Nearly two thirds of Americans have cut back on restaurants, movies and other fun nights out, according to a survey offering the latest snapshot of how 40-year-high inflation is causing widespread economic pain.
Some 65 percent of respondents said they were spending less on concerts and other types of entertainment, while another 61 percent said they were driving less - with the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline still above $4.50.
More than 4 in 10 are spending less on groceries, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey of 800 people earlier this month, and about a third are using their credit cards more often to make it through the crunch.
Shoppers are spending less on everyday basics like bread, eggs and milk as well as processed goods like juice boxes, according to another study by NielsenIQ. Cereals alone have risen in price by a jaw-dropping 15.1 per cent.
Inflation reached a 40-year high of 9.1 percent last month, according to the government’s consumer price index, as people across the U.S. struggled to make ends meet and complained about the painful cutbacks they had to make.
The reality of sky-high inflation on families across the U.S. was on Friday. Mark Storti, from Avoca, Wisconsin, is a pretty typical American head-of-the-family scraping to get by. He said his household, on a fixed annual income of about $50,000, was spending an extra $4,500 this year compared to 2021 — mostly due to rising energy, gas and food prices. He commented 'That's really not the whole truth. You can't spend what you don't have...'
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Last year I averaged 900 miles a month on my truck and 600 miles on my motorcycle. In the past year I have had kung flu twice and is screwed up my equilibrium where I have only put 230 miles on the bike in the past year. I am also down to about 400 miles a month in the truck. I stopped my weekly trip to the the range that was a 110 mile round trip and I have been shooting wax slugs in the basement. I have a 25 foot range in the basement where I put a cap in a 38 Special shell that is pressed into a 1/4" thick of colored Gulf wax. The cap has enough pressure to send that wax wad cutter about 75" which is more than enough to practice with at 25". With gas at $4 a gallon it is only essential driving with multiple excursions combined to make the most of the outing.
ReplyDeleteGas here just went under $ 4.00 for the first time in four months. I shoot at a buddy's range on his cattle farm. You can do that here in Florida...
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