Shopping outside the country - unpatriotic?

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shesells

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There's a couple of threads in dontaskaboutmoney where people have brought patriotism into the discussion where shopping outside the country has been discussed - specifically in the US and Northern Ireland.

At a time when taxes across the board have been increased, capped with already higher prices here and the 0.5% increase in VAT - shopping outside the state is increasingly attractive.

It is really an issue of patriotism?

My two cents worth - I don't think it is. If prices here were competitive then apart from souvenirs we would not need to shop abroad, but we're not. And the VAT increase will only make things worse. I would shop at home all the time if I could afford to but it's just too expensive.

On budget day I decided that Newry once a month was going to be an important shopping trip. 0.5% on top of an already higher VAT rate this side of the border means my money goes further up North. Seeing as I won't have as much money to spend any more, I need to get that value, our government have made it that way. It's nothing to do with patriotism.
 
Mary Harney told us to shop around, and by God that is that I do. Sure what else was the internet invented for :)
 
Comes down to choice too. If I can't get it here, I will go abroad.

Newry...I really need to think about a trip there sometime.
 
Hope Willie O'Dea/Brian Lenihan don't read AAM ........... otherwise hello customs cabins at border crossings:D
 
Simeon said:
Hope Willie O'Dea/Brian Lenihan don't read AAM ........... otherwise hello customs cabins at border crossings:D
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Not much they can do. We are all one big happy European family now. (Rejection of Lisbon apart)
 
Didn't the Anglo-Irish agreement come before all that anyway? I vaguely remember my dad being stopped at a cabin checkpoint just past Newry on the way South during the Silly Season and being checked over for smuggled spirits etc, but that must have been a good 25 years ago.
 
is it unpatriotic? I don't think so, look along any high street now and its all UK, European companies, so anything you are spending is heading out of the country to a head office anyway!
Tesco are now sourcing most of their stock in the UK, moving from their irish based suppliers, so its not like we're keeping jobs in the country, most of the suppliers are letting people go because they've lost a large portion of their business.
I shop in Lidl, Aldi, local butcher and local market, with 2-3 trips up to Belfast cash and carry for all the store cupboard / household stuff / alcohol.
 
I travelled through Newry on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon and I was stunned at the length of southern reg cars queuing up to get off the Motorway into the city, there must have been 3 or 4 miles of cars bumper to bumper, I knew there were some people who travelled up there but just didn’t realise there were that many!!!

And just for the record I did my own little price watch up there, in Dublin I bought a 2L bottle of Ballygowan in a petrol station- it cost €2.40. I checked its price in 2 shops in Co. Down the first sold it for £0.95 and the second for £1.05.

Plus i also noticed signs from lots of shops in Newry offering £1 : €1 exchange rates
 
bamboozle said:
in Dublin I bought a 2L bottle of Ballygowan in a petrol station- it cost €2.40. I checked its price in 2 shops in Co. Down the first sold it for £0.95 and the second for £1.05.
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€1.25 in Dunnes in Sandyford Ind Estate last week.
 
we shop in Newry about every 6 weeks to 2 months and save a small fortune, especially on baby goods

never ceases to amaze me how some people can claim that shopping in the North/overseas in unpatriotic and how we should keep our money at home yet never seem to remember the billions we got from overseas in grant aid(ie from Brussels)
 
How could anybody argue that its unpatriotic? Sounds like something that would come from the republican party in the U.S.

Is travelling abroad for holidays unpatriotic?

Is watching Sky TV unpatriotic?

Where does Petrol come from, certainly not off the coast of connacht!!!

Its up to the government and the shops down South to make life easier for the consumer and to take away the motivation to travel so far for groceries.

I dont think its unpatriotic to save money. Somebody once told me charity starts at home. I used to think it was a selfish saying but in times like these when everybody else is looking after their own house, its the only thing people can do to get by.
 
I understand people nipping over the border to get cheap items, its convenient.

I just don't understand people schlepping all the way to NY to buy a few items of clothing. Whats the point? Its just not worth it. A couple of hundred euros for the flight, two whole days travelling, more money on a hotel and food in the one of the most expensive cities in the world, all to save maybe 70 or 80 euros on one item?! Then you have to deal with the real possibility of being nabbed by customs on the way back. I've also found people are willing to 'lower' their standards in NY just so they feel they are getting a bargain compared to back home. Cheap crap is cheap crap no matter where you buy it.
 
you incorporate a short holiday into your shopping trip. If you were to buy enough clothes to last you a few months it would pay for the hotel and flight.

This assumes that you are buying branded clothes like Tom Hill, e.t.c. and assumes that you were going to buy the same amount of clothes here in the first place.
 
I'm in Holland at the moment and am thinking of buying a beer in a few minutes... is that allowed? :confused:
 
Seriously, check out some of the posts on the shopping in NY thread at the moment. I'm just glad treason isn't a capital crime any more!
 
Niallers said:
you incorporate a short holiday into your shopping trip. If you were to buy enough clothes to last you a few months it would pay for the hotel and flight.

This assumes that you are buying branded clothes like Tom Hill, e.t.c. and assumes that you were going to buy the same amount of clothes here in the first place.
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Sorry I don't understand your logic? Or maybe I do?

So if I spend X amount on clothing and Y amount on flights/accomodation I will save Z amount. X+Y=Z (saving)?

Or maybe you are saying that the money saved on buying in NY (the extra 60 euro at most per item you'd spend extra in Ireland) would compensate for your flight and hotel. Yes they may just cover that cost but then you have inconvenience of going to NY to buy clothes.

Think of the value of your time shopping, is that not worth something? The countless hours spent in airport line-ups, immmigration line-ups, customs line-up. The costs of getting to and from the airport, not to mention the total of 14 hours you will spend in a cramped economy seat.

In the end you may end up still saving a few schillings if you factor in these unseen costs but really, was it worth it?
 
Imho, New York is too good a city to be wasting much time shopping, although its nice to visit Macys or other stores at the end of a long day's sightseeing. I can't really understand people wasting a whole day going to Woodbury Common.
 
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