65% of Americans Are Feeling the Strain of Inflation. Here's How Emergency Savings Could Help

It's a problem that doesn't seem to want to go away.

It's hardly a secret that living costs have been extremely high for well over a year now. And it's putting a strain on a lot of people.

A recent survey by SecureSave found that for 65% of respondents, inflation is the one factor that's impacting their finances the most. And when everything from your groceries to your utilities is costing more, it's easy to see why you might be walking around in a state of perpetual stress. 

If inflation is messing with your finances -- and peace of mind -- then there's one essential step to take to combat it. It may not be an easy one, but it's definitely worth doing.

Build up some cash reserves

The aforementioned survey found that 67% of Americans don't have enough money in a savings account to cover a $400 emergency expense. If that's the boat you're in, then building yourself some cash reserves is a wise idea.

First of all, if you don't leave yourself with savings to fall back on, you might immediately have to resort to racking up a credit card balance the next time an unplanned bill hits. And that could end up putting a huge strain on your finances and costing you lots of money in interest. But also, if you're able to build up some cash reserves, it could give you more leeway to cope with rising expenses. 

Let's say you're maxing out your paycheck month after month because your bills are just so much higher than they were a year ago. Now, imagine if your savings balance were to grow by $500. Suddenly, you'd have a lot more wiggle room. 

If your grocery bills were to increase by $10 a week, you'd have savings to dip into to cover that extra cost. And if your rent were to go up by $50 a month, you'd have the means to dip into savings to tackle that increase for a while.

How to build savings while inflation is surging

It's hard enough to build savings in general. But it can be even more difficult to do so at a time when living costs are up across the board. That's why your ticket to amassing some cash reserves may have to boil down to picking up a side hustle. 

The idea of working a second job on top of your main one may not be so appealing. After all, having downtime is important. But if you're willing to work a side job for a period of time -- long enough to grow your savings nicely -- then you can always drop that second job if it becomes burdensome, all the while knowing you've set yourself up with some money in the bank.

Of course, you could also try cutting your spending to boost your cash reserves. But let's face it -- if you're already barely paying for extras, how much will that really help? That's why picking up extra work may be a better choice, even if it's not the easiest one. 

Unfortunately, rampant inflation could be with us for quite some time. But if you build up some savings, you may have a much easier time coping with it.