Get Recession Ready: 11 Lifestyle Choices as a Hedge Against Inflation

USA inflation graph photo

What with skyrocketing fuel and food costs, the only thing that is keeping inflation from going into orbit is the declining cost of housing and used SUVs. Over at the Simple Dollar, they have eleven suggestions for beating inflation and as so often is the case, they are all green, reducing your carbon footprint as well as saving money.

Start a Garden. A garden hedges against inflation in food prices, particularly if you focus on perennials (like asparagus) and on heirlooms that you pollinate yourself (like tomatoes).

-see TreeHugger Picks: Grow Your Own Food

Learn how to make as many meals as possible from basic ingredients. The inflation effect multiplies when it comes to prepackaged foods - each middleman will have to bump up their costs to both account for increases from their provider and maintain their own profit margin.

See Planet Green for Why Cook?
Cooking Basics: Stocking Your Kitchen
Cooking Basics: Choosing a Cookbook

zimbabwe money inflation photo
Inflation Alert!

Reduce your home energy use. Every little choice you make to reduce your home energy use hedges against inflation. As prices for energy go up, the savings that devices like LED light bulbs, ceiling fans, and programmable thermostats contribute to our bottom line increase as well.

See Planet Green for tips on saving energy:
Get a Programmable Thermostat
Stop the Air Leaks
Insulate Your Water Heater
Add Attic Insulation

Drive less - walk, share rides, and bike. more The less you drive, the less you’re affected by escalating gas prices.

TreeHugger: US Drivers Traveled 20 Billion Fewer Miles in April of 2008 than Last Year
Hypermiling Causes Road Rage? Hypermiling a Fad?

Invest in solar panels or a small wind turbine. These devices can drastically reduce or even eliminate the amount of energy you need to pull in from the electrical grid.

TreeHugger: Solar Powered House in Boulder, Colorado
Off-Grid Living Means Solar-Powered Blogging, Even With a Lack of Sunshine

See them all at The Simple Dollar