Fragments of FranceIn the parking lot of the shopping area of La Madeleine, we do our accounts to the nearest euro, we look for good deals and we measure the increase in the cost of living by the yardstick of what we can no longer see. ‘to offer.
That day, Véronique Richy changed her supermarket to do her shopping. The Carrefour was on his way. “Usually I go to Lidl, it’s a lot cheaper. ” She does her accounts, opening the trunk of her car to store the contents of her cart. “I got it for 106 euros! And again, I took just what I was missing, without deviating from my list. There are a lot of things that have become expensive, especially since the Covid… ”
This dynamic sexagenarian is parked in a huge parking lot that Carrefour shares with distribution mastodons: Leroy-Merlin, Kiabi, But… Inserted in the district of La Madeleine, lined with social housing, this commercial area wedged between the city of Chartres (Eure-et-Loir) and the A11 motorway looks like thousands more in France. We go there by car and, once the shopping is done, we must rest for a few moments to remember the location where we parked it.
Véronique Richy works. Finally, continues to work, at 62 years old. Even if her job as a cleaning lady is physical, “To retire as they say”, she doesn’t think about it. “Me, I need the money. With my husband, we don’t eat lunch. Water, electricity, gas, everything has increased, it’s a horror. “
At the start of autumn, here as elsewhere, concerns about purchasing power are resurfacing. In August, over one year, consumer prices climbed 1.9%, due to the rebound in prices of manufactured products, according to INSEE. Food prices rose 1.3%. Much less, however, than energy (+ 12.7%). Véronique feels the difference: she has “Two more credits on the back for five years, for the car”. Because she recently gave her Mégane to her son so that he could go to work. “You see, he has two children. “
His car, Bernard Lesueur, came “Just buy mineral water for the iron”, is not going to change it in the end. With his hands in his pockets, he is leaning against his small vehicle without a license. On the left side, an unrepaired hook serves as a nest for rust. He has “Looked at the prices, and it’s not possible” with the “1000 euros and dust” of his retirement, and all that leaves “In electricity and rent”.
“Everything is more and more expensive”, also deplores Paige Edmée, a 26-year-old copper-haired carer, who came to shop for an elderly lady in a wheelchair. A full of “112.51 euros, because there are a lot of fruits and vegetables. But also a lot of yogurt this time: five packs of 16! ” She laughs, because she’s never seen so many in her trunk. For her own purchases, she has her habits in another supermarket, where she lets go “200 euros at the beginning of the month. There are three of us, the bill goes up quickly. The more it goes, the less the fridge is full, while I spend the same. A child in the home immediately increases the budget ”.
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