*First National Community Bank’s blog does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, investment or other professional advice. Recipients should consult their professional advisors for advice.
Everything is costing more these days. From grocery prices -- especially the cost of grocery staples like eggs -- to the price of gasoline, inflation means the purchasing power of your money decreases steadily as costs for the aforementioned staple items continues to rise. First National Community Bank has outlined 4 tips to help you successfully navigate through this time of record-breaking, rising inflation.
- Review Your Monthly Budget…Monthly
Arguably the most important way to cope with inflation is to create a budget to have a clear picture of your household income and expenses. Equally as important is that you review and update your budget each month to ensure that you are staying on track. With costs on the rise monthly (weekly in some cases), it is especially important to adjust your budget to account for rising gas, utilities, grocery and transportation costs each and every month.
- Prioritize Spending
This goes hand and hand with establishing a budget and reviewing it monthly. Prioritizing essential monthly expenditures such as food and transportation expenses while curbing discretionary spending, such as dining out and entertainment can really make an impact and help you manage your finances successfully. For example, are your monthly streaming subscription services adding up to hundreds of dollars each month? If so, it may be time to evaluate and cancel underused subscriptions or even cancel cable and stream basic TV channels. Rethinking these types of monthly expenses can save you a lot of money each month and are a great place to start in keeping your finances in check during this time of rising inflation. It is also important to avoid the temptation of using your credit cards to make up for any budget shortfalls each month as rising interest rates will make it harder for you to pay off credit card debt.
Speaking of credit cards, paying off high-interest credit card debt not only saves you money in interest and improves your credit score, it also frees up money in your monthly budget so make it a point to make it a plan to pay off credit card debt as quickly as possible.
- Build An Emergency Fund
Continuing to put money into an emergency fund each month will help you reduce the risk of going into debt if unforeseen expenses, such as a car or home repair or medical bills arise. While it is tempting to pause saving each month as rising prices eat away at your monthly funds, it is important to resist the urge. One way to ensure that you will have enough in your emergency fund is to have your savings deducted automatically from your paycheck.
- Comparison Shop
One way to save big as prices rise is to comparison shop by researching the best sales, looking for coupons, specials like BOGOS (buy one get one free) and swapping out brand-name items for generic ones as often as possible. Stock up on your staple non-perishable household items like soaps and laundry detergents while they are on sale and also consider buying common household items like toilet paper and in bulk.
Navigating through this time of rising inflation is important to ensure that you weather the storm successfully. As your locally owned community bank of choice, the success of your financial future is top of mind. We offer Personal Checking Accounts, Money Market, Personal Savings Accounts, CDs, IRAs, Business Loans, Treasury Management Services, Mortgages, Personal Loans of all shapes and sizes and much more! To learn more about First National Community Bank’s financial solutions, contact us here.
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