Rising Inflation

[seaar2000]

Is anyone out there worried about rising inflation? I know I'm getting a little nervous. It seems that no matter what you buy everything seems to be going up in price. Just wondering what everyone else thinks and what they will have to cut back on with the rising prices.

[gakline]

I'm not really bothered by inflation. I figure that if there wasn't a term for it, no one would even know it's there. Also, most people get a yearly raise and as long as that matches inflation or goes above, they will have the same spending power.

[jmjj215]

I'm not too worried about inflation either. Try and focus on ways to improve your earning power (business on the side, PT job) if you're worried about losing ground.

[34saving]

It seems like the inflation I worry about (utilities, insurance, housing, college) has been extreme regardless of the supposed "inflation rate", so I guess I'm not all that concerned. (My clothes will be more expensive now I guess . . .but I don't need to buy those . . .)

[obi_positive]

Inflation is a big concern for me. Inflation can be easily overlooked as strain on your cashflow. Higher gas prices mean higher cost of milk and other truck-delivered goods. Phone companies stash all kinds of extra fees to the service price you signed up for. Health insurance rates and school tuition rates increase higher than the inflation rate. Even the highest saving account rates don't match the 4% inflation rate, so even my emergency fund is losing.

I took a Financial Peace course a while back (Dave Ramsey), now I see everything with more perspective. I'm increasing deductibles for all insurance, shopping for new car insurance, shopping for cheaper internet provider, looking for a rain barrell, use the library instead of buying books/videos, looking to friends and family and garage sales to buy good used furniture/appliances/toy for the kids/etc, cut back on restaurants, opened a medical flexible spending account at work, contribute as much as the employer will match on the retirement account, have rabbit ears on the TV, never turn down a free lunch, update the computer as much as possible before buying new, use pre-paid calling card, use the knowlegable guys at Home Depot to teach me to repair my own home instead of hiring a contractor, don't use credit, give as much as possible away to church and charity instead of creditors, mulch the flowerbeds, use soaker hoses and learn as much as I can about everything.

[skipper]

Why worry about what you cant change. Think positive tighten the belt a bit and move forward hopefully everything works out.

[baselle]

I sure do think about inflation. Worry is a bit strong, but you have to remember that even at 2.5% inflation, $1 now has the same purchasing power as a $1.28 in ten years. It means that interest rate on your savings vehicles must keep up with inflation, and it becomes critical to move any super low interest rate accounts to anything better - an ING account, a CD, an I-bond.

If it makes you feel better, deflation is supposed to be economically worse. Think a nation of frugal people waiting, just waiting for prices to go down. We need the spendthrifts and the impatient to make us look good.

[Tree0164]

I don't think about inflation per say but I do feel it. At the grocery store etc.

[Susapalooza]

I'm concerned about inflation. There've been higher prices at the pump, higher sale and grocery-store "loss leader" prices, and for many, higher insurance premiums. Prescription drug costs are spiralling:

Wholesale prices for popular brand-name prescription drugs rose an average 7.1% in 2004, more than twice the general inflation rate, a new study commissioned by the nation's largest seniors lobby says.

source: USA Today: [url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-04-12-drug-prices_x.htm[/URL]