凯瑟琳·沃恩（Kathryn Vaughn）今年秋天返回西田纳西州农村小学工作时，肩上的压力比往年更大。
Kathryn Vaughn returned to work at a rural West Tennessee elementary school this autumn with a lot more stress on her plate than in previous years.
这位46岁的女性，像许多美国人一样，正在努力平衡如何在生活成本上升的情况下养活家人，正如她所说的，“一切”都在涨价。
The 46-year-old, like many Americans, is juggling how to provide for her family with rising costs of, as she described it, "everything".
她每天要做三份不同的工作来养活四口之家，其中包括担任小学美术老师。随着美国通胀持续上升，官方数据显示，过去12个月物价上涨了3.7%，高于8月份前12个月的3.4%。这一数据于周三公布。涨幅超过了经济学家和华尔街分析师的预期。
She spends her days working three different jobs to support her family of four, including as a primary school art teacher, as US inflation continues to rise Over the past 12 months, prices rose by 3.7% - up from 3.4% in the 12 months to August, according to officials numbers for September that were released on Wednesday. The price rise was more than economists and Wall Street analysts had forecast.
能源价格上涨推高了美国的生活成本，柴油价格创下历史新高，汽油价格也随之上涨，所有这些负担都落在了普通美国人的肩上。
High energy prices have driven up the cost of living in America as diesel prices have hit record highs and the price of gasoline has risen too, and all of this has landed on the shoulders of everyday Americans.
放学后，沃恩会去她的第二份工作——在一个面向高危青少年的课后项目中担任协调员。她的五岁儿子也可以参加，这减少了沃恩家庭对课后照护的需求和费用。
Once school finishes, Vaughn heads to her second job as a facilitator at an after-school programme for at-risk youth. Her five-year-old son can join too, reducing the need and cost of after-school care for Vaughn's family.
“我为了生存做了一些令人难以置信的疯狂事情，”她说。“我为当地一家珠宝店当手模，我在Facebook交换网站上卖掉家里放置超过十分钟的东西，我在ThredUp和Poshmark上转卖衣服。”沃恩甚至为逝世的人撰写讣告来赚取额外收入。但即便如此，仍不足以养家糊口。
"I have done some incredibly unhinged things to survive," she said. "I hand-modeled for a local jewelry store, I sell everything that sits longer than ten minutes at my house on Facebook swap sites, I resell clothes on ThredUp and Poshmark." Vaughn even writes obituaries for people who have died to make extra money. And it is still not enough to support her family.
普纳尔·巴夫萨尔（Punal Bhavsar）曾以为2026年将是他存够钱买房的一年。
Punal Bhavsar thought 2026 was going to be the year he saved enough money to purchase a home.
“我本来以为利率会下降，然后我就能买房，但现在我觉得这不太可能了，”他说。这位39岁的男性表示，商品价格的上涨让存钱变得困难。而对他而言，最大的负担已成为汽油价格。
"I was thinking the interest rates would decrease and then I'd be able to purchase a house, but I don't think that's likely now," he said. The 39-year-old said the rise in the cost of goods has made saving money difficult. And the biggest burden for Bhavsar has become the price of gasoline.
“我开的车需要加高标号汽油，不幸的是，在加利福尼亚州以及我所居住的地区，价格几乎已经达到每加仑6美元（约合4.5英镑），”他说。
"I drive a car that takes premium gas, and unfortunately, in California and the area that I live in, it's almost $6 (£4.5)," he said.
随着11月中期选举的临近，经济动荡必将成为选民关注的焦点，Bhavsar表示他可能会成为单一议题选民：“对我来说，这就像汽油价格必须得到控制一样。”他形容当前的经济前景十分黯淡，而数据也支持他的看法。
Come November, when midterm elections happen and the economic tumult is bound to be on voters' minds, Bhavsar said he may become a single-issue voter: "For me, it's just like gas prices have got to be under control." He described the current economic outlook as bleak, and the numbers back him up.
盖洛普经济信心指数综合了美国人对当前经济状况和经济前景的评估，并将其放置在-100到+100的范围内。9月份，该指数为-40。5月份，它降至-45，这是自2022年以来的最低水平。
The Gallup Economic Confidence Index summarizes Americans' assessments of current economic conditions and economic outlook and puts them on a scale of -100 to +100. In September, the index was -40. In May, it reached -45, the lowest since 2022.
卫报的一项夏季调查显示，惊人地，95%的受访者认为美国正陷入可负担性危机。今年秋天，在美国各地，人们正在寻找应对这一问题的办法。
A summer survey from the Guardian showed a staggering 95% of respondents think the US is in an affordability crisis. This fall, across the US, people are finding ways to cope with that.
凯特林·格林七年前首次搬到犹他州时，她的妈妈帮她搬进了新家，并留下了一些智慧的话：“如果你 ever 需要一顿便宜又简单的饭菜，一定要买绞碎的牛肉。”随着价格上涨，格林很难遵循这个建议。她回忆说，她以前每磅绞碎牛肉只需2美元；现在她每磅要付8美元，她说。
When Caitlin Green first moved to Utah seven years ago, her mom moved her into her new home and left her with some wisdom: "If you ever need a cheap, easy meal, always get ground beef." As prices have increased, Green has struggled to follow that guidance. She remembers paying $2 a pound for ground beef; now she is paying $8, she said.
相反，格林和她的丈夫有时会选择替代品，比如绞碎的火鸡或绞碎的鸡肉。
Instead, Green and her husband sometimes choose alternatives, opting for ground turkey or ground chicken.
“[绞碎牛肉] 已经……不像牛排那样是奢侈品……但它已经到了这种地步：它变成了一种奢侈品；我们购买时必须三思而后行，”她说。
"[Ground beef] is almost ...not a luxury like steak... but it's just to the point where it's become a luxury; we have to think about it if we're going to purchase it," she said.
格林和她的丈夫的月杂货开支已经从大约200美元增加到400美元。
Green and her husband have gone from spending some $200 a month on groceries to $400 a month.
“我明白通货膨胀是存在的，但我觉得在我有生之年，从未见过通货膨胀来得如此之快、如此之猛。”对于田纳西州的学校教师沃恩来说，艰难的选择一个接一个地在来。
"I understand inflation is a thing, but I just feel like in my lifetime, I've never seen inflation hit so quickly and so drastically." For Vaughn, the Tennessee school teacher, the difficult choices keep coming.
当她的孩子们返校时，她为五岁儿子购买学习用品所面临的130美元账单让她目瞪口呆。
She was gobsmacked as her children returned to school, at the $130 bill she faced for her five-year-old son's school supplies.
沃恩决定让儿子每天在学校购买午餐，而不是自带便当，因为杂货成本持续上涨，她计算后认为这样更便宜。
Vaughn made the call to have her son purchase lunch at school each day, rather than take homemade lunches, as the cost of groceries continues to rise and she calculated it would be a cheaper choice.
全家甚至决定放弃今年秋天前往佛罗里达州看望沃恩父母的行程，因为汽油价格太高。
The family has even decided to forgo a trip to Florida this autumn to see Vaughn's parents because the price of gasoline is too much. "It's rough out here," she says.
她说：“这里情况很艰难。‘一切成本都疯狂上涨。去上班的汽油费、我的保险费用上涨、养活两个孩子和丈夫……这真是太多了。’”
"The cost of everything is insane. Gas to get to work, my insurance costs have gone up, feeding two children and a husband. It's a lot."