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Increasing oil prices

Source: GeorgePeters / Getty

Inflation spiked by 6.4 percent in February, bringing the cost of living in the U.S. to a 40-year high.

The figure, released Thursday by the U.S. Commerce Department, is the highest it’s been since January 1982. As a result, Americans spent 0.2 percent more money last month, the Commerce Department reports.

On the other hand, Americans’ average income rose by 0.5 percent in February — up from 0.1 percent a month earlier, per the Commerce Department.

Have you been forced to make changes to your budget? Have you changed any of your spending in the past two years? If so, what has helped the stress on the wallet the most?