(TheConservativeTimes.org) – High inflation still seems to be the main factor contributing to the financial stress of many. According to a survey, about sixty-five percent of Americans said that inflation is the main driver of their financial stress and that they were living paycheck to paycheck.
Jenn Lueke, a recipe developer in Boston who spends her time online showing people how to cook on a budget, spoke out about the inflation, saying, “I think it’s no secret that prices are going up in pretty much every area right now.”
Last year, Lueke took a grocery list that was worth $50 to $75 and turned it into five different recipes. Her goal with this was to show families that they can still eat well while on a budget.
“It’s really hard. I’m not here to, like, share toxic positivity about how to shop on a budget. I’m just trying to empower people to feel like they can get a little bit of control, at least in this one area of their food costs,” Leuke said.
Lindsay Owens, the executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, a non-profit think tank, spoke out about inflation and people’s reactions to it. “I think Americans are a little perplexed when they see news reports of inflation coming down, and yet they don’t notice any of their prices coming down,” she said.
Economists have spoken about the difference between disinflation and deflation. Disinflation would be inflation increasing at a slower pace, whereas deflation would be inflation reversing itself.
Historically, prices rise much easier than they fall and when they do fall this is usually because of people spending less. However, in this case, it isn’t the reason because people are spending the same amount they did before.
“This cycle is a concept called money illusion,” says clinical psychologist Sabrina Romanoff. “People with money illusion … don’t take into account the level of inflation in an economy. So they wrongly believe that a dollar today is worth the same amount that it was the year prior,” she said.
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