With inflation showing no signs of abating, three BC residents share how rising costs are affecting them and what they are doing to deal with it.
Cloverdale resident Mallory Muller is a mother of two teenagers with type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. For his family, this means consuming more meat, fresh produce and dairy products for a balanced diet, as well as the obligation to buy gluten-free foods.
Cloverdale resident Mallory Muller is pictured here with her husband, Dave, and two sons, Owen and Brody. Mallory Muller says the family’s grocery bill has increased over the past few months.
Photo: Provided by Mallory Muller
Mallory Muller says she has seen a sharp increase in the cost of food. The average family grocery bill was around $200 to $300 per week. But over the winter months, it increased by another $100 a week.
” I remember not long ago I went to buy a cauliflower and it was $11. »
The family has to make sacrifices, says Mallory Muller, such as not being able to help their eldest son Owen buy a car that would take him to the University of the Fraser Valley this fall.
This family, who moved to British Columbia from Alberta ten years ago, are considering leaving the province if the cost of living continues to rise.
Adapt menus
As co-owner of the Brentwood Bay Village Empourium, a café, general store and event venue all rolled into one space; John Carswell says he is experiencing growing inflation in running his business in Brentwood Bay, Vancouver Island.
Like many other small businesses, John Carswell faces supply chain issues. Many of its products are made with sunflower oil, but its cost has doubled in recent months, as it is mainly imported from Russia and Ukraine. John Carswell says he started using more canola oil to cut costs.
He also tries to source as many local ingredients as possible, even though the price of those items has also increased. As a result, the menu is constantly being adapted, for example with the temporary cessation of the production of gluten-free biscuits. Some prices have also been increased to maintain activity.
” The really troubling aspect of inflation, of course, is that the more we raise our prices to fight inflation, the more we contribute to inflation. So there is a great danger for us. »
Cumulate jobs
Meanwhile, Maple Ridge resident Dayna Ceaser works three jobs as a licensed massage therapist, housekeeper, and teaching assistant; her husband Josh works as an auto mechanic. She says she’s noticed that their paychecks don’t last as long as they used to.
In addition to spending more money on groceries, Dayna Ceaser says she feels inflation at the gas pump and therefore rarely fills up with gas.
” We have a camping trip coming up and now we need to budget our gas purchases and [considérer] how far each tank will take us. We’ve never had to do this before. »
Dayna Ceaser dreams of being able to buy a house in her hometown of Maple Ridge, but with the rising cost of living, that dream is slipping away. We would love to stay here but are being pushed further and further because we just can’t afford [de rester vivre ici].
With information from Peter Evans and Ashley Moliere
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca