The ongoing wave of inflation hit Austrians hard in the first half of the year. In a recent survey of 1.200 households conducted by the tariff comparison portal Durchblicker in May/June, three quarters of households stated that their household income had fallen or that the increase in income had not offset their additional expenses due to inflation in the first half of the year. Almost six out of ten households find the additional burden to be massive: according to the survey, 58 percent say that their fixed costs have increased sharply to very sharply since the beginning of the year. 34 percent have to resort to an emergency fund to cover their living expenses, 17 percent are overdrawing their accounts or bridging the additional costs with loans. "Due to the high inflation, Austrian households remain pessimistic about the future development of their personal financial situation, although not quite as pessimistic as recently. The sharp rise in rents and food costs is causing more and more households to worry. Their situation with energy and fuel costs has eased somewhat. However, households should take a close look at how much they are currently paying to their electricity and gas providers. The price differences and thus the savings potential are currently considerable," explains Martin Spona, Head of Consumer Finance at Durchblicker. Falling real incomes - people in Burgenland and Salzburg most affected In comparison to other federal states, the loss of purchasing power hit Burgenland the hardest: more than 92 percent of Burgenland residents say that their household income has decreased or that the increase in household income has not offset the additional expenditure caused by inflation. In Salzburg, this applies to 80 percent of households, and in Upper Austria to 78 percent. Vorarlberg and Carinthia fare best: even