Practical Ways To Live Through Inflationary Times

 | Jul 08, 2021 01:11AM ET

Whether we head into hyperinflation, stagflation, or recession, it is always good to be prepared for more of the same-rising commodity prices, low supply, high demand, and a low labor force wreaking havoc on your wallet.

Inflation especially hurts people on fixed incomes.

Wage growth can partially offset inflation as well, but not every job or industry will have the same response and the average wage growth can be skewed by big increases at the top.

Here are some tips on ways to help reduce the effect of inflation, from practical ideas to investments to keep an eye on.

h2 Plan your shopping in advance/h2

Check your inventory and draw up a shopping list before you go to the market. Make a list of items you need (try not to buy what you don’t need) and stick to the plan. 

Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Take hard cash instead of your credit card.

h2 Tax advantages/h2

Tax rules allow investors to adjust the cost of an asset to inflation during the holding period. Talk to your accountant.

h2 Categorize everything into either variable rate or fixed rate/h2

Any debt with a variable rate has the potential to increase your payments in a period of higher rates.

Remind your boss that a 2% raise in a year with 3% inflation is not a real raise.

h2 Precious metals/h2

Once investors begin to worry about rising inflation, we can expect gold and silver to jump in price.

Luckily, ETF’s such as (GLD) and (SLV) make the metals easy to own, compared to buying them in physical form.