actually harder for them to purch, is it more expensive to them, versus the price
for us, if that makes any sense to you or not, I don't know?
I'm not a statistician, I'm just doing this out of fun and I was curious myself to think,
oh I always thought that it was cheaper in the states, until actually thought of the
dollar, but not only the dollar but it's actually the brand themselves can make a difference
across the country.
If that makes sense.
Let me know what you thought, what items do you like to purchase in the states or if you're
an American, what do you like to purchase here, hey Americans, you should come, you
know, shop over here, we have cheaper items for you, just a thought.
I'm going to stop rambling now, this was actually really interesting for me, hope you found
it interesting as well, and again please don't forget to subscribe, and I'll continue to
do some videos as much as I can.
Obviously, you know, next week I can't, taking a break, vacation for the family.
But I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Thanks guys!
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