At the grocery store checkout or gas pump, it’s impossible to ignore rising prices. With cold weather creeping in, homeowners also face higher heating costs.
The average per-gallon price for regular gasoline is $4.28, a 44% increase from this time last year, according to AAA New Hampshire Average Fuel Prices.
In the Northeast, food prices have risen 2.3% since last September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fuel oil for home heating has increased by 74% in the same period.
The statistics alone can be abstract, but they’re affecting spending habits across the state. Here’s how three Monadnock region residents are adapting to cope with the costs.
Smart shopping
Ellie Helstein, a 26-year-old mother of three in the Jaffrey area, works multiple jobs and has had to make tough decisions about what to cut from her budget.
The current price trend is “pretty brutal,” she said. Helstein works in manufacturing and owns a cleaning business.
Helstein said she usually goes bargain-hunting for groceries at ALDI in Keene and has cut her spending by getting creative with her kids’ activities.
“We don’t do the extra stuff anymore,” Helstein said. “I have three kids, so I can’t really go out and bring them to all these crazy, extravagant, fun places anymore, if we want to eat all week.”
Especially when it costs $100 to fill her car’s gas tank, she added.
“It really just comes down to cutting other things, ’cause I mean, you have to buy food, especially when you have kids,” Helstein said. “You know, I’ll eat ramen noodles every night. I don’t care, but when it comes to my kids, they eat the same meal two days in a row, and I’m gonna hear it for the next month.”
Increases on a fixed income
Libby Haddock, 83, lives in Dublin and has seen how rising prices put pressure on a fixed income.
Over the past year, Haddock said her heating bill has doubled.
“I was paying three-something, and now it’s gonna be six-something,” she said.
Haddock also buys organic foods for her health. They’re already more expensive than regular groceries, but she doesn’t plan to stop buying organic.
“I believe that you can either pay the grocer or pay the doctor, so I’d rather spend my money on my food, on eating well,” Haddock said.
Do cheaper, farther options balance out?
Kayla Leite and Audrey Mazzarella, 20, are both students at Franklin Pierce University.
Leite said that, without her parents’ help, she would struggle to afford basic necessities. She used to buy premium gas at the pump but has cut back.
“Obviously, I don’t need to get that, but now I don’t get it anymore because it’s so expensive,” she said.
Mazzarella said gasoline is a big factor for her budget, too.
“If I come [to Market Basket], it’s almost the same amount if I’m about to fill up my gas tank, so it’s kind of like, which one do I want? Do I want groceries, or do I need the gas?” she said.
Both said they usually take a trip to Keene to shop at ALDI and save a couple of dollars, but that takes more gas.
“I came here, and I didn’t even have a long list, and it was like $78,” Mazzarella said. “I could have gone to ALDI, and it would have been around $40, but then I’m also driving there, so does it really help?”