However, the lease is only for a year and Mrs. Clarke is concerned about finding accommodation if it is not renewed. Even now, she can barely make ends meet: She recently lost her car keys and had to spend nearly $500 to replace them, wiping out almost all of her little rainy day fund, and her one crisis away from a financial disaster.
“If you don’t have money, you have a steady income and you’re constantly thinking, ‘Well, maybe I shouldn’t have bought that,'” she said. “There’s no pillow. It really never existed.”
Of course, families who are more financially secure will also face headwinds, which could ultimately push them to slow down spending. The cash savings they’ve built up during the pandemic won’t last forever, and rising prices could prompt many households to cut back on spending.
And swooning stock markets could prompt wealthier families, who have typically invested more money, to spend less than they otherwise would. Some economists believe that people in this demographic have mostly continued to spend lately – despite their declining economic confidence – because they are eager to take vacations they previously postponed in the pandemic.
“Where I’m budgeting is to make room for travel,” said Los Angeles-based Mr Trevino. “I feel like I missed that a little bit.”
Economists have speculated that the resilience of wealthier consumers could wane as fall approaches and they take stock of their finances amid a slowing economy. But for now, the reality that America’s wealthier consumers have yet to pull out sharply in the face of rising prices could set a difficult path for the nation’s poorer ones.
“In a way, we haven’t noticed inflation very much,” said Mr. Schoenfeld. “This economy is very unfair.”
Jason Karaian reporting contributed.
