Geoff: Prices in the U.S. Are
climbing at their fastest rates
in 40 years, up more than 8%
from 2021.
But for many families across the
country, that number is more
than a data point.
Tonight, we take a look at how
one family in Michigan is coping
with this new reality.
It's a typical morning at the
bandy house.
Lindsay: Do you want more
ovaltine?
Geoff: 39-year-old Lindsay and
44-year-old Scott live just
outside of Grand Rapids,
Michigan.
Lindsay: Do you need anything
for school?
Geoff: They say right now, their
household budget is stretched to
the breaking point by rising
costs.
What have the last couple of
months been like for you, as
inflation has creeped up across
the country?
Lindsay: Before this last round
of inflation hit, it was -- I
mean, it was rough and we were
still kind of paycheck to
paycheck, but the paycheck went
a little bit further.
There's no wiggle room.
Geoff: Lindsay says skyrocketing
prices at the supermarket are a
major source of stress.
Meat prices rose by nearly 15%
in the U.S.
Over last year.
Milk is up 13%.
Even the price of soup spiked
10%.
Lindsay says the sticker shock
is the worst at the gas pump.
Lindsay: Good grief.
Geoff: In Grand Rapids, it now
costs around $4 a gallon.
That's up from less than $3 a
year ago.
Lindsay [on phone]: I filled up
my gas tank, I had a difficult
experience I wasn't even a
quarter of a tank.
It is still cost me $100.
Lindsay: We have to drive across
town to pick up the kids and
then I commute for work, it's
just that's taken a huge bite
out of our monthly budget.
Geoff: She earns $15 an hour at
her retail job -- well over
federal minimum wage -- and
works about 35 hours a week.
Her husband, Scott, works
full-time as a cable technician.
And the family lives with a
roommate to help pay the
mortgage.
Still, Lindsay says, they're
barely scraping by because wages
haven't kept up with prices.
Who or what do you blame for
inflation?
Lindsay: Corporate greed.
I mean, there's no reason why
these companies that are posting
record profits over the last two
years can't afford to pay their
employees a living wage.
For somebody to turn around and
say, "Oh, my 401(k) Has never
been better, my stocks are so
high," I'm going, oh ok, what
world are you living in?
Michelle: It's a tough, tough
situation for a lot of people.
Geoff: Michelle Singletary is a
financial columnist for "The
Washington post."
She says what the bandy family
is experiencing is now,
unfortunately, very common.
Michelle: It was the people who
were already living on the edge
and the pandemic and the
economic slowdown and higher gas
prices, inflation just tipping
them over.
Geoff: For now, the bandys are
finding creative ways to support
their family.
Lindsay has taken up what she
calls "Nerd crafting," where she
and sells her wares at
conventions and online, and
Scott donates plasma twice a
week for extra cash.
Lindsay's mother, Lisa, chips in
by looking after the bandy's
three-year-old daughter Hayley.
It saves the family on childcare
costs and is a welcome break for
Lindsay and Scott.
Lisa: They just feel like
they're not, you know -- what
are we doing wrong?
You know, we're not getting
ahead.
We're working and we're working
and we're working and we're just
-- we're not getting ahead.
And it -- it's just, it's
heartbreaking.
I just wish there was more that
I could do for her.
Geoff: Hayley is too young to
understand the financial toll on
the family.
But 10-year-old hope has started
to notice.
Hope: I worry that if my parents
don't, like, pay all the bills,
that we will lose the house and
we'll have to move back in with
my Nana.
Lindsay: You feel like you were
trying to succeed as a parent,
which is hard enough, and then
to find out that you're not
doing such a great job hiding,
you know, your stressors and
your fears and your tensions, is
just wrenching.
Geoff: For now, Singletary says
the economic outlook is
uncertain.
Michelle: Hopefully by 2023,
we're really seeing things turn
around.
But I think you gotta pack in
your patience and know that this
is probably going to be
happening for a little bit
longer.
Geoff: And that's a huge concern
for Lindsay bandy.
Lindsay: It's something that
keeps me up at night, and it's
part of that deep, deep hole
that we're trying so hard to dig
ourselves out of.
We've been working the jobs,
we've been putting in the hours,
and it's just one kick in the
teeth after another.
And should things get worse than
they are?
It's just it's not something I
can think about.