受通胀危机影响，美国物价涨幅创下了四十年新高。曾经以消费主义著称的美国人从“买买买”转变为“啥也不买”，许多人都加入了物品交换互助小组。

 

Prices in the US soared 7% last year - the biggest annual increase in nearly four decades. Now US consumers - whose spending powers the world's largest economy - are starting to signal they have had enough.

去年美国物价飙升了7%，创下了近四十年来年度涨幅新高。用买买买来撑起全球最大经济体的美国消费者如今也开始表露出买够了的迹象。

 

"I find now, that I'm constantly tracking the cost of certain items," Sevan Tavoukdjian says. "It's changed which items I buy."

34岁的演员塞万·塔沃克德吉安说：“我现在发现自己不停地关注特定商品的价格，这种习惯也改变了我对商品的选择。”

 

The 34-year-old actor moved into his own apartment in New York City last month and when he saw how much it would cost to furnish it, he was shocked at the prices being charged.

塞万上个月搬进了自己在纽约市的公寓，当他发现装修要花这么多钱时震惊不已。

 

So, he scrapped¹ plans to buy furniture and instead sent a message to his neighbourhood "Buy Nothing" Facebook group, where people offer unwanted items for free.

因此他放弃了购买新家具的计划，转而在本地社区的“啥也不买”脸书小组里发了一条信息。这个小组的人将自己不需要的物品免费提供给大家。

 

The average American family had to spend roughly $3,500 more last year than in 2020 for the same goods and services due to inflation, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.

宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院的研究人员指出，受通货膨胀的影响，美国普通家庭去年购买同样的商品和服务比2020年大约多花了3500美元（约合人民币2.2万元）。

 

Housing costs were up 4.2%, grocery bills jumped 6.3% and clothing prices were 5.8% higher. Living and dining furniture - like Mr Tavoukdjian was seeking - saw one of the biggest spikes², rising more than 17%.

住房成本上涨了4.2%，食品杂货费用上涨了6.3%，服装价格上涨了5.8%。塞万原本打算购买的客厅和餐厅家具涨幅最高，超过了17%。

 

But salaries have not kept up with the increases, pushing people to forego purchases, substitute cheaper alternatives, or - like Sevan - hunt for something free.

但是人们的收入却没有随之上涨，这迫使人们放弃购买一些东西，寻找更廉价的替代品，或者和塞万一样去搜寻免费的东西。

 

The situation has driven a surge in activity on neighbourhood exchanges such as the Buy Nothing Project, building on growth since the start of the pandemic.

这种情况促使“啥也不买”小组等平台的社区物品交换活动激增。自从疫情暴发以来，这个小组的交易量就持续增长。

 

Membership in the group has more than doubled over the past two years to more than 5.3 million globally. It recently added an app to cope with demand.

“啥也不买”小组的会员数量在过去两年翻了一番还不止，目前全球会员数量超过了530万人。为了应付需求，最近该小组还新增了一款手机应用软件。

 

At Freecycle, a similar site where participants typically offer up some 20,000 items each day, the number of posts each day has increased by about 15% in recent months, driven by the financial concerns, founder³ Deron Beal says.

在与之类似的Freecycle网站，会员每天能提供约2万件物品。据该网站创始人德龙·比尔透露，由于人们对经济状况感到担忧，近几个月该网站每日发帖量增加了15%左右。

 

Mr Tavoukdjian says he's been amazed by what people are offering in his local Buy Nothing group: everything from never-been-used pillows and plates, to hand-me-down children's toys and clothes - and sometimes more off-beat items such as breast milk.

塞万表示，本地的“啥都不买”小组所能提供的物品让他大开眼界，从崭新的枕头和盘子，到二手儿童玩具和服装，有时候还会提供一些不寻常的东西，比如母乳。

 

His own plea for help was amply answered. Within days, he had transformed his bare-bones New York City studio into a home, adding five chairs, two small tables, two lamps, a sofa, rug, microwave, toaster, several sets of dishes, paintings and half a dozen throw pillows.

他的求助得到了很多回应。仅仅数日，他就把家徒四壁的纽约工作室改造成了一个家，添置了五把椅子、两张小桌子、两盏灯、一个沙发、一张小地毯、一个微波炉、一个烤面包机、几组盘子、几幅油画，还有六个抱枕。

 

But the shock of the prices from his initial search has lingered.

但是当初家具价格给他带来的打击仍让他心有余悸。

 

When his vacuum cleaner broke recently, he didn't pull out his wallet for a new one. He headed to Buy Nothing for help.

最近他的吸尘器坏了，他没有花钱买一台新的，而是直接上“啥也不买”小组求助。

 

"They've made a massive difference," he says. "It's amazing what's out there."

他说：“这个小组让我的生活发生了巨变。真的让人受益良多。”

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