Lifestyle How to Beat Inflation at Home 9/28/2022 | By Rivan V. Stinson Rivan V. Stinson of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance suggests tips on how to beat inflation by making small but significant changes at home, from earning rewards to paying down credit card debt and more. Beating inflation involves more than clipping coupons and cutting back on driving, although that can help. Here are other ways to beat inflation without major lifestyle changes. Earn rewards Shopping with the right rewards card can earn you points or miles that you can stockpile for future use. If you’re on the hunt for a new rewards card, check out Kiplinger’s top picks in our annual rewards credit card reviews. We ranked cards in various categories, including those best for travel, everyday purchases, gas and more. The Abound Credit Union Platinum Visa, which earned gold in our gas category, offers 5% cash back on fuel purchases. The Sam’s Club Mastercard, which took silver, gives 5% back on up to $6,000 spent yearly at gas stations. (You have to be a Sam’s Club member to sign up for the card.) For those looking to earn straight-up cash back on all purchases, newcomer Wells Fargo Active Cash Visa won our first-place designation. It provides 2% cash back. Pay down debt To beat inflation, you also want to get your credit card debt under control – and fast. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue boosting short-term interest rates in an effort to cool down spending. When that happens, variable interest rates on products, such as credit cards, that are indirectly tied to the Fed action go up as well. If you’re carrying a balance, look into a balance-transfer card that offers a 0% introductory interest rate. Recently, cards from Wells Fargo, Capital One and Bank of America, among others, allowed balance transfers with an introductory rate of 0% for 15 to 18 months. Transaction fees apply – either a flat amount of up to $10 per transfer or 3% to 5% per transfer, whichever is greater. But this strategy will backfire if you don’t pay off the balance by the time the 0% rate ends. Tweak your investments It’s critical that your portfolio be diversified and aligned with your tolerance for risk. Look for stocks and funds with stable growth and low volatility. You should also rebalance when the stock market throws your asset allocation out of whack. Related: Money-saving tips for three big bills Savvy shopping tips Find other ways to cut back and beat inflation If you’ve trimmed all of the fat from your spending and need to start cutting muscle, you may need to decrease contributions to your retirement savings accounts. However, this isn’t a step you should take lightly. Saving less now means you’ll either have to work longer to make up for the lower savings rate or contribute more in your later years. If you have to cut back to beat inflation, try to continue contributing enough to receive any matching contributions from your employer. © 2022 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Read More Rivan V. Stinson Rivan V. Stinson is a staff writer at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. For more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com.