3 ways by which the Russia-Ukraine war will affect your spending!

Just before I write anything, I want to say that I am devastated to see what’s happening right now in Ukraine. I can only hope that the war ends soon and the situation gets better. Now, onto the article. Historically, we have seen that any kind of war had bad after-effects on the consumers like you and me. After the 2nd World War, there was a lot of crisis happening all across the world. For example, the German economy was broken into 2 and UK’s economy went into a bad recession. It took quite some time for these countries to get back to normality. We can only hope the war ends soon.

Most of us are like this!

As we are seeing in the media, Russia has been relentlessly attacking Ukraine. This has sparked a lot of crises among the general population. Now you might be thinking, well how does that affect me? Here are 3 ways this war can affect you: –

1. Food becomes expensive

Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of wheat. Wheat as we all know is a staple food for many of us. I mean, when you wake up and have a slice of bread for your breakfast, that bread is made of wheat. I am pretty sure; bread is important for many of us. So, you can expect the wheat prices to go up which can lead to a rise in bread prices too. Food, as we all know, is a necessity, so, a rise in food prices will lead to a rise in your expenses. Now, this rise can further amplify when people hoard products. In one of my earlier articles, I wrote about how people fell for panic buy during the beginning of the pandemic. Do check that out in the link below. I am sure you will get a lot of clarity.  

Check out my article about Panic buy in pandemic!

2. Oil becomes expensive

Other than the Arab nations, Russia is a major exporter of oil and petroleum. From cooking oil to crude oil, Russia ranks in the top 3 for exporting these. Especially in Vegetable oil, in which Russia exports 80% of it. Vegetable oil is a staple for most households. It’s cheap and easily available, which is why it is widely used. Now, small disruptions in the supply can lead to a lot of issues. A lot of restaurants go for vegetable oil because of the reasons I just said. So you can understand what problems can arise when the prices of vegetable oil go up. Your favourite food will cost you more. So, there is a good possibility that your household bill will increase soon.

3. Energy becomes expensive

Now this problem mostly arises for the nations around Russia, mainly the European Union and the Central Asian countries. These countries depend a lot on Russia for their energy. Now, there are very high chances that there are supply disruptions which can cause a lot of blackouts and disruptions worldwide. Although the European Union have made plans on reducing the dependence on Russian energy services, I do feel that there are problems that will come in later, mainly with shortages and higher prices. This is especially going to affect the nations to which energy is exported. Any form of disruption will lead to a rise in price which will increase your household bills as well.   

Read more about current situations here.

Now, you might be wondering what can I do to minimize the effect on me. Well, one thing I can ask for is to not panic buy everything. The thing is it’s the general consumers who suffer the most here. During panic shopping, people buy things, they don’t even need but, they think they might need it later on. Simply saying, people anticipate future consumption today. Don’t worry I will write a post on this too, maybe make a comeback on the series too. As a result, they buy the product.

We can hope for this!

At the same time, I believe it is time for us to think more towards sustainability. One of the ways we can contribute to it is by being conscious, not just for the environmental waste but also with energy use. But, I will be honest here, this war will make our household bills go up. As time passes, products will become expensive and that will cause a lot of changes in our spending habits. Until then do not panic buy everything!

If you enjoyed reading this post, a like would be awesome. Comment below your thoughts on the war and how do you feel about it. Tell me in the comments whether you have bought anything just because you thought you would need it in the future. Let me hear your stories! Check out my previous post here. You can follow me on Twitter as well. If you are new here, then Hi! I am Arpan, I am a part-time blogger and I write articles in and around the world of Economics. I am hoping to reach 500 followers soon, so do help me out here by clicking that follow button. Stay tuned for more posts by The Antique Economist.