Prices have outpaced paychecks since March, but Americans haven’t stopped spending, Bloomberg reports.
One trick making the rounds is the “double fill up.” Elizabeth Gentile, 61, and her husband park two cars on opposite sides of a pump at their Atlanta-area Kroger. When one tank is full, they hand the nozzle to the other driver. It counts as one transaction, so both cars get the store’s discount of up to $1 a gallon. That adds up with gas averaging more than $4 nationwide. The couple explains the move to anyone waiting. “So far everyone has understood,” Gentile tells Bloomberg.
Others are leaning on AI. Kenny Marbry, a 38-year-old teacher outside Atlanta, feeds grocery receipts and photos of store shelves into ChatGPT to find the best deals. He figures it saves his family of five about $100 a month.
Homeowners are also tapping their houses as a resource. Fed data shows home equity lines of credit at their highest level since 2017. And a record 31.3% of August auto loans stretched past six years, per Cox Automotive.
Prices have outpaced paychecks since March, but Americans haven’t stopped spending, Bloomberg reports.
One trick making the rounds is the “double fill up.” Elizabeth Gentile, 61, and her husband park two cars on opposite sides of a pump at their Atlanta-area Kroger. When one tank is full, they hand the nozzle to the other driver. It counts as one transaction, so both cars get the store’s discount of up to $1 a gallon. That adds up with gas averaging more than $4 nationwide. The couple explains the move to anyone waiting. “So far everyone has understood,” Gentile tells Bloomberg.
Others are leaning on AI. Kenny Marbry, a 38-year-old teacher outside Atlanta, feeds grocery receipts and photos of store shelves into ChatGPT to find the best deals. He figures it saves his family of five about $100 a month.
Homeowners are also tapping their houses as a resource. Fed data shows home equity lines of credit at their highest level since 2017. And a record 31.3% of August auto loans stretched past six years, per Cox Automotive.
