If the economy is bad, and there is inflation, that means that the prices of goods and services are high, yeah? So, when you take, let's say $10 to the market it won't buy what it used to, yeah? So, how do you expect people to cut down on their feeding, when they're not even feeding properly?
This just reminded me of something important in Economics, The Vicious cycle of Poverty. You see, this phenomenon explains a situation whereby a country is poor because they are poor. Bringing it down to the individuals trying to survive inflation/ bad economic situations, the individuals remain poor because they cannot invest in themselves.
If you want to escape economic hardship, there's a solution and the solution isn't cutting down your feeding so you can save, but it is to invest in yourself as a person. Even though to achieve those investments you'd have to cut down your eating, it may be your own little sacrifice. Investing in oneself opens people up to opportunities for wealth-making, and liberates them from what hardships they are facing.
That can be done with time, and you do not need anything else than just time. Imagine a person who has absolutely no way of making money, could you tell that person to get a computer that can sustain photoshop, and learn how to be a graphic designer? They have bigger things to deal, like where the next meal will come from, they can't just sit down and work 8 hours a day on photoshop. I can, well I won't

But I can, because I have a job and after my job is over I can spend anytime I want on learning something.
So, poor stays poor because they have urgent needs and can't work on themselves, they do not have the time for it or the capital for it neither. This is why it's quite important to get better at things with time.