Families adjust their lives to the rising costs of groceries, utilities, and rents

 

Families adjust their lives to the rising costs of groceries, utilities, and rents.

 Last winter, Angela Guetta kept the thermostat at 65 degrees and found that the highest gas and electric bill she went on was around $220. Now, she keeps the thermostat "at a cool 60 degrees" and has already seen her bill come up to $250. She works as an IT manager in the two-bedroom house she shares with her teenage daughter in Norwich.

"On my desk, I have a space heater that I use and assemble. I have USB gloves that I plugin and a heater, and I have a great hoodie, and sometimes I'll also be at my desk wearing a hat," Geeta said, but she noticed that her daughter's room wasn't cold.

"We just try to maintain our way of life, but give and take a little of each one so that we can live comfortably," he said.

Veronica Guerry of Waterford, who left NSA Supermarkets in New London on Wednesday, said the prices were "ridiculous," so she stopped buying brand names and didn't go out much. She said that she recently started going to this supermarket because it is cheaper.

Likewise, Tiffany Adante, who lives in Oakdale and works in Groton, used to go to Stop & Shop and Big Y but started going to ALDI. She has two kids, one of whom is a teenage son, "so the snack bill is high." As costs have risen, Adanti said, it has also switched cell phone and car insurance companies.

The inflation for all items rose 7% in December from the same month a year earlier, the most significant 12-month increase since June 1982. Food prices rose at home. By 6.3%, meat, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 12.5% ​​— more than twice as much as any other grocery category.

In December, consumer spending fell 0.6% after rising in the previous three months.

Social service agencies see a growing need

"Not only for food, "but "Eversource has also gone up exorbitant amounts, and they don't know where to go, so WIC is the 'door' they come in because they know they need something. I find that WIC employees provide a lot of Referrals to other resources internally and externally."

She's seeing an influx of customers requesting WIC, which serves pregnant and breastfeeding women through their child's first birthday and children until their child's fifth birthday. Through the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, customers can obtain nutritious foods that they might not purchase otherwise.

Brady noted that Eversource has a program where customers can get discounts if they get certain benefits and has seen a "significant increase" in calls and emails from customers looking to confirm their WIC eligibility so they can lower their Eversource bill.

TVCCA runs an energy assistance program, and the agency's Executive Director Deb Monahan said the oil price in New London County through the program rose from $2.05 on Jan. 26 last year to $3.14 on that day this year.

She noted that when gas prices rise, "it will affect any commodity that must be transported. It will damage food."