Farm to Fork: Consumers curb discretionary spends to combat inflation

Households are repaying debt and replacing costlier loans with cheaper options; rising costs are taking a toll on ability to save enough

Chanda Damodaran (name changed on request), a 40-year-old employee with a Bengaluru-based fintech company, has seen her grocery bill skyrocket by 100 per cent over the last two-and-a-half years.

“No one is immune to the current round of inflation since items of daily consumption such as rice, flour, pulses, cooking oil, etc have all become more expensive,” she says.

For many households, rising costs are taking a toll on their ability to save as incomes haven’t gone up in similar proportions. The cost of travelling, cooking fuels, electricity, and so on, have also risen during the last 1-2 years. Says