Prices for essential items such as water and utilities continue to rise. Since we do not have a car at home, the increase in gasoline prices does not affect us directly, but the higher logistics costs will rebound to other prices.
Compared to Europe and the U.S., Japan's inflation rate is about 2%, so the figure is not yet a problem. Nevertheless, there is a strong sense of caution since prices have not risen significantly for almost 30 years.
Since rising prices do not increase income, I personally believe that it is right to save what one can save in order to protect one's lifestyle. Of course, this is a macroeconomic problem.
In order to review monthly fixed costs, we first switched our cell phone from LINEMO (990 yen/month) to Japan Communications (290 yen/month). In addition to this, the renewal month for the WiFi router (4,400 yen/month), which had been tied up for three years, had arrived, so we cancelled it. In addition, I switched my Netflix subscription from Premium (1,980 yen/month) to Standard (1,490 yen/month).
The monthly savings would be 5,600 yen, or 67,200 yen per year. It would be nice if the savings could be put into savings, but it is likely to disappear with the rising cost of water and utilities.
The current global concern is stagflation, a situation in which prices of goods and services rise and the economy worsens.
The recession has already begun in Europe, the U.S., and Japan, and stock and bond markets have started to fall.
Most predict that a full-fledged recession will continue through the end of the year and into next year.
I don't want to be too pessimistic, but in the meantime, I think it is important for me personally to downsize my livelihood expenses while I still can.
