It all sounds very familiar Kris, it's the same here, exactly. So much nutbaggery.
The pandemic is used as an excuse for many things and prices go up, with service standards on the decline...it's fast becoming a very unpleasant environment. No one cares about anything at all except themselves and customer service is almost a thing of the past, quality declines also. It's all out if control and people don't seem worried. (Generally)
I agree, prices will go up, wages/salaries will not keep up and all that's left to do is reduce ones standard of living. It's not affecting me just yet, but with more increases adjustments will become more prevalent. It's a little disconcerting to think I worked so hard to get into a good position only to se it whittled away in this manner.
And interest rates will continue soaring for a while, then only come down slightly. The way of the world I suppose. Luckily, we got locked in at an incredibly low fixed rate on our house when we moved 2 years ago near the prime drop.. Now we having to take an equity Heloc LOC to pay down some of the cards we had to put house improvements and such on to avoid the climbing interest.. I hate paying interest, lol, but it was a decision on timing to get the things we "needed" to make the house comfortable, garage, mower, etc... Anyway, we'll get that high interest Ccard debt into a more reasonable consolidated interest loan where we can knock it down without paying 23%.. That's another rant... in my eyes, anything over 15-20% should be considered usury and illegal for "legit" companies.. Just got done paying on the buggers, so in a bit of mood about it.. lol Have a great weekend.
Credit is a slippery slope and getting rid of it as quickly as possible is the smart way to go, as is your method. I'm fortunate to have worked on any credit I had, which was very small anyway, and now feel a little more secure through not having any. Credit has its place, but unfortunately it's give to people who cannot repay it, or treat it responsibly and therein lies the issue.