Right now, nothing, really. There’s a lot of confusion and volatility at the moment, so I’m trying to keep a cool head rather than react blindly. I’m going to keep my head down at work, keep contributing to my 401k like normal, not make major unexpected purchases, and maybe re-up on some bulk staples. If shit keeps getting worse, I’ll adapt from there
this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2025
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By getting into a great depression
That's awesome!.... An awesome depression!
I was already trying not to spend money on anything, so I'm pretty set.
The best way to prepare for a recession is to be part of the cause of a recession.
It's dumb, but it's true. I'm doing the same thing.
Unpopular opinion but Don't panic.
It's been decade that economy has been shit for real people with crisis starting before the previous one finished, high unemployment, stagnating wages, expensive real estate and more
If you're rich enough to be impacted by stock market collapsing you're already way above average.
Sure it's not making things better, and not the moment to change job, but it's been shit for a while and will stay shitty. The era when boomer could find a job without any degree, get a living wage with yearly raise and promotions is over.
Beans and rice in 5 gallon food safe buckets.
Same with all staple foods. Flour, cornmeal, oil, salt, etc.
I mean, good for having some staples, but that's not really planning for a recession. That's more planning for an extended natural disaster or full on collapse of society.
You're far better off spending your money on things that will improve your likelihood of staying employed (or getting new employment) through the recession, the price of those staples will be affordable as long as you have any income.
Getting a secondary job in a less-likely to be impacted industry and getting trained up now, or taking specific courses at a local college focused on a secondary skillset will be the most useful.
Like others here, there's not much extra I can do. My job seems very stable, I have no auto loans, both the family cars are in okay condition, I have a fixed rate mortgage, health is okay, and aside from one small loan I am paying back the debts aren't bad.
A bottle of things I need to revisit:
- I stocked up on non-perishable foods that my family will eat. But I need to do a bit more on this front.
- I'm trying to cut back on extra spending. This is the biggest problem I have right now. Mostly due to unexpected bills and death-by-a-thousand-cuts small purchases.
My job's unlikely to go anywhere unless I commit a heinous crime and I already live well below my means in terms of required expenses.
I'm probably going to be fine, but just in case I intend to increase my cash savings and stock up a bit on nonperishable food and other required household goods.
Other than that there's not a lot of prep I can do.
Same for me. As long as people are still shipping things my job will be safe. My hours slimmed, sure, but I've got enough seniority to ride out lay offs
For the past 10 years I've already lived as if I'm going to lose my job tomorrow. I'm probably better prepaired than the vast majority of people though I still don't feel that way so I just keep saving and investing more while trying to live as cheap as possible. Ironically though my work situation has never been as busy as it's now. My job is recession-proof(ish) and I can't be fired so atleast there's that.
I just filled my closet, my sons closet and my daughters closet with toilet paper. Also shoved som in the garage.
Bon appetite!
Leaving the country and padding my reserves
I know it's gonna hit everyone, but I'm trying to mitigate the impact
Dont you know everyone on the internet is American /s ?
Like in 2007, a US recession can easily lead to a global recession so I wouldn't be so quick to think this will be isolated to the US.
I'd say this is going to affect us as well.
Learning as much as possible about self sustained living. Even if the worst doesn't come to pass I'm still going to be less reliant on multi billion dollar companies that don't give a fuck about anything but taking more of my money from me. Me growing my own food is the most satisfying middle finger I can give to those greedy fucks
Getting ready to buy as many stocks as I can, I need a retirement plan, and if I can get in while markets are low, I can retire in 10 years.
Not a whole lot I can do beyond what I already have done for unrelated reasons:
- mortgage is on fixed interest.
- car loan is mostly funded by some extra money I have coming my way.
- employment contract is pretty solid and includes a hefty severance package if ended prematurely.
We're in a similar boat:
- low, fixed-rate mortgage - we got lucky in the timing.
- cars are paid off, but one is overdue for being replaced. Soon, it's going to start costing more to keep running than it's worth.
- have severance, but with the mortgage, and cost of gas & electricity, it won't last long.
Also, we have no other debt. We'd be fine if the market weren't on a slide.
I just replaced my car, mostly due to upkeep costs. But while I can manage the car loan as it stands right now, once my grandparents' house is sold, almost all of my share will go into the car loan.
The severance obviously won't last forever (6 months-ish), but I live in a "socialist hellscape scandinavian country" (Glenn Beck told me so, I didn't know how awful I had it until I accidentally watched Fox News in 2008), so even if it takes me a while to land a job I'm not too worried. Plus I have plenty ty of c9ntacts in my current field of work, so even if things were to go to hell, I'm sure I'll land on my feet.
I live in a "socialist hellscape scandinavian country"
You lucky bastard. You looking to adopt an older married couple?
Unfortunately I barely have the mental bandwidth to handle a girlfriend, four kids, and two cats.
But you could have 6 kids, and 4 cats!
It's wild some people don't take mortages in fixed values. Especially when it's already low.
And if rates goes lower, you can renegotiate your fix one.
An adjustable rate is the right choice of you're confident rates will drop and you can accept the risk of being wrong.
I'm just digging a hole in the ground
I bought canned goods and clothes at costco. Just got my taxes, gonna do it again.
Just waiting for the government services i rely on to disappear pretty much
I'm getting back into small scale hydroponics. I have a decent setup from IKEA containers to grow a few leafy greens, and we're starting some raised planters for beans, peppers, and tomatoes. It's not enough to fully survive without a trip to the grocery store but it's something.
buying stonks
Rule #1 of investing: if it looks like a scam I invest
Rule #2: fight club
I buy everything I know I'm going to need in bulk, and spent the last seven months adding extra goods to my pantry. For example, I never needed toilet paper during COVID.
Other than that, I'm just saving money every paycheck and living within my means. I will spend every spare dollar buying stock and crypto while prices are depressed, though. It's like a steam sale for your pocketbook.
I just made a shopping list of bulk items im going to stock up on tomorrow. Just staples like four, rice, beans, pasta and stuff like that for now but I might start doing some small scale gardening. I only have a tiny patio to work with so probably potato buckets and small herb garden. Other than that, its just kinda wait and see i guess.
Saving scrap metal instead of putting it out for the scrap guy. Scrap is going to be way up. Before tarriffs I did a bunch of maintenence and repairs on the vehicles, so they should be good for awhile. Will probably start focusing on what I'm going to be selling off and finding stuff to flip for a profit (sorry not sorry). I'm thinking about starting an automotive repair business since new car sales will likely slump and people will keep cars longer.
The only thing I did recently was buy a replacement device for one I had that was crapping the bed and would need to be purchased soon anyways, but decided to buy something now before it completely died just in case prices sharply rose in the next few months.
Other than that, nothing really. I am putting away as much money as I can in savings, avoiding large purchases/being generally frugal, and taking good care of my things so they last as long as possible. Life's not perfect, but I'm making as soft a cushion as possible in case things do get worse.
Not to say the future is set in stone or that we shouldn't be worried, but even the Great Depression only lasted about a decade, and it's still crazy to me just how quickly the last one went by. I have a place to live, enough money put away that I could probably last it out that long one way or another if I was laid off tomorrow, and a generally supportive community around me where people look out for one another.
But I'm lucky, I know not everyone else can say the same, so I hope you're all doing alright out there.
Not much I can do, really. I can't just run off and get tanks and such for kerosene (heat if we lose power) and diesel (the tractor I use in my fields) in any meaningful quantity.
I'm.pulling all my money from the bank so I can have it ready to buy as many houses and condos that I can when we reach bottom.... LOL s/