MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Inflation on everyday expenses remains an issue for many people, especially when it comes to transportation and food.
“It is really a struggle for me right now,” Memphis resident Julie Roberts said.
She added that it's painful to see how much she finds herself shelling out more money on her weekly expenses now.
“Each of my four children are at a different school and they’re at schools all over town, so it basically takes me two tanks of gas every week,” she said.
She has gone from paying $50 a tank to $100 per fill-up. A survey that was done by the Lending Club said more than 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
She said with being a single mom, she has had to reconsider where and how she spends her money.
“We haven’t been going anywhere else other than church and girl scouts cause my girls are in scouting and that’s important,” she said.
That includes other trips the family tries to make while on their way to and from school.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, inflation has risen so much that food that would've cost $20 in 1913 now costs more than $500 in 2022.
“We used to do pizza every Monday. We ordered Dominos, and the kids really enjoyed it…but now we just try to make something at home,” Roberts said.
University of Memphis Economics Professor Dr. David Ciscel said it might be a few months before we see a change, but relief will be here soon.
“There’s really two lights at the end of the tunnel. One is that the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States, which is in charge of stopping inflation, is working very hard to stop this inflationary binge,” Ciscel said. “The other thing … because of labor shortages, people’s wages are rising more rapidly than they have in the past.”