Optimistic, maybe "cautiously" optimistic - a good way to describe a number of economic outlooks we've been hearing about this month.  Financial experts, including our Aaron Ruston from Purposed Financial, are saying 2019 will be a year of economic growth in Canada and the United States.

As I read about consumer prices in the USA on the weekend I took note of how closely tied the Canadian and American economies are.  

Consumer prices in the US were down last month thanks to lower gas prices and the prices of airfare, mobile phone plans and used cars coming down.  You've noticed the price of gas coming down here at home, right?

You've noticed the price of food going up, too?  Increases for fruit and vegetables are partly to blame for food costs going up almost a half a percentage point - the largest increase in over 4 years.

I felt that last week when I bought 3 American-grown oranges and a head of lettuce for about $9.00.  Ouch.