From February 2022 to August 2024, as food prices swelled, credit card delinquencies increased 39.8%, according to a recent report by the Urban Institute. In 2023, the research firm found that about a quarter of adults paid for groceries on a credit card and took on debt as a result.

More Americans are using buy now, pay later loans to buy groceries. About 25% of respondents said they have used buy now, pay later loans to buy groceries this year, up from 14% in 2024, LendingTree found. More are also falling behind on those bills: 41% of respondents made a late payment on a BNPL loan in the past year, higher from 34% the year prior, the report found.

Some consumers are in more dire straits. In the past year, about 19% of polled Americans said they had to get food from a food bank or a pantry, according to a new Pew Research Center report.

Here are five ways to save on grocery costs:

On top of sales, look for manufacturer’s coupons, Kates said.

Doing so can help save on costs. Store brands can cost about 5% to 72% less per serving than name-brand products, according to a 2022 blind test conducted by Consumer Reports. About three quarters of the 70 store-brand products used in the test tasted just as good as the name brand, researchers found.

And it’s no secret that shopping in bulk in a wholesale club can also provide savings. Wholesale clubs like BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco or Sam’s Club offer different membership tiers with fees ranging from $50 to $55 for the most basic plans to $110 to $130 for premium versions.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits, is a federal government program that provides food benefits for qualifying low-income families, said Courtney Alev, the consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma. Contact your local SNAP office for more information; you may need to meet certain requirements in order to qualify.

Local food banks and pantries are available to anyone struggling to afford groceries, and typically more accessible compared to benefits like SNAP, experts say.

However, you might be required to provide information, depending on the food bank’s specific criteria or policies, experts say. For instance, some might require a proof of residence and income, Alev said.

You can look up your nearest food bank on websites like feedingamerica.org or 211.org.

The U.S. economy is still in a “strong position” despite “heightened uncertainty,” according to the Federal Reserve’s latest assessment.

Yet there’s a looming economic risk the U.S. hasn’t meaningfully faced for decades — stagflation.

“The risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation appear to have risen,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on May 7.

Those two factors — along with slower economic growth — are the definition of stagflation.

Stagflation is not here yet. The unemployment rate is low and inflation has come down, though it is still higher than the Fed’s 2% target, Powell noted last week. Signs that the economy is in a “solid position” prompted the central bank to leave the short-term federal funds interest rate unchanged.

More from Personal Finance:
How consumers are preparing for an economic hit
Trump eyes tax hike on wealthy
How to land a job in ‘low firing, low hiring’ market

Stagflation was last a major issue for the U.S. economy in the 1970s as the country contended with the economic fallout of the Vietnam War, the loss of manufacturing jobs and spikes in oil prices.

While different factors are present today, stagflation is a “more pronounced risk than at any time over the past 40 years,” Greg Daco, chief economist at EY Parthenon and vice president at the National Association for Business Economics, recently told CNBC.com.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence sank to its lowest reading in five years as tariffs impacted individuals’ outlook and employment confidence, according to the Conference Board’s April survey. Nevertheless, total retail sales were up in April, both month over month and year over year, as consumers moved up purchases in anticipation of tariffs prompting higher prices, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor.

Eliminating credit card or other high-interest debts like home equity loans can help create more room in your budget, particularly as interest rates stay put for now.

“If stagflation comes to pass, you’re going to need that breathing room, because inflation will be high, and prices for all your expenses will be moving higher,” McBride said.

2. Boost emergency savings

Most respondents — 65% — to the May CNBC Fed Survey said they expect the Fed will lower interest rates if stagflation risks come to pass.

With interest rates holding steady, cash savers still have a unique opportunity to access higher returns.

Top-yielding online savings accounts are still offering interest rates that are above the rate of inflation, according to McBride. That may not always be the case if interest rates come down and the rate of inflation picks up.

Having cash set aside can help prevent the accumulation of high-cost debt or the need to prematurely raid retirement accounts in the face of income disruptions, rising expenses or other unexpected costs, McBride said.

3. Think twice before stocking up on goods

Pending tariffs could mean rising prices on a variety of goods from leather goods to apparel to cars. That may tempt consumers to want to rush to buy the products they anticipate they will need, in order to save money.

But buyer beware: So-called “panic buying” can mean you shell out more money than you otherwise would by purchasing more than you need.

House Republicans are calling for a higher limit on the deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT, as part of President Donald Trump‘s tax and spending package.

The House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax, released the full text of its portion of the bill on Monday afternoon. The SALT provision would raise the cap to $30,000 for those with a modified adjusted gross income of $400,000 or less.

However, the SALT deduction limit has been a sticking point in tax bill negotiations and the provision could still change significantly. The committee is scheduled to debate and vote on the legislation on Tuesday afternoon.    

More from Personal Finance:
Trump’s tax cuts: The key issues and who stands to benefit
Changes for Social Security beneficiaries to monitor under new agency leadership
With foreign tourists boycotting the U.S., businesses brace for falling sales

Enacted via the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, of 2017, there’s a $10,000 limit on the federal deduction on state and local taxes, known as SALT, which will sunset after 2025 without action from Congress.

Currently, if you itemize tax breaks, you can’t deduct more than $10,000 in levies paid to state and local governments, including income and property taxes.

Raising the SALT cap has been a priority for certain lawmakers from high-tax states like California, New Jersey and New York. With a slim House Republican majority, those voices could impact negotiations.

While Trump enacted the $10,000 SALT cap in 2017, he reversed his position on the campaign trail last year, vowing to “get SALT back” if elected again. He has renewed calls for reform since being sworn into office.

Lawmakers have floated several updates, including a complete repeal, which seems unlikely with a tight budget and several competing priorities, experts say.

“It all has to come together in the context of the broader package,” but a higher SALT deduction limit could be possible, Garrett Watson, director of policy analysis at the Tax Foundation, told CNBC earlier this month.

Here’s who could be impacted.

When filing taxes, you choose the greater of the standard deduction or your itemized deductions, including SALT capped at $10,000, medical expenses above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, charitable gifts and others.

Starting in 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the standard deduction, and it adjusts for inflation yearly. For 2025, the standard deduction is $15,000 for single filers and $30,000 for married couples filing jointly.

Because of the high threshold, the vast majority of filers — roughly 90%, according to the latest IRS data — use the standard deduction and don’t benefit from itemized tax breaks.

Typically, itemized deductions increase with income, and higher earners tend to owe more in state income and property taxes, according to Watson.

For example, an earlier proposal, which would remove the “marriage penalty” in federal income taxes, involves increasing the cap on the SALT deduction for married couples filing jointly from $10,000 to $20,000.

That would offer almost all the tax break to households making more than $200,000 per year, according to a January analysis from the Tax Policy Center.

“If you raise the cap, the people who benefit the most are going to be upper-middle income,” said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Of course, upper-middle income looks different depending on where you live, he said.

Forty of the top 50 U.S. congressional districts impacted by the SALT limit are in California, Illinois, New Jersey or New York, a Bipartisan Policy Center analysis from before 2022 redistricting found.

If lawmakers repealed the cap completely, households making $430,000 or more would see nearly three-quarters of the benefit, according to a separate Tax Policy Center analysis from September.