9.1 % inflation last month. Buckle up Buttercup, it ain’t over yet. In fact there’s no reason for it to go down in the near future. That rate is from the United States. Guess what? For the rest of the world it’s worse. Europe is really getting it on the chin. Compared to most other places the US is a freaking success story.
Did you expect a major war without world wide consequences? The number one wheat exporter, Russia, is invading the number four wheat exporter. That can’t but help affect food prices.
To make the food situation worse fertilizer is in short supply. China is restricting the export of phosphates. Russian potash exports can’t get out of the country. Nitrogen fertilizers are made from natural gas which has gotten too expensive. Looks like there will be some adjustments to say the least.
So what do you do? Everybody knows you have to reduce expenses but this is big. Adjusting your thermostat a few degrees isn’t going to do it. Cutting out your monthly dinner and a movie won’t cover it. Desperate times will call for desperate measures.
Everyone’s situation is different. Some people still have money to burn. One of the reasons inflation is so high is that prices have yet to seriously limit demand. Apparently there’s a lot of money saved up from reduced spending during the pandemic. Some people are determined to get out and enjoy the summer no matter the cost.
For other people times are already tight. When you have a pile of bills it’s a matter of who gets paid and who doesn’t. Hint: can they repo or shut off something if the bill isn’t paid? If they can’t those are your lower hanging fruit.
Look into whatever government assistance is available but don’t count on it. One year my daughter and granddaughter moved back with us and we qualified for fuel assistance. Great, but the program had no money. The next year the program had money but we no longer qualified. Funny how that worked out.
Plan for the long term. You can’t paper this over with credit cards and expect to catch up when times are good. It won’t be over in a month or two.
-Sixbears
Actually Europe, on the whole, calculates their inflation rates more honestly than the USA. In fact if you calculate inflation using the method from the 80s we're already into double digits at 17.4 percent.
ReplyDeleteMoney printing from sea to shining sea has consequences. Add to that President Potato and his equally stupid administration being too dumb to grasp the real world consequences of sanctions against Russia. Then mix in a bit of panic by other nations on the security of their food supply and add a healthy dollop of the BRICS nations and half of the rest of the world happily aiding in anything that hurts the eternally interfering and domineering USA. All too many of them have felt either the "benefits" of our CIA, our military or our interference in their monetary supply.
Those chickens are coming home to roost on a large scale.
Personally I'm more than willing to pay the cost for sanctioning Russia. They must be stopped. If it takes inflation to do it so be it.
DeleteWe're good here.
ReplyDeleteAs you well know , it ain't because we are wealthy either.
We're good , because we've always prioritized.
She won't let me buy any more food storage .
Something about , not having to climb over piles of preps, just to go to the bathroom...
You certainly didn't start prepping yesterday. At some point prepping can go from making you feel secure to being an obsession in itself. As long as you can still get to the bathroom you are good. :)
DeleteYes you're notably free with government spending of everyone else's money whilst, as you admitted, living in a state with no state sales tax or income tax.
DeleteStill nevermind at least the spiralling debt will soon mean that we can no longer afford to pay boomers pensions or medical cover. The resulting slump in population should put us back on track. Oh and undoubtedly Russia will still be in Ukraine. Still Zelensky and Biden will have made out like bandits.