Rising Inflation Has Consumers Considering Ways to Cut Costs

When it comes to buying the essentials these days some shoppers are doing things a little differently.

"Finding creative ways to cut back in places where we can," shopper Matt Meyer said.

That's because inflation is rising. In Dallas-Fort Worth, year over year, it's at 7.8% which is higher than the national rate.

Shoppers notice the change.

"I've certainly noticed the one thing I do buy myself is gas,” Meyer said. “I've certainly noticed the price of that go up and up and up."

"Every time I go to the register I'm always pretty shocked to see the price," shopper Amanda Paxton said.

CNBC Retail Reporter Melissa Repko said the cost in stores is rising because companies are also faced with rising production costs.

"They're spending more on transportation, packaging, and even the cooking oil they use to make potato chips,” Repko said. “That means they either need to absorb those costs as a company or charge people more."

Right now, it's being passed on to customers.

Repko said people may adjust their shopping habits if it continues.

"People might buy smaller cans of soda,” Repko said. “Or they might get a smaller bottle of detergent or they might say I'm not going to get my favorite brand of snacks. Instead, I'm going to get a grocery store’s brand of snacks maybe a dollar cheaper or 50 cents cheaper. That's something we may see in the months ahead."

For some that adjustment has already begun.

"We're certainly looking at choosing different streaming services and cutting out some,” Meyer said. “Subscribe for three months watch everything you want to watch and stop that one and switch to a different one that kind of thing."

"Scaling back and just taking the time to meal plan and meal prep what we're eating to kind of have our budget for the week, so that's what we've been doing," Paxton said.