Curious about Canadians in USA spending habits.

[littleshack]

As DH and I look more and more into spending time in the USA, and having just arrived home from a week long trip south of the border, we are both wondering how we can avoid spending the extra we get charged when using our credit and debit cards in the US. I get charged $1.00 everytime I use my debit card as well as the exchange rate (which we expect). DH gets charged an additional 4% on top of the exchange when using his credit card. What do others who spend extended time in the US out of Canada do?

[Ret Syntst]

We have a TD borderless plan that includes a US cash account and US VISA credit card. The charges on the card are in US funds. We transfer funds into the US cash account when the rates are favorable and pay the credit card out of that cash account. We get a favorable rate for the transfers (about !% better that the bank rate).

[Tony Lee]

We use a cash card (debit card) to withdraw about $800 at a time from ATMs and use the cash to pay for all of the smaller purchases. Still pay about half a percent to withdraw it, but then there is no fee for paying cash (and sometimes a discount), so it works out a lot cheaper than using cards for every small purchase.

[Flyboy757]

We have been wintering in Arizona for over 7 years now. We opened a Bank of America acct. When we cross the border, we carry less than $10,000 (bank draft) and deposit it at the first branch we can access. Over $10,000 has to be declared and it is such a hassle of paperwork and with people at the border...US and CDN both.
We also have set it up with our investment folks that they can transfer any amount we request into our acct with just an email. The bank must report to the IRS anything over $10,000 but to date we have had no inquiries from the IRS. We file form 8840 with the IRS every year to show we have ties to Canada.
This works for us.

[Skip426]

We , established a US address ( PO box ) near our area of choice. Got US C/C from the US bank , that's attached to our Canadian. The US bank accepted our Canadian , credit rating. Electronic transfers from bank to bank . Established a savings account in US dollars in Canada, purchase $5,000 lump sums of US dollars when the exchange rate is good , collect some interest in Canada. US account is checking only , no interest. Earning interest in USA, means IRS is made aware , not what you want.
The PO box is , because some US firms won't accept a C/C ;even if it is a US funds card; issued by a Canadian bank, linked to a Canadian address.

[bgsc]

We use the TD bank in the US through the year when the exchange rate is favourable and then transfer the funds to our US TD account,we also have a debit and Visa US funds