FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Whether you’re adjusting budgets to manage rising costs or boosting savings with high-yield accounts, navigating inflation remains challenging.

“The surest thing with inflation is that over time, in the long term, it will continue,” says AJ Flores with Portfolio Advisors in northwest Fresno. “Inflation can speed up, slow down, but generally, your dollars buy less next year than they do today.”

Flores says budgeting is a strong start, so categorize wants versus needs.

“There are plenty of budgeting apps out there, tools you can use to really categorize where the money is going,” he said. “I think understanding where the inflows and outflows are happening is half the battle.”

Impulse “buys” might set you back.

One practical tip is to designate a day of the week to clear your cart, or, as influencers call it, “Shopping Cart Sundays.”

“If you’re unfamiliar, it’s adding things to your shopping cart, maybe on Amazon and rather than purchasing it right away, wait until Sunday and review the shopping cart that morning,” Flores said. “Usually, that gives you enough time to decide, ‘Maybe I don’t really need those things.'”

While having an emergency savings account is crucial, it’s important to offset inflation by investing or putting your money in a CD or a high-yield savings account.

“You don’t want to be sitting on a bunch of cash that’s doing nothing,” Flores said. “First of all, it’s a great idea to have an emergency fund, but there’s also such a thing of having too much piled on there.”

As the Fed considers whether to lower or hold interest rates in March, Flores says that could be a double-edged sword.

“Cost of borrowing for people will gradually decline, but it also means the available yields for fixed income earners are going to decline as well,” he said. “It’s a balancing act.”

If deciding whether to keep money in a CD or a high-yield savings account to earn interest, consider that CDs tend to have a minimum holding period, so if you need the money in the near future, you’ll want a shorter term.

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