My wife is slowly waking up but is nowhere near learning about Q. She grew up in a Democrat household but was never that political. I would call her right of center now. She listens to me more and more. I can explain some things but she is becoming black pilled about the economy and the future of this country and world.
She is becoming hopeless because of inflation. We both make mid 5 figures. We live in a high cost of living area and it’s now really starting to affect us. She is 29 and I am almost 30 and she feels like we can’t afford to have kids. Gas here is over $5.00 a gallon and groceries are insane. Our rent is fortunately not that bad because a family friend is our landlord. But we’re the tier above living paycheck to paycheck. I quit my second job due to burnout and we’re missing that money, it paid for our wedding and now that money not being used for the wedding could really help us. We had a moderate sized wedding nothing crazy.
I just don’t know what to tell her. I know the dollar is gonna go to shit and that there is hope that the good guys will restore our wealth but she has no clue about Q and what not. From her perspective it just seems like everything is gonna go to shit. But I don’t want to lie to her and say things are gonna get better in the immediate when it obviously won’t.
First of all people during two great wars and a Great Depression still had kids.
Second, it requires a budget and plan to build a family. If you create a plan forward to build a family with something on paper your wife will be more confident to share a future building that family with you. And it will put her mind at ease.
To beat inflation you have to cut back on spending and increase savings. The impulse is to buy early and often to beat inflation in terms of psychology. But the truth is that type of behavior only fuels inflation and reduces your flexibility and cash flow.
If you are buying upfront and in bulk to mitigate the impact on inflation it should be on goods you can store for more than a year aka non foods and have space for.
Toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, trash bags are ideal because it is important to have in case of a natural disaster. But they are always needed and will inflate the most in no time along with basic medicines.
Maintaining a supply of cheap canned goods as a back up for emergencies is also a good idea. Once a year I do an inventory and rotate out and rotate in new goods around December.
Also in the months of November and December I load up on couponing and bogos which frees up money to buy food on the cheap and store in the freezer. So effectively I am paying 10 months of food costs that covers more than 12 months.
There are many ideas you will encounter but you will learn in time ways to be saving and cutting back.
Regardless of the loss of purchasing power of the dollar it is still king when it comes to such times because a recession is soon to follow. Having physical cash on hand along with in a HYSA is pretty important strategy to make your household secure literally and figuratively.
An ease of mind.
Thank you! Rather than worry it's better to plan and to prepare. Idle hands and minds cause mischief - or in this case cause anxiety.
This 100%. My husband and I actually saved more money when I had our first child and I stopped working because I cooked all our meals instead of us eating out all the time.
We seldom bought steak because chicken and ground beef were cheaper. We made burrito bowls at least once a week (beans, rice, chicken or ground beef, salsa on lettuce). My great-grandma lived through ww2 and she thought highly of the beans and rice diet. It kept her family going for very little cost.
Nitpick; "Prep" buy simply buying more of the non-perishable goods you already eat.
For a lot of reasons; chiefly, the last time you want to make a significant dietary change is in a highly stressful situation.
More than ever, you will need the comfort & mood boost a favorite delicious meal provides.
Only prep what you already eat, so that you can eat what you prep.
Example: Instead of buying one jar of your favorite pasta sauce, buy 6 (or as many as you can afford & PROPERLY store)
Instead of buying just one can of your favorite canned chili / beans / whatever; buy 5 or 10.
Ensure you have a good, temperature stable place to store them.
Yes!
Great post! I do many things you are doing.