Here’s what you can do about it

You’ve seen the headlines about inflation.

You’ve looked at all the red in the markets and (gulp) your portfolio.

It’s here, it’s clear and it’s starting to look more and more like it’s going to take more than the good folks at the Federal Reserve to cool it off.

Inflation is here all right, and if you thought the FED’s last handful of rate hikes and the ones they’ve hinted at in the future will save the day, I have some less than stellar news for you: it’s not going anywhere, it’s hotter than it has been in more than 40 years and, based on the most recent consumer price index, which rose 9.1%, it’s accelerating instead of slowing down.

Gas is ridiculously expensive — up 106.7% over the past year — and food and shelter (home prices and rental costs) aren’t far behind. I mean, I went to Costco the other day, got three things (one of which was a $7 bag of Munchies), and spent more than $60 bucks. Can you imagine if I was there for more than snacks? It was a big-ol’ bag, but come on.

Couple the $60 from inside and the $50 I spent outside at the pump and, well, I don’t even like to think about it.

Inflation … just writing about it is making me a tad uncomfortable, but hopefully, it’ll turn out to be a cathartic exercise by the time I’m done.

The Munchies were incredible as always and I guess the gas was unavoidable, but things are getting pricey. I spent more than $100 on not much of anything, really. I will say this, though: if you’ve never had Munchies, you need to get on that. It’s a FritoLay thing — a mix of Doritos, crunchy Cheetos, Sunchips, and Rold Gold pretzels … all the best stuff. You won’t be disappointed … except, of course, by the price tag.

Anyway, I digress. Inflation is here and, unless we do something about it, it will persist for longer than we’d like.

The solution to inflation (less is more)

I just laid out the bad news. Inflation is a problem, but like all great problems, it has a solution. That’s the good news.

The FED is doing its part.

I don’t care what side of the blame game you’re on in terms of the FED. It may have been a bit late to the party, but it’s doing something now. The issue, though, is it doesn’t seem to be enough.

Raising rates, so far, hasn’t had much of an impact on things. It will, eventually, but how long will it take to tamp down inflation via that method alone?

Could be quite some time.

Fortunately, we can do something to speed things up … at least when paired with the rising rates.

We, as consumers of these goods, need to stop paying for them.

I mean, that’s what the FED is trying to do by raising rates in the first place. By making it more expensive to buy a car or home, or charge something to your credit card, the FED is discouraging people from buying those things. It’s really that simple.

So far, they still are.

Once people stop buying new homes because mortgage rates are too high, the housing market will cool off. Once people stop buying new or used cars because loan costs are up, the prices will go back down to acceptable levels.

We need cars and homes and energy to power both, but, as referenced by my recent trip to Costco, we’re out buying all kinds of things we really don’t need. That’s where we can make a difference. That’s where we can do our part to smash inflation.

We just need to buy less. Or at least stop buying more, especially with credit cards and buy-now-pay-later solutions like Affirm, and buy less, or at least less of what we don’t need.

The odds of this current economic state sending the U.S. into a recession are getting better every single day, which is not a good thing no matter how you slice it. If and when that happens, people will lose their jobs and, well, it just won’t be a fun time at all.

We should all — you, me, everyone — try and hold on to all the money we can right now. It’s the smart move in these far-from-certain times. And who knows, we may even take some of the wind out of inflation’s sails in the process.

Disclaimer: I’m a market participant, not a financial advisor. This is not financial advice.