Jeff Caplan: How to beat inflation — potty train your cat (seriously)

The last time inflation was this bad, President Gerald R. Ford’s strategy to beat it was to hand out red, white, and blue buttons that read “WIN.” Which stood for “Whip Inflation Now.” It didn’t work, because inflation always wins.

Look at the advice to “beat” inflation you’ve seen over the past few months:

• diversify your portfolio,
• dollar-cost average in your employer-sponsored retirement plan,
• in the car, don’t be a leadfoot! You’ll burn less gas.

Wonderful suggestions! But easing up on the gas might save you $40 a month! It’s a drop in the bucket when the average Utahn is grappling with an $800 increase in family expenses.

There is one solution to rising prices that does make perfect sense: Be cheap! Some Americans are so frugal, that they’re managing to save money by:

• buying distressed food (items with packaging issues),
• making their own cleaning supplies, and
• washing their clothes in the shower.

Super frugal life hacks are all the rage right now! Maybe it seems ridiculous to wash your clothes in the shower. Perhaps separating the two-ply toilet paper roll into separate rolls sounds silly to you. One website even suggests potty training your cat to save on litter.

The point is — you can beat inflation with a quick google search for “super frugal” and a tremendous effort. But in 2022?

Exhausting yourself to bring your expenses under control is a WIN.

Jeff Caplan is the host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. You can hear his “My Minute of News” each weekday between 3 and 7 p.m. 

 

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