Since the pandemic began, over 131 million people have been pushed down into poverty world wide. The rich have become richer. The poor have become poorer. And the middle class has been slowly slipping away. There are 54 million fewer middle class people living on planet earth thanks mostly in part to the coronavirus.
This dramatic change in wealth can also be attributed to automation and robotics taking over the millions and millions of human jobs. Further decline in wealth has disproportionally forced the labor market into the lower classes. America has the highest income inequity than France, Germany and the UK. China is the only country that has seen the highest rise in the global middle classes.
So, what does all this information mean to you and me? Unless you are part of the very rich, you have felt a decrease in your living standards. Inflation has been the final nail in our coffins. Our way of life will never be the same; will never recover and if it should, we’ll be too old to bask in its glory. We have become the haves-less.
Those of us on fixed retiree incomes are being forced to make downward adjustments to our lives on an almost daily regimen. We have to look at our money in a whole new way. It’s not about how much money we have in retirement to spend. It’s about what can that money we have saved for retirement buy us? Whatever your amount may be, regardless of who or where you are, your money is buying you less and less with each passing day. Inflation is the silent killer for most retirees. Other than prioritize your spending, there isn’t much else you can do.
“Inflation is the silent killer,” said certified financial planner Brad Lineberger, president of Seaside Wealth Management in Carlsbad, California. “It can erode purchasing power to the point where someone wakes up and can’t live the lifestyle they once did because they can’t afford to.”

I’m not a certified financial advisor so I can not recommend any advice to anyone. The only thing I can do is tell you what we are doing personally to combat this double digit inflationary period in our own lives. I have found it to be extremely helpful in our retirement years to have no mortgage, no car loans and no debt. Retirement, regardless of how much income you anticipate to come in, is still no time to be in any form of debt. To be honest, we do have a loan out on our RV but that is a disposable item. It’s not a necessity. The interest rate is very low and the value of our RV has gone up, not down….so we are not upside down on the loan. However, due to the higher costs in gas, DH and I are seriously considering selling it. If we can. Who knows? We decided to wait one year before we make any move on it. We know once we sell it the odds of us buying another one will be zero. RVing is the only way either one of us can vacation……so, we need to think very carefully on this decision. Until then, the payment is very low. The interest rate is also very low. It’s a ‘wait and see’ adventure at this point.
We have three passive streams of retirement income at this time: two social security checks and one pension check. We also have an additional investment specifically developed to compensate us if and when inflation rises or for whatever other reason our three income streams can’t meet our monthly expenses. So far, we haven’t tapped in to this account and it keeps building and compounding. That’s a very good thing. The only reasons why we haven’t tapped in to it so far is because we cut down our expenses drastically and hubby has taken on a part time, seasonal job over this Christmas holiday time. We’re planning on banking ALL of DH’s extra income and hoping it will see us throughout the rest of the year. We hope and plan to do the same thing again next holiday season, if necessary. As of this writing, inflation doesn’t look to abate any time soon. Plus, my experience has been once prices go up they very rarely fall back down to where they originally started out.
Managing your money, in this current financial environment, is a daily necessity. You can no longer visit your financial undertakings once a year or once every six months or once a month. You need to look over your finances every single day. That’s because prices are changing every single day. You may be buying gas or milk on Monday only to see its price rise on Tuesday. So, you need to strategize your spending and be aware of all the price fluctuations if you want to successfully manage your money in these inflationary times.
Cover your four walls: housing, food, utilities and transportation. Everything else is moot at this point. Whatever expenses you have to cut, whatever sacrifice you need to make, whatever it is you have to eliminate and do without in order to cover your four walls, do it! Hopefully this will only be temporary but if it isn’t at least you’ll be maintaining and surviving. Because that’s what inflation is: survival of the fittest.
This is a bad time to be retired on a fixed income. It is every retiree’s nightmare. I’ve been warned about inflation and I thought I had prepared for it but I was mistaken. I don’t think any retiree prepared for over 20% inflation rate. Please don’t believe the government when they state inflation is only at 5.5%. You and I both know that’s a lie because we see it in our wallets each and every day. We have a serious struggle on our hands. We can comfort ourselves by saying it’s only temporary but what if it’s not? We have at least, on minimum, two more years of this hardship (and it is a hardship!)
Maintain your health at all costs. This is NO time to get sick. Eat right. Exercise. learn to love rice and beans as when combined they make the near perfect protein substitute. learn to love and cook with lentils. Those were the salvation of many during The Great Depression. Take a walk. It costs nothing to do so. Get your free annual Wellness Exam with medicare. At least you will know where your health stands and what to do should any section of your wellbeing need any assistance. Take your vitamins. Maintain your social connections, friends and family. Forgive, forget and move onward.
Hope and pray disco comes back! This isn’t a joke. As a survivor of the 1970s horrific inflationary time, the only thing that got any of us through was disco! We’d save all week, buy something special to wear (like a new dress for the ladies or a new shirt for the guys) and every Friday night we’d be at our local disco, dancing and jiving to some of the great dancing music of all time! Man, did we feel good at the disco. No worries. No problems. Just a few drinks and feeling fantastic out on the dance floor. I may be seventy years old but trust me…I can still boogie with the best of them. Has this brought a smile to your face? Then can you imagine how fantastic we felt in that disco back in the 70s in the middle of super high inflation? Best years of my life!!!. Watch this clip of John Travolta dancing to ‘Burn Baby Burn….Disco Inferno” from the hit movie sleeper ‘Saturday Night Fever‘. If you don’t start tapping your foot or better yet, get up out of your chair and start dancing, you ain’t alive. You have to click and watch it on the YouTube channel as YouTube and Word Press are at odds with each other again.
Simply click HERE)
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Cindy – Do not sell your RV – you and your husband totally enjoy camping and it is less expensive than any other vacation or quick getaway – you would so regret it – you’ll manage (you always do)_ and who knows what next year will be like – take a day at a time – we are all in the same boat but at least we are debt free – own our homes – children gone – very little responsibility – enjoy these years – they go by so quick. P.S. I do believe you and DH enjoys your lives – don’t worry so much . Love your blog, Sending hugs, Mary Ellen
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Mary Ellen, you are so kind. I know. I know. I already told my husband that if we sold the RV we’d never go on another vacation. We’d regret it. Booking hotel rooms, doggie care, airline tickets, meals out….we’d go broke immediately. Thank God the RV we have currently is our forever RV. There’s nothing to upgrade it to nor is it missing any luxury. In other words, it’s perfect. We may not afford to go to Florida every year because of the gas BUT we can def afford to go as far south as North Carolina. I’m looking forward to going to Ashville (up in the NC mountains) this spring and we have our fingers crossed we can go to the Outerbanks again this summer. Upstate New York and the Finger Lakes (near Niagara Falls) are affordable to us as well as at least one trip to Maine (which I love, love, love!!) The loan is very, very affordable. Thanks for your good advice! Thank you so much for your comment.
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Hi Cindi, I So agree with Mary Ellen don’t sell your RV! Look at all the trips you are dreaming of and as long as you own a dog is the best way to travel. We are in the toughest part of a business cycle high inflation but just like the last time energy went way up supply and demand brought it down. Consumer curb traveling and too much supply forced prices down, so all of us could curb are gas usage and once again we can impact prices.Your list of IMHO, Drastic cutting your enjoyment budget subconsciously made you both not only depressed and also led you to drive an hour to Cracker Barrel ( cost of gas made it not free), overpriced excessive Chinese takeout, and a McDonald’s breakfast, all making you buy more gasoline and maybe tolls too. We play mind games of rationalizing doing budget busting acts because we deserve it! But we forget to keep our eyes on the greater joys ( goals) that we really make us happy. I think for you both it is travel. Food is a temporary pleasure as they say a moment on our lips forever on our hips. There are so many cheaper ways to satisfy our nutritional needs to stay healthy and I really feel $400 is very adequate food budget to accomplish it. Sincerely, Lara
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Lara, very good insights to your analysis. Subconsciously I think I am not depressed but disgusted. Probably PTSD of what I think
might happen instead of what’s really happening. Everything that is going on now with the cost of living increases and prices on energy and gas soaring could have all been avoided. This new administration isn’t doing anyone any good. 71% of the country agrees with me. We need these things happening to us now like we need a hole in the head.
My sister just offered to pay for a cruise for me to join our girlfriends and go to the Caribbean. She said I need it! Girls week out! And I’m taking her up on it. You’re right. Travel is number one. The rest is noise. I need to re-center my goals and aspirations.
PS our car gets 40mpg. Driving one hour to the restaurant was an adventure. Not a chore. It reminded us of our travel days because whenever we were out on the road, we always stopped at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant. They feed you a really good and wholesome meal!
Also Nick and I baked a lasagna last night. That was a very good sign that our longing for pampering was over. Whatever we spent during the week was probably well worth it. We got a break without breaking the bank! LOL.
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So happy you took your sister up on her offer you need a girlfriend getaway. Is it happening soon? I am getting the lasagna ingredients on sale at ShopRite, too this week. Love it. Just got my natural gas bill!!!
And what the national news reported on high inflation to heat our homes this winter is so true: I used in October 16% less natural gas from last year but paying $50 more and the rates jump dramatically to $2.80 per ccf.
It’s really going to get Ugly: last February my coldest month, I used 242 ccf so I am looking at a $670 natural gas bill to heat for the month if rates stay at this month’s level. Last year it was $329 for the same amount! So Utility representative solution was I start back on budget with December bill $166 a month very doable but it’s because they now are dividing the total winter heating cost in twelve months starting with December’s bill. But if rates keep going up or I use more then last year they will do periodic adjustments. 😜sincerely, Lara
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Girlfriend getaway scheduled in March. Told ya about the energy costs. We just got back from Aldi. Lots of empty spaces. Hubby bought a small pac of grapes for $5. I brought them back and got three pounds of pears for $3. Substitutes!!! We’re still eating one fresh fruit a day for our health but within reason. Thanks for your comment and update.
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I wouldn’t sell that travel trailer. It’s your best alternative for an inexpensive vacation. I would love to own one! Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t enjoy travel that much.
We have a 400 sq. ft. tiny home on a leased lot in an RV park. It’s located on a bass fishing lake in east Texas. It costs about $6000 a year to cover lot lease, insurance, boat storage and utilities. We go there frequently and spend several days at a time. He fishes. I read, watch TV and shop in the area. That’s my husband’s idea of a vacation. Be thankful your husband enjoys travel and is willing to go with you!
We’re very aware of inflation, but I can’t see it hurting us that much yet. We were able to save quite a bit during the pandemic. I deposited our stimulus checks in our checking account as I like to have a cushion for unexpected expenses. I’m usually able to carry over several thousand dollars from month to month and so far that hasn’t decreased. Having this additional money available keeps me from worrying and focusing on my budget all the time.
Someone told me once that the 60’s are the go-go years, the 70’s are the slow-go years and the 80’s and beyond are the no-go years(mostly because of health issues). As my parents and my husband’s passed in their mid-eighties, I try to keep this in focus and enjoy each day, without worrying too much about our finances. As long as we are able to cover the four walls you spoke of, I think we can find true happiness and contentment in our family and friends.
You have so much beauty to enjoy in your area. The changing of the seasons, beautiful lakes, diverse cultures, fall harvests…a lot of which is missing here in Texas. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of that with your photography skills and sharing a little of your life with us! I hope you can find some peace with the present situation and really enjoy your family and approaching holidays!…Glenda
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Glenda, thank you for such a lovely comment. I hear you on that little tiny home you have. My first husband did not like to travel at all. In fact, when I met him again recently (we divorced in 1982) I asked him if he was doing any traveling. He told me the last place he went to was to Bermuda with me. That was 1980!!! He hasn’t traveled since. Meanwhile Nick (new hubby) and I will go anywhere at a drop of a hat. So funny.
I deposited all our stimulus checks too but we keep doing projects so it evaporated quickly. Plus we bought the pick up truck with a lot of that money. We thought we could RV to the Grand Canyon but it’s not safe to travel cross country like that at this time.
I think I am the worry-wort because I’m the only one handling the finances. I’m doing it alone and when I tell my husband what’s going on he doesn’t want to hear a word about it. He turns off. He won’t take responsibility. But if something goes wrong, I never hear the end of it. Should I die, he’ll just push the finances onto one of our daughters. We have gone into therapy about this and the doc said my husband thinks he’s Peter Pan. Doesn’t want to grow up. Just have to accept that it is what it is and deal with it. DH is the earner. He brings in the money. Then it’s up to me to deal with it. That’s his statement and he’s sticking to it. Thank goodness, I love and adore him. We’ve been together 39 years.
Again, thank you for your comment! RV has been winterized, placed into safe storage and awaits our spring adventures!
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We have an RV as well, I have never been in it but DH uses it when he goes and works at motorcycle races, car races and out of state work. My vacations are always a trip to se my mom (no in memory care) so those trips will be scaled back. I am hoping we can start to travel together in that RV someday. It the only way to go anywhere together with no one watch our dogs and cat while we are away.
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