What to say when clients and friends admit they’re feeling oppressed by the rising cost of living?
A quadruple whammy of more expensive groceries, gas, home insurance, and car insurance is shocking many families. Higher basic costs without increased income means you have less money. It’s just that simple.
While working on my taxes, I came across 2022’s home insurance bill. It was $2,769. Now: $7,474. Same house.
It’s easy for financial planners to talk about avoiding credit card debt and hefty car payments. It’s easy to tell clients to skip the vacation home purchase and just rent a cabin every year.
Those are luxuries.
But while you can shop around a bit for groceries and insurance, you can’t avoid them!
On the necessities front, younger adults may have it harder. Home prices have shot up, and along with current interest rates and required down payments, ownership feels as unlikely as a drop in your grocery bill.
For young working parents, childcare costs more. Federal credits max out at $1,200 for most modest earners, the same level they were 25 years ago, and the more generous Texas childcare scholarship waitlist contains 90,000 kids.
Who’s to blame?
We’re always at the mercy of factors beyond our control—family and cultural expectations, public policy, the weather.
Here lately, I’ve seen the following cast of characters blamed for the current state of the economy and broader national challenges:
- The president
- Multiple former presidents
- Democrats
- Republicans
- Congress
- Men
- Women
- Young adults
- Older adults
- Various religions
- Atheists
- Artificial intelligence
- COVID
- Public schools
- Lack of funding for public schools
- The Matrix
There’s more, but this is starting to sound like a rewrite of “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”
In our wonderful nation, you’re pretty much free to believe whatever you want. I also encourage you to get out and advocate for those beliefs.
To adjust or not to adjust?
But while we may work or hope for certain changes, we must contend with here and now.
When things get more expensive, or the news doesn’t go your way, sometimes you can adjust, and sometimes you can’t.
An easy example of a time you might be able to adjust is when gas prices rise. They’ve been up lately, just as they’ve spiked with supply challenges in the past. My husband and I have switched cars, because he drives more and his car drinks premium unleaded. This is a common-sense solution. A more dramatic move would be to purchase or trade in for an economy car. This might make sense for some people.
One of the situations in which you probably shouldn’t adjust is when you’re tempted to sell your investments because you’re afraid of one of the people or groups on my list above.
Several years ago, a client called me with concerns over upcoming elections. A woman of strong principles and intelligence, she was worried about the election’s impact on her account value.
Knowing that, historically, the market doesn’t care who’s in office, I attempted to activate her spirit of resistance. She didn’t need the money anytime soon, and we’d worked together to manage her account over the years.
“Do not allow your anger at these people to deprive you of the opportunity to make money,” I told her.
Taking money out of the stock market and putting it into lower-yielding instruments because you’re afraid hands the bogeyman an easy win. In the stock market, growth has historically outpaced cost-of-living increases. Investing isn’t for everyone, but your dollar doesn’t gain value under a mattress.
Right now, we’re not just shocked by how much things cost. We’re downright indignant. According to USDA, farm-level vegetable prices increased 48 percent February 2025 to February 2026, and another 16 percent bump is projected for this year! This is hard on both farmers and customers.
Still, to be healthy we need to eat our veggies, and you can still get 4 pounds of broccoli florets for less than $5.
Victim vs. victim mentality
In times like these, I think it’s important to activate resistance mode. That’ll look different for each family, but it may be time for you to re-trench, re-evaluate your priorities, and take action.
There’s a major difference between being a victim and having a victim mentality.
Freedom is really important to most of our clients: freedom from bad bosses, freedom to spend time with family, freedom to do work you love, freedom from financial stressors like debt.
Every dollar you save on an expense you cut, and every extra dollar earned through a pay raise, side hustle, or investment—that’s a win for YOU, a little more financial independence.
You can search online for how to save money on various things, tips on shopping for insurance, buying in bulk, and cutting subscription services. You may conclude you need to take more radical action like selling a home you can’t afford or a vacation property. No reason to stop drinking lattes when you have out of control expenses in other areas.
It isn’t all about saving money, though. Depending on your situation, you might be better off working to increase your income.
And when you make gains, capture them! Use your newfound resources to make progress toward financial freedom, either by paying down debt or investing for your future.
When my husband and I audited our subscription services last year, we saved more than $100 a month and then immediately put those monthly savings into our investments.
Sometimes even the smallest wins feel good, like when you make banana bread instead of throwing away brown bananas. I recently squeezed two small glasses of orange juice out of some oranges my kids had deemed “too squishy.” Not only was it kind of therapeutic for me, but they said it was the “best orange juice ever.”
Every client meeting lately has included stories of how their families are affected by the rising cost of living. Most of the factors influencing prices are outside our direct control.
Many older people on small-fixed incomes and disabled individuals might find it impossible to adjust, but if you can I would encourage you to summon your energies to improve your own situation. Then you can start helping those around you who might need it.
I’m curious: Where are you feeling the pinch, and what are you doing about it?
Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.