“I was already careful not to drive too much before the crisis. Now, I count everything,” asserts Sébastien, 55, who became an accountant in spite of himself. While the price of diesel stood on average, Friday October 9, at 2.35 euros, this RSA recipient living in a rural area had to resort to a series of renunciations to avoid falling into the red. Like him, the French have profoundly changed their daily lives: fuel consumption in the country recorded a 30% drop in mid-September compared to the beginning of the month.
The government did announce on Wednesday the provision of 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic stocks in order to reduce the price of a liter at the pump by 12 to 18 cents, but the effects of this measure will not be felt before the month of November.
So in the meantime, and to consume as little as possible, Sébastien and his partner limit themselves to essential trips in their department, Vendée. "We don't go on vacation, we don't have any leisure activities. We only live 10 kilometers from the beach, but we can no longer go there." A life on hold, and full of record longevity. “With this strategy, we managed to hold on without using fuel throughout the month of July,” he says with satisfaction. But this economy of forced travel is not without repercussions on the morale of the fifty-year-old: “Daily life is not glamorous. I no longer do anything, I am experiencing a new confinement, but a long confinement.”
“When you have so little income, it’s immediately huge”
Looking for a job after leaving his position as an associate professor to be closer to his family, Sébastien sees the price of fuel slowing down his efforts. "Last week, I had a job interview about forty kilometers away, I really asked myself 'am I going, am I not going'?" For the compulsory appointments established by France Travail, here too, the problem arises for this resident of a small town where the public transport offer is limited. “I have to travel around fifteen kilometers to get there and video is not accepted.” A small distance that weighs heavily on your finances. “When you have such little income, it’s immediately enormous,” he insists. The government has extended the aid measures intended for heavy commuters and sectoral categories to help them get through the crisis, but unemployed people, such as retirees, are excluded.
“Optimizing the slightest movement has become a science.”
Sébastien, 55 years old, job seeker
at franceinfo
So, the new price increases since September are perceived by Sébastien as a worsening of this situation that he has resigned himself to "enduring silently" for seven months.
Consolidate your trips
The situation of Corinne, 54, is, at first glance, more comfortable. This teacher's salary is around 3,000 euros net per month. However, she is also worried about the future in the face of unavoidable expenses. "I'm not one of the people who are most to be pitied, I'm perfectly aware of that, but I wonder how it will evolve. It sounds a bit 'crying' but I see that at my level, it's already more and more complicated, so I think there are people for whom it's hellish." The 70 kilometers round trip to get to the college where she teaches weighs on her accounts, already weakened by a mortgage.
So, this resident of a small village in Tarn-et-Garonne, far from shops and public transport, “groups [her] trips together to limit costs”. “If I have to go to the hairdresser, I will take the opportunity to do my shopping the same day, go to the pharmacy and schedule my doctor’s appointment,” she explains.
No gas, no dancing
But this compression of journeys is not enough, Corinne is also forced to give up certain pleasures. “I would have liked to sign up for the ballroom dancing club again this year, but I couldn’t: the class was a 30-minute drive from my house.” To save money, the teacher also changed her driving, now “less sporty, or at least more fluid”. “I don’t drive fast, I turn on the air conditioning as little as possible…” Little tips found after some research on the internet. On a professional level, the teacher also grouped her lesson hours over four days instead of five. “The working conditions are not the same, it’s more tiring, but in one month, I saved a week’s worth of fuel,” she figures.
Nicolas, 45, has also seen his working conditions change since the start of the fuel crisis. The management of the hotel-restaurant where he works has decided to limit “cut” hours in the establishment as much as possible. This split working time over a day has until now forced employees to go home and then return for the second shift. An untenable pace with the rise in diesel prices. Despite this arrangement, the Vauclusian, who receives 2,200 euros net per month, still dreads each trip to the pump. And for good reason, fuel represents, in his budget, an envelope of almost 350 euros per month with a car "which, however, consumes reasonably".
“We can't do anything other than fill up, so the money we put into gasoline, we're going to cut it elsewhere.”
Nicolas, 45 years old, employee in the hotel industry
at franceinfo
Food spending has been held tight since the start of the crisis in March. “I take the essentials: I buy fewer little pleasures, pots of ice cream, good desserts… Cereals for children, now, are the store brand or the lowest prices.” The forty-year-old has also stopped going to supermarkets, favoring collection points. “At least with the 'drive' you don't have gondola heads, big windows or new products with promotions, I'm not tempted to take more things,” explains the man. The father also learned to be patient to save a few liters of fuel. “When I take my daughters-in-law to dance or the circus, I stay there and pick up a book.”
Salaries that “are not extendable”
Eva, 52, also testifies to a "feeling of having to make every trip profitable", causing "an additional mental burden". This state civil servant spends, with her husband, 300 euros per month on fuel for two cars. “Much more than before the crisis.” With a salary of 1,500 euros and 3,000 euros net respectively, the spouses are outside the aid measures put in place.
So, the family took action by getting rid of the holiday caravan in May and replacing their Citroën Berlingo, "which consumed a lot", with a smaller model. The Varois have also equipped themselves with a scooter, which, in addition to being less fuel-efficient than a car, is well suited to an “often sunny” region. Despite these efforts, "the fuel share encroaches on other parts of the budget, since salaries are not expandable", laments Eva. And the couple's sociability ends up suffering: recently, their planned "nature trip" with friends in the neighboring department of Bouches-du-Rhône was canceled. Too far, too expensive.
Behind the crisis, the specter of isolation
The meetings of Pierre-Louis, 26, have also reduced dramatically with the crisis. “Before, I went to visit my family in Sarthe once or twice a month, now it’s more like once every two or three months,” laments the young man, who lives in Ille-et-Vilaine. He has intensified his use of carpooling, but his advertisements do not always find takers.
HR assistant with a salary of between 1,500 and 1,800 euros net, he was, initially, "barely" excluded from the 100 euros aid set up by the government and intended for heavy rollers. Pierre-Louis and his partner are now eligible since the expansion of the system, announced at the end of September. A welcome boost for these future parents, which will add to the efforts made since the start of the crisis. "Before, we went to the sea often, it's not very far. Now, we think twice. If the weather is nice, we'll stay at home, do sports. My partner has taken up creative hobbies," says the young man.
