Prices are going up, and although the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, says it’s temporary, he also says it’s transitory. That means the increased prices aren’t going to go back down right away, they’ll linger.
To help you keep your spending even, here are some tips for cutting costs:
- Review your budget. Determine where you can make cuts. If you don’t have a budget, make one.
- Take a look at your food costs. Compare prices on weekly sales, cook from scratch, shop at discount stores, and eat out or get take out less.
- Make a list of your subscriptions. Cut out Hulu or other items you’re not using.
- Stop using credit cards. It’s not the time to accumulate debts you’ll have to pay off later.
- Compare prices. Many stores will match prices. If you haven’t done a price comparison before you get to the store, you can use your cell phone for a price check. Check prices for gas before you fill up.
- Consider switching to a lower-cost cell-phone plan. Check with your internet provider to see what’s being offered.
- Put off purchases of cars and major appliances, if you can. Prices are up due to shortages and demand so delay purchases if possible.
While you work on cutting expenses, be sure to keep savings. And, in these uncertain pandemic times, make sure your emergency fund is adequate.
Great tips. Now, about my credit card balance. . .
Yes, credit card debt can be hard to deal with. After I paid off my house, I was able to reduce my credit cards to zero. It’s a good feeling.
Good advice for all of us. I went ahead and tweeted it!
Great advice for everyone. As for prices, once prices on some items go up, they rarely come down again.
We’ll see what happens next. These times are so uncertain. Just when it looked like vaccinating people was going make a big difference in fighting the pandemic, the more-contagious delta variant explodes throughout the world.