[Kevin]

My grandmother automatically saved half of her and my grandfather’s raises.

It never felt like a sacrifice to her because they were able to spend more despite saving more.

I just realized that was during the “Great Inflation” period of the mid-60’s through early 80’s. Inflation was often 5-10% and burst to nearly 15%.

Real spending likely fell for their family of five.

How have you continued to save despite recent high inflation?

[Chris]

I think Inflation is/can be individualized. There are some aspects that hit people more than others, for example buying a used car, or getting your house remodeled etc will impact those people but be irrelevant to those that are not.

I think it comes down to your priorities, can you push off having house remodeled a couple more years? Can your current car run an extra year or two if repaired? Can you eat in instead of eating out? Can you change the ingredients to a cheaper but comparable brand?

I’m in the UK and inflation here sucks and sucks bad, think it’s like 50% higher than the US at the moment. But the only thing I’ve noticed personally is that mortgage rates have increased (we only really have 2-5 year fixes here) and food increased.

Fuel and electric has increased, but we were able to make changes to offset most of that.

[Jenny]

I’ve cut back drastically on junk food and eating out…I’ve lost 30 lbs in 6 months and still spending the same amount on food that we’ve always spent. I miss eating out though.

[Brad]

The same way we always have. Invest first. And make do with only what remains. Repeat.

[Jack]

Paid off cars (hybrid and electric) and a low fixed rate mortgage means my personal inflation rate remains low.

[Chrissy]

By cutting back on eating out, tracking spending, diying problems, and checking with our local Buy Nothing groups for help when needing a big item (my vacuum died and someone gave me their old but awesome Dyson Animal Ball vacuum ❤️)

[Tony]

Honestly…. if you were already saving 30%+, then this small blip isn’t too difficult. Cheaper home and car than most (the biggest expenses), and not eating out for lunches and dinners, saves a ton of money. If paying an extra $2 for eggs destroys your finances, you have larger problems.

[Nicole]

Yes, I stopped spending on wasteful things and increased my contributions from 10% to 18%. Now that it doesn’t even hit my account, I don’t have a choice and just ensure I don’t go negative each month. Works great.

[Lee]

Money market accounts went to 21%. In what became Silicon Valley, housing prices were jumping 3% per MONTH. Big increases in wages occurred. Lowest mortgage was 7%. This all happened to me and my little family. I saved in my company stock plan anyway, and was rewarded later with stock price increase.

[Teresa]

Finally used this time to evaluate my eating habits. Boy I can really save by having my daughter, young adult, pay for her specialty items. Started meal planning with a healthier diet which cut down on my grocery. Car share with my daughter now that I work from home. Downsizing the items in the home by selling.

[Jay]

Back in the day …my aunt used to automatically save ALL of my uncle’s paycheck by chasing him down to his favorite bar & grabbing the paycheck before he could do much damage.

[Author]

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