With supermarket prices rising year after year, Barbadians are finding creative ways to keep the spirit of a traditional Christmas, from growing their own food to baking instead of buying, shopping around for deals, even flying overseas to stock up.
Outside Popular Discounts at Kendal Hill on Friday, shoppers streamed in and out with bags of meat, fruits and baking supplies, many already deep into preparations for the season.
For mother of five Elsa Marshall, making Christmas work this year means doing more herself and buying less. “Try to keep to the basics,” she said, adding that with children at home, she still tries to ensure they get cake and a few treats. “I usually bake my own cake because the price I see for the cakes are already baked. It’s a no-no.”
Marshall also said that there is a difference in her cooking in comparison to the store-bought items. “My children very often say they prefer my cooking.”
The difference in cost, she said, is impossible to ignore. “If I spend $50 on a cake, that $50 I could get about three cakes for that. So I’m making my own and saving time going into the supermarket; time is money. The long lines for cakes, I eliminate that.”
She grows most of her own seasonings in her backyard garden, but even with three working adults in the home, making ends meet is a struggle: “The more money you make, the more expenses you have.”
For Ericson Thomas, the keyword this season is budgeting. “Sometimes there’s the option of going to a different supermarket to budget yourself,” he said. “ If you think you could get something a little cheaper someplace else, go for it.”
His family will still have ham, chicken and likely turkey, especially with guests coming over. “My wife’s a chef, so she basically gave me the kitchen,” he joked.
Heather Bostic, who was with her two friends, said she’s keeping things simple this year. “You just buy the basics and the necessities,” she said. “You don’t go overboard, seeing that you still have bills to pay.”
Her must-have? “The extra thing would be a ham,” she laughed, adding that Christmas for her is about a little extra vegetables and a few treats for the kids, but nothing extravagant.
Packing the groceries with her son, Barbara Waterman said she usually hosts a big crowd and is preparing for another full house. “Baked pork, chicken, even turkey — you could buy and freeze until the new year.”
For Yvette Sealy, a wheelchair user who shops for both herself and her sister, Christmas is more about faith than fanfare this year. “I checking on normal everyday food,” she said. “I got a ham from last year in the freezer. I might use that.”
She admitted to scaling back. “Things have changed. What you could have done before, you can’t do now. Christmas is only one day. All I want to do is go to church, come back home, get a little dinner, and that’s it.”
Others have taken even bigger steps to stretch their dollar. Mrs Blackett from St John said her family travelled to Canada to stock up. “When you go overseas and you see things cheap, you buy them,” she said. “Breakfast stuff, meat, it’s cheaper over there.”
The cost of living hasn’t hit her household as hard this year, she said, partly because they were able to clear their items without heavy Customs charges.
Many shoppers said the rising costs are unmistakable. One elderly woman paused to compare her receipts. “I bought the same amount of fruits now that I bought last week… and it was $10 more,” she said. “Within a week.”
She has been preparing since July, setting down buckets of ingredients to avoid the December rush. Even so, “You buy something this week, then come three or four more days… it’s more.”
But despite the pressure, the determination to have “a real Christmas” remains strong in Michael Beckles as he placed groceries in his car. Certain traditions must survive regardless of cost, he said.
“Buy what you want. There are certain necessities that our tradition speaks for itself. We got to buy things to prepare the jug jug and those traditional things. We still have a Christmas time to make, and Christmas is what you make it.”
Still, he’s pacing himself. “A little bit of everything. You can’t go overboard,” he said as he prepared to welcome guests from overseas. “Some coming in today too.”
(LE)
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