The rise in prices of food products, the increase in electricity and fuel bills, difficulties at the end of the month, in short inflation. In the chic neighborhoods of the city of Nîmes (Gard), these concerns do not yet seem to have entered the daily lives of rather privileged families. Or, in any case, they will only say it half-heartedly.
At the exit of a supermarket located on the edge of the Vacquerolles golf course, Aurore (who requires anonymity) is one of the only ones to agree to discuss the subject: “I pay more for my cart, that’s for sure, but that doesn’t really have an impact on our habits. We have not changed our lifestyleexplains this HR consultant, married to a business manager, mother of three children, and who has booked their next week of vacation, at the beginning of November, in Sicily. But when I see the price of gasoline, I’m happy to drive a Tesla. »
In this district located on the edge of the city center where the upper middle cl lives, in villas and beautiful residences built on large wooded plots of land, the inflation which began eighteen months ago has not become a real subject of concern. However, some families are more careful with expenses, even if they have difficulty admitting it.
A fifty-year-old mother explains: “I don’t feel like I have to make too much effort, we’re not really affected by the prices. Our girls do horse riding and music. This year, it’s true, we asked them to give up their third activity… It was a lot on the schedule and it was starting to get expensive, but we can’t complain. When I see the price of certain foods, I wonder what people on the minimum wage can do. »
“I take the supermarket brand”
Didier Blanc, who works for the pharmaceutical industry, does not complain, but since September says he has “rebalanced things”. He admits not “go shopping at the supermarket often”and just opted “for the sub-brand of drinking compotes”.
And he, who was used to only buying his fresh produce at the Halles de Nîmes, a covered market in the city center, has changed his habits. “Almost 10 euros for 500 grams of butter, that’s starting to add up. We must return to the principle of reality. Now, I take the supermarket brand, there is more than 2 euros difference! Same for yogurts. »
In front of her brand new electric SUV, Camille Marchand, 33, recognizes “win well” his life. The rise in prices has changed her purchases, even though she would find “displaced” to complain: “We have two cars to repay each month, costs that are not decreasing like the canteen at 7 euros per child each day, the loan for the house we have just built to repay! So yes, I look at prices when I buy products. We used to go skiing twice in the winter. This time we may only take a week. » Further on, a retiree, who has just returned from Corsica, where he has a second home, declares: “For some time now, I have been buying my perfumes on Amazon. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper, but I haven’t told anyone that. »