JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Inflation is creating lifestyle changes for people. The U.S. Treasury Secretary announced Tuesday that the Biden Administration underestimated how high inflation would continue to impact American consumers.
News4JAX reporter Corley Peel went to the Race Trac off 103rd on Wednesday where the price for regular gas is $4.75 which is above the national average.
“I don’t understand why gas is going so high,” Tracie Harris said.
“I’m saving a lot riding my motorcycle,” Edward Shaw told Corley.
Stacey Stephens said her trips from Georgia to Jacksonville have skyrocketed. “We traveled down from Georgia and its cost us $250 of gas to get across the state line to get here so its been a hot mess.”
The average price of gas Wednesday in Jacksonville is $4.65 and diesel is $5.47.
Certified Financial Planner, Titus Pittman, said, “We anticipate that we will continue to see higher prices at the pump. We still have the conflict going on with Russia and Ukraine which is going to steady limit our prices of oil so those prices will continue to go up,” Pittman went on to say, “In addition to that, we’re still dealing with lingering issues with COVID and supply chain issues as it relates to food, supplies.”
Some are finding it harder to feed their families with grocery prices also going up.
News4JAX Insider, Lisa Gibson weighed in saying:
“Spending less extra summer activities, cutting back on eating out and only buying what we need, no drives for fun, meal planning, trying to buy online as much as possible. The kids are not happy about the summer!”
Others told us they are putting off buying a new home. “I’m trying to look for a house and the housing market is ridiculous,” Edward Shaw said.
Stacey Stephens said inflation has impacted summer vacation. “My daughter, she is pregnant with my first grandchild down in Key West and I can’t get down there right now. It’s a lot longer trip than just coming here so we’re trying to figure out something for me to get down there for the birth of my first grandchild.”
In the meantime, Stephens is finding a side gig. “I’ll be doing DoorDash and UberEATS and stuff like that.”
Economists say they do expect inflation to go down by the end of this year, but not before prices continue to rise over the summer.