For many, the holidays this year mean making do with less: NPR

Many families across the country expect the holidays to be more expensive this year, leaving them with less of what the season is all about: family and food.

“My god, is it different this year!” Steve Posey said this week while investigating the dairy case at the Aldi supermarket in Medford, Massachusetts. “With the inflation and the cost of eggs and cheese and all that stuff, it’s so ridiculous.”

He and his wife India came to the store to shop, but not for themselves. They recently got a second job at Instacart to help cover their rising costs.

Despite Posey’s job as a case manager at a veterans organization and his wife’s job in child care, they still can’t make ends meet. For their Thanksgiving dinner, they got a turkey and some canned goods a food bank. They’re scraping together the rest of their meal, but Posey said it undermined their holiday spirit.

“It kind of takes away the joy,” he said. “This year I don’t feel any of it. To be honest, I’m just trying to stay above water.”

Posey has also seen how much the veterans he works with are struggling. Many saw their federal SNAP food assistance disrupted this month during the government shutdown, and still haven’t caught up. The tension is now starting to show, he said.

“We’re seeing a lot more people frustrated and a lot more people angry,” he said. “You’re starting to see an increase in violence, especially domestic violence, and a lot of substance use because they’re just overwhelmed.”

In New York City, Queens resident Rosetta Savannah faces her own challenges. She is among those who saw their SNAP payments disrupted during the government shutdown and is still waiting for this month’s benefits. So far, she has only received half of what she normally gets, and she has had additional medical bills.

Her family’s Thanksgiving dinner will also be lighter than usual.

“We mainly do chicken because chicken is cheaper,” Savannah said. “I usually bake cakes and pies, but I won’t do that this year.”

She also depends on a local food bank for a small ham and some side dishes, but she knows there is no guarantee that anything will be left.

“You have to get up really early to at least be maybe the 30th person on the phone, and then just wait and see,” she said.

Savannah is also cutting back on gifts this year. Her three children only receive one small gift each, instead of the several she usually gives them.

There will also be fewer presents under the tree at Bonnie Green’s home in Bethlehem, Penn.

“I forego gifts significantly, that’s just not possible,” she said. “I can’t afford it.”

Green, a 60-year-old professional and homeowner, has always considered herself upper middle class. She loves shopping on Black Friday and planned to buy several new outfits for her children and for her first granddaughter’s first Christmas. She usually also prepared an elaborate and lavish feast.

“I’m going big,” she said.

But earlier this year, her job at the National Science Foundation was one of many eliminated by the Department of Government Efficiency, which President Trump created by executive order on his first day in office. She still has her job as a professor at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, but her total income is now half of what it was.

“That’s a lot of money that’s no longer there,” Green said. “It’s really hard.”

This has led to major changes this year. Other than gifts, she isn’t decorating as she usually does, and her holiday menu is much more modest. Her usual seafood soup is replaced by chicken soup. And forget the Beef Wellington and the pecan pie, she said. Instead, she “leans” toward dishes she can make with much cheaper ingredients.

The biggest blow: her sister can’t be there for Christmas. This is not only due to the higher air fares, but also because she is having a hard time and has to work an extra shift.

“I have friends who (say) the economy has never been better,” Green said. “I don’t know what economy they live in, but it’s not mine.”

Still, Green adds that she feels fortunate compared to others, especially the many low-income students at her school.

She said the campus food bank is doing almost double its usual volume, and she has heard from students who are so financially strapped that they may be forced to drop out of school simply because they obtaining their degree, which would jeopardize their future earning potential.

Green, who has spent her career exploring how to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged students, has a scholarship fund this fall to help students who are as close to graduating as they are running out of money.

“It would be a tragedy beyond words,” she said. “They will never be able (to sit) at the table without a bachelor’s degree. They won’t even be invited to the table, and they deserve to be there.”

So far, the foundation has raised enough to keep one student in school until graduation. But there are dozens more who qualify for the program. Groen does what she can to help. Although she has cut back on her holiday spending, she has increased her holiday pay to support the foundation.