However, the lease is only for a year and Ms Clarke worries about finding an apartment if it is not renewed. Even now, she’s barely making ends meet: She recently lost her car keys and had to spend nearly $500 to replace them, wiping out almost all of her small rainy-day fund and keeping her a crisis away from financial disaster.
“When you don’t have any money, you have a steady income, you’re constantly thinking, ‘Well, maybe I shouldn’t have bought that,'” she said. “There is no pillow. That really never happened.”
Of course, more financially secure families also face headwinds, which may eventually prompt them to rein in their spending. The cash savings accumulated during the pandemic will not last forever, and rising prices could prompt many households to scale back spending.
And impotent stock markets could cause wealthier families, who tended to have more money invested, to spend less than they otherwise would. Some economists believe that for the most part, people in this demographic have continued to spend lately – despite their falling economic confidence – because they are desperate to take vacations that they postponed earlier in the pandemic.
“Budgeting is about making room for travel,” said Mr. Trevino of Los Angeles. “I feel like I missed that a bit.”
Economists have speculated that the resilience of wealthier consumers could wane as autumn approaches, and they are taking stock of their finances amid a slowing economy. But for now, the reality that America’s wealthier consumers have yet to back down sharply in the face of rising prices could give the nation’s poorer ones a rough ride.
“In a way, we really didn’t notice inflation very much,” said Mr. Schoenfeld. “This economy is very unfair.”
Jason Karaian contributed coverage.
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