Cost of Living·Full Episode

Remember that year you made $17,000 but got assessed $8 million in taxes?

Million dollar tax bills and how to avoid them when you only make $20k, plus whether exclusive social media apps like Clubhouse have a downside. And why nostalgia marketing has driven more business during the pandemic!

The Cost of Living for March 14, 2021

The new app Clubhouse is the latest invite-only social network; plus we talk taxes — and remember Crystal Pepsi? It's not back this year but lots of other products leaning on nostalgia are on offer. (Associated Press/Adobe Stock/PepsiCo)
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This week, we're talking about how to get invited into the club. Clubhouse, that is.

If you haven't managed to snag access to the exclusive, iPhone-only, by-invitation-only, audio-only chat app, The Cost of Living goes behind the velvet rope and asks whether social media is fragmenting too much — and whether that matters.

Nobody enjoys paying taxes.

But what happens when a 17-year-old Starbucks barista gets a phone call from the tax department telling her she owes $8 million? Sometimes those CRA scam calls aren't a scam — and with 2020 being a more complicated tax year it's worth paying closer attention.

And wasn't it better when you put on your jelly shoes, hoop earrings and a Benetton shirt to go to the mall?

Do you pine for those totally radical days of yore? Be kind and rewind the VHS tape with us as we look at why products and pop culture are digging into the 1980s and 1990s so much right now.

The nostalgia effect is real, and it's spectacular — especially during the pandemic.

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