Sask. residents prepare for frugal Christmas as high cost of living delivers blow to budgets

Many Saskatchewan residents say they simply cannot afford all the bells and whistles for Christmas this year due to the rising cost of living.

Families are facing inflated prices as they prepare to celebrate the holidays.

For example, between August 2021 and August 2022 in Saskatchewan, chicken drumsticks went up 33 per cent, canned soup went up 68 per cent, iceberg lettuce went up 25 per cent and pork shoulder cuts went up 30 per cent.

As a result many are choosing to make different food for their Christmas meals, forgo trips to visit family due to high gas prices, and cut down their budgets for gifts. 

Gas prices and non-existent Christmas budgets

Amanda Buhler is the mother of six children who lives near Melville, Sask., about 140 kilometres northeast of Regina.

"Food cost has almost doubled sometimes, especially in a small town where they have to bring in food, shipping it in. So [we're] paying more for food at the grocery store," Buhler said. 

"It definitely has affected our budget this Christmas."

Buhler said her family has no problem switching away from expensive gifts to things that are smaller, second-hand or homemade.

To help with the family budget, Buhler said she buys turkeys when they're on sale, so she doesn't have to break the bank even more at Christmas.

Buhler has family in Manitoba, and is planning on visiting them with her brood in the days following Christmas. However, that trip will cost a lot more than usual this year. 

She said that right now it takes $100 to fill up the tank of her minivan and takes two tanks to get to their family in Manitoba.

"We're not going near the places that we used to go. Even just driving to town, which is not that far for us ... I try to still only go once a week."

The large family will also cut out one of their big traditions this year. 

"Usually we drive around and we go carolling at a lot of places. We're not doing that this year just because the fuel costs to do that is more than more than normal," Buhler said.

For Ashton Myers Hoffman, this Christmas will be devoid of travel or gifts.

The young man lives in the village of Buena Vista, 40 kilometres northwest of Regina. He said he's just looking forward to a free holiday meal with his family this season. 

"Usually I would get gifts. I would have like a $50 budget, maybe $100 if I really liked the person. But this year I can only focus on myself, so I can't buy anyone anything. My mother's birthday just passed. I wasn't able to get her a gift," said Myers Hoffman. 

Right now, he said he is using overdraft to get by as the cost of living remains high. 

What is being done

CBC reached out to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Finance for comment. In an emailed statement, it reiterated that the province has mailed the Saskatchewan affordability tax credit payments of $500 to residents to help with rising costs due to inflation.

"Saskatchewan has among the lowest taxes and utilities in the country, full indexation of the tax system which protects taxpayers, and a number of tax incentives for individuals and families aimed at affordability," read the statement. 

Meanwhile, anyone hoping for a break on sky high grocery bills should brace themselves for 2023, as the typical family's food bill for the year is predicted to go up by more than $1,000.

That's one of the main takeaways of the 2023 Food Price Report, an annual publication by Canadian researchers that looks at factors across the supply chain to attempt to predict the cost of putting food on the table.

Adopt a family

Stevie Bell of Regina knows things are hard for many right now. That's why they've decided to "adopt a family" through Regina's Sofia House.

"I've never done something like that before," Bell said. "So I just kind of said I have a smaller budget because I'm on parental leave, but I still want to do something."

Sofia House has 20 suites for families who have experienced domestic violence and they're all currently full.

"So 20 families are in need of Christmas gifts and a little help over Christmas. So we put out a call to the community and the response was overwhelming," said Tmira Marchment, executive director for Sofia House. 

Marchment says every family will receive gifts from people in the community. In fact, the response was more than needed.

Bell was assigned a mother and daughter to buy gifts for.

"I'm a first-time parent, so I just realized, like, it's hard. So if I could maybe help them out in some way then at least I could do something. Plus I got to go shopping for Barbies, which was really fun," said Bell. 

Meanwhile, Marchment said she is overwhelmed by the community's kindness. 

"I know it's hard for everybody this year with inflation and with rising costs, Marchment said. "So it's really heartwarming to see that the community can still come together and to support people when they needed the most."