Two years after the pandemic, the big challenge this year was inflation.
To look back on a year of inflation, Global News reporter Aishwarya Dudha spoke with shop owner Tracy Bosche, economist Jason Childs and consumer Raiza Ocampo, better known as YQR Coupon Bae.
Q. Jason, can you look back on a year of inflation?
A: We are seeing the highest inflation rate in the last 40 years. This started late last year at the end of 2021 and increased through early 2022, peaking at around 8% in the summer.
This was largely driven by higher housing prices, rising shelter prices, gas prices and grocery stores. They were big leaders. And now it’s moving out of those sectors and into the wider economy.
Q. Tracy, what do you see from wholesalers? What was your experience as a shopkeeper last year?
A. It’s true that the prices of the items you bring in have skyrocketed. This is something we all have to deal with. It seemed like it took a while for some of that to change, but we’ve certainly seen that too.
Q. What is the difference between you and Liza as a consumer? were you doing something different?
A. More than ever this year, prepare your grocery list ahead of time, make sure you have good value for money, and use other resources like cashback apps to get more money back. I’ve tried my best. So I’ve been working very hard on it.
Q. Jason, how do you feel about how people’s behavior has changed over the past year? What are they doing?
A. At the beginning of the year, we didn’t see much change. People had him coming out of the pandemic in two groups. The group that was really struggling and the group that came out of the pandemic and got cash because they weren’t migrating. .
So it didn’t make a big impact on spending until we entered that midsummer month. And now, consumer spending has dropped significantly and people are moving to lower tier markets. Things like dried pasta are being pushed off shelves much more aggressively than earlier this year as people make substitutes at grocery stores.
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Experts share grocery store ‘inflation hack’ to combat rising cost of living
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Experts share grocery store ‘inflation hack’ to combat rising cost of living
Q. About grocery stores. Mr. Raiza, do you think more people are using coupons and discount strategies than last year?
A. I definitely agree, especially looking at social media and seeing that not only my followers are growing, but other coupon users on social media as well. I used to think that coupons were just moms sitting around the table clipping coupons. But lately, coupons have evolved with digital coupons and cashback apps, and that’s what I see.
Q. Raiza, can you give me some tips and tricks on how to get serious about saving money at the grocery store?
A. We always recommend downloading the Flipp app for anyone looking to save money at the grocery store. I always start with the Price Match app. Because you can browse digital flyers in your area to see sale prices, shop at stores that have Ad Match policies and allow photos to be displayed in the Flipp app, or the cashier simply matches the price of the item. increase.
I think it’s the easiest way to save 50% or more.
And when you add cashback offers and coupons on top of that, you get so much money back.
In the next part of this series, we’ll explore inflation hacks in more detail…
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
