Freezer & Foil: How Americans Are Coping With Inflation At The Holidays

The economic fallout of the pandemic continues to plague American households as the end of the year holiday rush inches closer.

To compensate for rising costs and decreased supply at grocery stores, some are buying holiday staples now and putting their freezers and aluminum foil to use. CNN interviewed one Baltimore couple, Travis Moffatt and Britnie Walston, who said they've already purchased three apple pies ahead of Thanksgiving to avoid another price hike or risking stores not having any left. They're already paying $7 for cereal and $5 for almond milk –– each of which have gone up $2 in recent weeks.

Moffatt has been unemployed since the start of the pandemic and receives $250 in food stamps each month, but with the Consumer Price Index showing historic highs on grocery shelves, it may not be enough.

The monthly food benefit allotment he receives is "going rapidly due to the rising cost of groceries," Moffatt told the outlet. And he's not alone. Multiple reports indicate that food pantries are facing rising costs just as holiday demand goes up for people in need of additional food.

Among Black American households, food insecurity has increased during the pandemic, particularly for families with children. Paired with disproportionately higher unemployment, Black households are unequally feeling the rise in costs and the scramble to get supplies for the holidays.

Rising costs aren't just hitting our pockets at the grocery store, rising prices at the gas pump have some people reconsidering holiday travel, too.

Gas prices have skyrocketed to a seven-year high, with the national average soaring to $3.42 earlier this week. That average hasn't been seen since September 2014 and is $1.31 more than last year.

Overall, prices have jumped by 6.2% and experts aren't sure when prices will come down. In the meantime, people are doing what they can to create holiday cheer, despite such a grime outlook.

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