Unexpected Ways Inflation Is Hurting Your Family Finances

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There are some obvious ways inflation impacts your family finances, like the sky-high prices you’ve likely noticed at the grocery store. In 2023, food prices rose 5.8%, and experts predict a continued increase in 2024.

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However, food prices aren’t the only category that inflation impacts. There are also some unexpected ways inflation hurts your family finances that you might not realize.

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Home maintenance and repairs 

If you want to update your house, you might notice that the cost of appliances, furniture, and supplies for home renovations has increased. As a result, labor costs are more expensive. In fact, the cost of home maintenance for single-family homes was up 9% year over year in 2023.

Due to these rising costs, many families are pushing back some of their remodeling plans.

Child Care

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government created the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which gave financial relief to childcare facilities. This enabled many childcare centers to stay open.

However, this federal aid recently expired and many childcare providers across the country have raised prices. This significantly impacts many parents who are already paying a premium for childcare.

Pet care costs

Another unexpected effect of inflation is that pet care costs increased at double the rate of other consumer products. Since almost 90 million households own pets, many people will find they’re paying more for veterinary care, food and pet supplies like leashes, toys and grooming.

Subscription services

If you have subscriptions to streaming services, you’ve likely noticed the cost of these subscriptions regularly increasing. It’s hard to keep up with the constant rise in prices, and many outlets are reporting that customers are leaving streaming services in record numbers as a result.

Housing market challenges

If you want to sell your house or move into a new home, rising interest rates, often done to curb inflation, may cause you to change your mind. While this is helpful for things like high-yield savings accounts, it’s not so great for mortgage rates.

Mortgage interest rates are currently more than double what they were a few years ago. If you previously secured a low mortgage interest rate, that might make you more likely to stay in your current home.

Final Thoughts

Inflation affects families in many ways, often straining a family’s budget. While it’s easy to notice price increases for regular items like groceries, there are more subtle ways it can impact other areas. Pay attention to your finances and make cuts and adjustments where necessary to help combat these rising prices.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Unexpected Ways Inflation Is Hurting Your Family Finances