The loonie's demise

[to_hope 0]

When I started college in the states our dollar was about 75 cents. Then it slowly crept upwards until it was on par! What a great day for making a tuition payment! Now it is back down to about 78 cents.... and I'm really REALLY hoping it goes up again before I make another tuition payment when I start grad school in Michigan this fall! Ack.

Anyone else??

Edited March 6, 2009 by to_hope

[The_Dude 1,142]

I remember not too long ago that it was at $1.09 for a while. My fiance and her family would take every opportunity to laugh

[sly_wolf 199]

Makes it real tough on us since I live in the US and still work in Canada.

It feels like a 25 percent pay cut right now.

Sly

[JillA 2]

It's awful, and am doubtful it will change anytime soon.... the past summer was the best, doing $$ exchanges! Now using Custom House, I'm losing so much with every transfer

[The_Dude 1,142]

I think it's because of the color in the currency

[CDAgirlMI 51]

yeah, I was gonna say (before someone else beat me to it) that the Canadian dollar was hovering $1.09-$1.10 last year-ish.

to_hope: what school are you going to in Michigan?

[to_hope 0]

Well at least I'm not alone.

Makes it real tough on us since I live in the US and still work in Canada.

It feels like a 25 percent pay cut right now.

Sly

Ouch! That's rough.

yeah, I was gonna say (before someone else beat me to it) that the Canadian dollar was hovering $1.09-$1.10 last year-ish.

to_hope: what school are you going to in Michigan?

Wish it was that high again! Or at least wish we would be able to predict a bit of a rise... anything above 85 cents would be so much better.

I prefer not to say which school- it is a really small one, so just for internet safety

[neiks 19]

I still get paid in Canada so yah, it sucks alot..... plus we are in the process of buying a house in the US so that will be another US payment that will be at the mercy of the exchange rate for me ever month.

[SapphireDreams 71]

On the one hand its a good thing for us because we're getting a big discount on our wedding in Canada that we're planning... (well he is, not me) but on the other hand it sucks that my savings are really 25% less. I think I'll just keep my money in my CDN account until it goes back up (if it ever does).

[Reeena 0]

On the one hand its a good thing for us because we're getting a big discount on our wedding in Canada that we're planning... (well he is, not me) but on the other hand it sucks that my savings are really 25% less. I think I'll just keep my money in my CDN account until it goes back up (if it ever does).

Same here, we are thinking of leaving some of our money here in our Canadian acct because of how much we will loose off the exchange when we leave... I just hate paying the fees for them to hold our money for us while we just sit and wait... and not even earn much interest

[SapphireDreams 71]

On the one hand its a good thing for us because we're getting a big discount on our wedding in Canada that we're planning... (well he is, not me) but on the other hand it sucks that my savings are really 25% less. I think I'll just keep my money in my CDN account until it goes back up (if it ever does).

Same here, we are thinking of leaving some of our money here in our Canadian acct because of how much we will loose off the exchange when we leave... I just hate paying the fees for them to hold our money for us while we just sit and wait... and not even earn much interest

There are some accounts with lower fees. Not sure what bank you're with, but with TD, there are lots of options for me to just pay per use as opposed to a monthly fee and then what i plan to do is just transfer out money once a month as I need it. I mean eventually it have to go back up!! At least I hope so!

[defunct 0]

I'm very worried about the exchange rate. I've been saving up for quite a while now and was planning on using my savings to go towards a down-payment on a house when I move to the U.S. Now I'm thinking that I'll have to keep it in my Canadian account and wait until it gets better. I am kicking myself for not exchanging what I could when the dollar was par and better.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I cashed out my RRSps when theywere in the Cdn $ was in thye .60 range,ouch,lol I Now say let it go down, down down, so my Alaska cruise is cheaper,lol, ansd I can buy more Timmies on my Visits back in Stoon

[trailmix 77]

I'm very worried about the exchange rate. I've been saving up for quite a while now and was planning on using my savings to go towards a down-payment on a house when I move to the U.S. Now I'm thinking that I'll have to keep it in my Canadian account and wait until it gets better. I am kicking myself for not exchanging what I could when the dollar was par and better.

What we did was open a U.S. dollar account with the TD, when the exchange rate went up we transferred the bulk of our savings over there - when the rate was good - so it would stay in U.S. dollars regardless of the exchange rate when we moved - plus having it online like that you can just go in to 'transfer' and have a look at the 'real' buy rate that day and make your decision then whether to convert to U.S. or not.

Reena, as Sapphire said - the TD has a couple of good accounts that you might want to look at, depending on your balance (I'm sure other banks have them too). The value account is like $5 a month with limited transactions - like 4 - the RBC has a similar account. Or if you keep a balance of $3000 or more you have a variety of accounts to choose from where you won't pay any fees.

[to_hope 0]

On the one hand its a good thing for us because we're getting a big discount on our wedding in Canada that we're planning... (well he is, not me) but on the other hand it sucks that my savings are really 25% less. I think I'll just keep my money in my CDN account until it goes back up (if it ever does).

I'm hoping to do this too, but I won't be able to do it for too long before we need the money. Very much hoping it will go up by the fall!