She used her COVID savings to cope with high inflation, including a $500 surge in the price of propane to heat her house for the winter. She also stocked up on toilet paper and other items that were in short supply early in the health crisis.
“It did take a lot of the pressure off,” she says of the government aid.
Perrone also renovated her deck at a cost of $4,800 and bought new carpet for a sitting room.
About half the money is left, Perron says, and she’d like to replace her kitchen floor. But prices have doubled or tripled since COVID amid high material and labor costs and she worries that she won’t recoup her investment when she sells her three-bedroom house.
“If I do it now, I’ll get ripped off,” she says.
Instead, Perron is biding her time and waiting to use the cash to buy a similar-sized house on a smaller parcel that requires less upkeep.
