Simple: When you need to buy relatively the same amount of food to feed your family every week, but the price of that food doubles, you spend more.
I used to go grocery shopping at a local morket and spend about $200 each trip.
Since Odumbass took office I rarely get out of there spending less than $300 and have twice crossed $400.
This is with the same general purchasing patterns.
So while my ‘spending’ is up, that is NOT a measure of ‘consumer confidence’
It’s why we got chickens, a garden and a couple of steers. We’re splitting the steers with another guy and our chickens produce six eggs a day in winter. We can from the garden.
A friend who is an electrician does most of his work for cash. But they don’t need much cash because they also sell “shares” in their dairy cattle, allowing “shareholders” to legally consume the non-pasteurized milk they sell. They sell their eggs too. They get a lot more than us.
They pay no income tax. They are below the “poverty level”.