Three moms reveal how inflation has forced them to make lifestyle sacrifices today

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Inflation forces families to cut spending on healthy habits

Mothers Amie Bowman, Tina Avile and Briana Howard discuss the impact inflation has had on raising their children as rates continue to reach record highs, on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.’

Some families are being forced to make tough lifestyle changes and difficult financial decisions because of today's sky-high inflation.

Co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy of "Fox & Friends Weekend" spoke with three mothers on Sunday morning, August 21, 2022, to discuss the sacrifices that families are making while the economy remains shaky.

Those sacrifices are very real indeed.

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Here is some of what the moms revealed about their families.

Briana Howard, mother of 1 from Virginia

Briana Howard is an American mom of one who lives in Fairfax, Virginia. (Fox News Media)

"We’re finding ourselves being much more thoughtful [about] the way that we’re spending," said Briana Howard, a mother of one from Fairfax, Virginia.

"When we’re going to the grocery store, I’m not mindlessly shopping, but I’m planning and not necessarily always getting the stuff that we want but kind of what’s on sale," Howard continued. 

"We’ve done things like cut out gym memberships and saved on our cable bill," she said.

"Again, [it's] just being a lot more thoughtful on the way that we spend our money."

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Howard said that she thinks the federal government and President Joe Biden should take more action to help families that are struggling today to keep up with inflation.

Tina Aviles, mother of 7 from Texas

Tina Aviles is a mother of seven who lives in Texas. She spoke on "Fox and Friends Weekend" on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022, about the impact of inflation. (Fox News Media)

"We have the same problem," said Tina Aviles, who juggles the role of being a deputy director of grassroots operations at Americans for Prosperity - Texas plus a mother of seven. 

"We have to be very careful with what we spend," she continued.

Aviles added, "I didn’t plan it this way, but I’ve been a parent for the last 30 years."

"And what I notice now is this year we had to stop and evaluate whether our children will go to camps, which camps they would go to, which sports they’re going to participate in the fall — and that actually is going to affect the long-term outcome of the educational opportunities that they have during this time of life," she also said.

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While Aviles said she thinks her children are priceless and will do her best to make sure inflation doesn’t keep them down, she did note that millions of families are struggling "in this pay-more, get-less economy."

Amy Bowman, mother of 3

Amy Bowman is an American mother of three who lives in the U.S. (Fox News Media)

"Well, like the other two ladies that spoke, we are also being more intentional, and we’re also bundling trips with gas and sports and all those kinds of things," said Amy Bowman, a mother of three, regarding her family’s financial approach to today's inflation.

"I think the thing that hurts us the most is our commitment to buying local," Bowman added.

"During the pandemic, we made a concentrated effort to support our local businesses and go out for dinner locally and those kinds of things to keep our communities afloat — and now those opportunities just aren’t there anymore."

"The thing that hurts us the most is our commitment to buying local."

Bowman also said, "We’re not going out for dinner, we’re not being able to go to the local market instead of the cheaper national chain just because we can’t print money when there are things we want to buy that we can’t afford."

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In response to the recent signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, Bowman said on Sunday morning that she thinks "printing and spending more money never makes inflation better."

At this point, she said she doesn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel when compared to the aftermath of 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis.

A new estimate from Brookings Institution, an American think tank and research group that dates back to 1916, said the new average annual cost to raise two children in the U.S. is $18,271.

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This translates, the firm said, to about $310,605 all told that middle-income families will spend to raise two children from birth to 18.

That is 9% higher than the estimate it published back in 2020.