8 Ways to Beat Inflation Before It Beats You

8 Ways to Beat Inflation …

If we haven’t been through enough already, how are we going to beat inflation?

I don’t usually talk about money here on LifeUntucked^®, but this inflation thing has a lot of us on edge. We can see it’s real at the gas pump, in grocery stores, at restaurants, on used car lots, in building supply stores, and more. Where does it freakin’ end? Who knows?

First off, inflation feels worse than it is when we freak out about it.

And if we’re feeling edgy at best, or outright freaking out, we’re not going to be our best selves. That’s why I thought talking about some ways to best inflation before it beats us would be a good thing.

When just about anything turns sour, solutions can usually be found by going back to the basics.

And basic economics says that when goods and services are in high demand and the supply fails to keep up, prices will rise.

There are a lot of theories out there as to what’s going on and why… Did the pandemic lead to too many home-improvement projects or too much buying online when we couldn’t find any better ways to entertain ourselves?

Maybe it has something to do with all those ships stuck in all those harbors? That’s part of it.

Maybe we’ve gone stir crazy and are driving our cars more to go to places? This increases demand which causes prices to rise at the pump.

So, what can we do about it?

We can sit on our hands and hope things get better soon—Or we can take some preemptive steps. You know, get ahead of the curve (that’s economist humor, by the way). Sure, there are likely to be some sacrifices involved. Some of those sacrifices may even end up being good for you. What would you think about that?

Having more money to spend is a lot like losing weight.

Except for a few medical conditions, and regardless of what the diet du jour says, dropping the pounds boils down to…

1. Eating less,
2. Exercising more, and
3. Making better choices.

And with money, it comes down to a combination of…

1. Making more,
2. Spending less, and 
3. You guessed it—making better choices!

Making more is always a nice option, although it can take some time and investment on your part. The biggest opportunities are with numbers 2 and 3.

Sometimes higher prices of certain goods and services are enough to get us to spend less. And you can go further with it, too, by being more judicious in your buying. You know, exercise a little more scrutiny in your buying decisions.

Here are 8 ways to beat inflation before it beats you…

1. Don’t buy anything before you need it. Even if it’s a great price. Schedule purchases into the future whenever you can.
2. Resist the supersize. You’d love to have a five or ten percent price reduction, wouldn’t you? You’re giving yourself a price reduction when you don’t supersize.
3. Only buy what you need. Especially if the only reason for the purchase is it happens to be a great deal.
4. Remember, there’s no right price for the wrong thing. So don’t buy something if it’s not right. You can set your own standards, then don’t compromise them.
5. Attach a condition that must occur before you can buy something. I know I won’t build that deck this winter, so I’ll wait until spring to buy materials and tools.
6. Ask, “Where will it go?” If this thing you’re oogling won’t have a place in your home or life, then just say no to buying it.
7. Buy experiences over things, especially this holiday season. Gifts don’t have to cost money, and the best gifts always take time and effort. Are you willing to give the time and effort?
8. When you do buy things… buy better things. Better products last longer so they serve you longer, then you’ll buy less over time.

BONUS TIP: Don’t buy into the negativity of others— it belongs to them. So many people just love to find things to kick up a fuss and yammer about. That just adds to the grind.

So, what other ways have you thought of to beat inflation?

Some final thoughts on rising prices…

This situation won’t last forever. Much of it is created by our insatiable demand and desire for stuff—most of which we’ll also regret having bought later. 

You’ll also hear people claiming that when it comes to prices, what goes up never comes down. This is simply not true. Sure, some prices go up and stay up. Many don’t. Gas is a good example of one that does come down.

And one thing you can count on is that big business and government will do everything they can to stop inflation. Yep, it may be a rare moment when Washington actually takes some constructive, forward-looking action. Then again…

One thing you can count on is that at the end of this situation, you won’t be saying, “I should have bought more stuff.”

Spend some money on good times instead.

Be untucked.

p.s. Thanks for dropping by LifeUntucked®. If you found this post helpful be sure to share it with a friend. I owe you one…

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