INDIANAPOLIS — Whether it be gas, lumber or memory cards, you've no doubt noticed the cost of a lot of items has gone up over the past few months.
Inflation has been in the news lately as prices are higher than they were in the midst of the pandemic downturn one year ago. WRTV spoke with Kyle Benham of Benham Advisory Group about the price hike and how you can stretch your dollars. He said it's basic supply and demand.
Benham said we spent all year looking at projects we want to do and now the supply is limited because the demand is so high to get them done. He advised holding off on projects until prices go down, but if you've already set aside money and want to get the project done sooner rather than later, you should shop around.
"If you're getting a bid on a project, definitely get more than one," Benham said. "Keep it competitive for yourself. That's going to help make your money go as far as you want it to, and we also encourage people to set a budget if you're going to do a project like this or go on vacation.
"Putting it down on paper, getting it into a spreadsheet. There's apps on your phone now that can help you see what all of those expenses are going to add up to. We encourage all of our clients, once they find that number, add 10% to it because there's going to be hidden costs, there's going to be stuff that go over what you're expecting."
Benham said a lot of items that have increaseed in price are once again going down, so it's advisable to wait on some of those DIY projects, if possible.
He also suggested setting aside money and letting it grow over naturally the next six months while we wait for prices to go down.
