50 Pics That Prove That Inflation Is Getting Out Of Control

Inflation has been driving the prices of grocery staples, home goods, beauty products, gas, services, and pretty much everywhere people spend their money. So naturally, it is making more and more Americans change their shopping habits. And the people affected by this most? Low-income families that are feeling the income and wealth inequality deepen to alarming levels.

According to Rachel Siegel and Andrew Van Dam, reporters at The Washington Post, price hikes are particularly devastating to households with already tight budgets. The main reason for this is that the majority of their expenses go to necessary everyday items such as food, energy, and housing — things that have seen some of the largest increases over the past year.

"Of the 10 categories with the highest levels of pandemic inflation analyzed by The Washington Post, lower earners spent a greater share of their total spending on most of them, from natural gas to beef," they wrote, adding that the highest earners outspent the lowest on cars and furniture.

Wealthier Americans won’t feel as affected by inflation because of their spending habits: "They spend more of their budget on retirement accounts, mortgages and investments, and less on the necessities, such as energy or groceries, that are squeezing budgets around the country." Moreover, they have stronger protections shielding them against increasing prices. They already own homes, have substantial retirement savings, and their investments will probably outpace inflation in the long run.

So, unfortunately, lower-income workers usually feel only the negative side of inflation. "Their rent goes up. Their heating oil prices go up. Their grocery bills go up. And there’s no room for higher prices in their already stretched budgets. Plus, with stimulus benefits and child-tax credit payments long gone, many have exhausted their financial cushions."

Xavier Jaravel, a London School of Economics professor stated that for low-income Americans, a small change in disposable income is very difficult to cope with. "Every bit of additional inflation just reduces purchasing power," he added. "If you have a large income, which often goes with the fact that you’re saving a lot, then losing some of your purchasing power is not a big cost."

Fear of losing our hard-earned savings makes us want to stockpile goods and let emotions overtake our decisions. And as it turns out, doing so can only make matters worse. As Michael Finke, a professor of wealth management at The American College of Financial Services, told NBC News, "People tend to have a rational response to gains but an emotional response to loss."

He explained that loss is processed in the limbic, otherwise known as the emotional part of our brain, and gains register in the prefrontal cortex, where cognitive behavior is processed.

"When inflation is bad and people expect it to continue or get worse, they generally tend to not save money and try to buy durable goods before the price rises," George Loewenstein, professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, added. He continued by explaining that people are rushing to get products that are not frequently replaced, "to the extent that doing that increases demand relative to supply — that can exacerbate inflation" and can become "a self-reinforcing cycle."

While we patiently wait for inflation to level off, there are a few things to consider to make our lives a tad easier. Jay Zigmont, a certified financial planner, explained that "you may have been able to just make it before without a budget, but with inflation, a budget becomes a must." And while the first month will be rough, and you may get things wrong at first, he suggested to keep on trying.

According to him, it takes three to six months to make budgeting part of your life, and he advised budgeting based on "musts, shoulds, coulds, and won’ts." Musts include things we can’t live without — housing, utilities, insurance, and transportation. After you take care of your musts, you can move on to shoulds, things like debt, investing and saving. "If you are in debt," Zigmont added, "you may not have money left over for your coulds."