I just want to add one thing - we need to also keep in perspective what people make, taxes, and general living expenses. Let's say if someone makes 10 dollars/hr in Vancouver and pays $1.35/liter for gas and 12% taxes on merchandise, it's not the same as someone in Washington making 10 bucks an hour paying $2.80 for 3.78 liters and 8.3% in taxes.
Last time I was in New Jersey you don't pay taxes there on necessities, like shoes. If I go for a visit to UK and have to pay 3 pounds for a tea it's very expensive for me, but if I was making 10 pounds an hour in the UK it would be compatible to paying $3 in Canada for a tea. During my travels I paid $5 a night for my own hotel room in many countries. If rented for a full month it would be $100-150/month. For me it was really cheap. But in some of those countries people were making not more than 200 dollars a month. I remember a waitress in La Paz was making around $50/month. There was a town in the middle of the country where I was offered a comfortable room with access to kitchen so I could make my own meals for $40/month. Here, I just got delivered a set of stainless bolts for my KZ (very nicely and professionally marked by the way, by AlloyBoltz.com) for about 40 Canadian dollars.
