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If you’re not tracking your expenses closely, you might wonder why half your income keeps disappearing in the first week of the month. Even if you don’t have a million subscriptions or aren’t booking plane tickets for a trip around the world, small costs seem to add up faster than ever.
So we thought it would be a good time to look at the signs that the economy isn’t as strong as we’d like it to be. Luckily, there are a few recent threads on Reddit (one and two) where people are discussing exactly that. From groceries to entertainment and advertisements in public spaces, here are the ones folks have already noticed.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
When you’re driving home, feeling like you’re really bad with money lately, but in reality, you just bought groceries for the week, again.
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#2
When instead of perfume and flowers for mother's day, she asks you for a grocery store gift card. Raise up people, community is key, no one is watching out for you besides the people next to you on this Titanic.
Spencers slave no more 4 hours ago
For Mother's Day, for me personally, because it's a week before my birthday, my sons, their better halves and my grandkids, go out for lunch. That eating together and catching up is worth so much more than gifts like perfume or flowers.
#3
Canceling streaming services and going back sailing the seven seas.
#4
Constant whining by talking heads about declining birth rates.
Glen Ellyn 2 hours ago
Go ahead and whine, you talking heads. Having children is none of your business.
#5
I’m sure my comment is gonna get buried, but I work at a tire shop for context. Within the past handful of months I’ve noticed people buying cheaper tires, or hardly being able to afford them more frequently.
#6
I started walking to work at the hospital just before the fuel crisis became a thing, I live in the regions so doing that was kind of an anomaly. I never saw anyone else walking on my way to work. After the fuel crisis, I gradually saw more and more people walking to work. The self centered part of me likes to think I started a trend though, who knows.
Glen Ellyn 2 hours ago
I suspect more folks are going to dust off that bicycle to commute more often.
#7
Thinking "oh good, we've not had any big spends recently, I'll save some money on payday", and then bank balance staying exactly. The. Same.
Glen Ellyn 2 hours ago
Tell me about it. Last week my stove died, nearly $1000 to replace it. Then the brakes went out on my car, $1500 to replace the rusted out brake line and an axle seal that had started leaking. My property taxes, due in a couple of weeks, have nearly doubled in the last couple of years, and my homeowners insurance, due June 1st, has more than doubled in that same time period. When it rains, it pours.
#8
Lotta kids at my kids’ daycare have stopped showing up lately. My oldest asking where her friends are.
#9
While driving to and from work, I'm actually noticing a lot of older, smaller vehicles being driven and more with unrepaired damage.
#10
Small towns in the UK are full of boarded up shops and restaurants that closed years ago and never found another entrepreneur keen to use the space. Most of the country is visibly poorer than it was 20 years ago.
#11
Just the fact that I can’t do something fun for myself AND buy groceries in the same week. It’s one or the other.
#12
I purchase myself a specific chocolate whenever I achieve something ( I've pavloved myself into extra dopamine when i eat it ). I passed my masters in 2022 it was 1€, i bought it last week it was 6€.
Little Bit 3 hours ago
Chocolate is a ridiculous price nowadays. I've stopped buying it now because its unaffordable.
#13
"come over for a drink" replacing "let's go out for one" in my friend group. nobody says it's about money. everybody knows.
#14
Gambling EVERYWHERE. The line between desperation and hope is getting mighty fuzzy.
#15
Chaperoned a high school prom recently. No limos. Most girls did their own hair and were bragging about thrifting dresses/dress deals. Boys in suits, not tuxes.
Glen Ellyn 2 hours ago
Good for them! I'm sure they had just as much fun without the huge expense.
#16
Billboards are wildly out of date on major interstates near tourist destinations. Some still up for Christmas events, Halloween, and other events several months past.
Meaning no business has paid to replace the advertisements recently. Not even generic law firms, or fast food chains that often buy “space available “ bill boards at a discount.
Kabuki Kitsune 3 hours ago
Billboards are surprisingly cheap to rent. One such as pictured here, costs around 250 a month.
#18
Bean content! I have never before seen so many cooking videos where beans are the main ingredient.
#19
Everytime I leave the house, it's like $100 between gas and food.
I'm going to eat hot dogs this week.
Glen Ellyn 2 hours ago
Saltine crackers and peanut butter, or a grilled cheese sandwich are what I rely on. Oh, and the occasional tuna melt.
#20
Saw a family with 2 kids go to the movies. 60 bucks for just the tickets. The father was freaking out.
Little Bit 3 hours ago
That's why a trip to the cinema is a rare treat. I've been there when there has been fewer than 8 people in the theater. My local cinema does half price tickets in the middle of the afternoon... ...when everybody's at work/school/college.
#21
Every time I need an Uber, it's less than 0.1 mile from me. I asked my last driver how he's making any money, and he says he's not, that business has been steadily declining for months now.
#22
Me, I’ve cut out clothing shopping almost entirely. Used to love surfing eBay and going to my local fancy thrift stores. Couldn’t tell you the last clothing item I bought now.
Little Bit 3 hours ago
I've always hated clothes shopping. I've never approved of 'fast fashion' (and I don't think I've ever been in fashion in my entire life) and I like to make things last as long as possible. A couple of years ago I decided to stop buying new clothes altogether because if I take care of the ones I've got, I have enough clothes to last me for the rest of my life.
#23
The bakery near my office had a sandwich at $8.50 in March. Today it's $12.75, smaller portion. Owner told me no one applies for $14/hr anymore — minimum is $19. Half the lunchtime regulars are gone. His exact words: running it down before I sell.
Breadcrumb. 5 hours ago
My fantasy of owning my own Cafe is becoming really unrealistic with the cost of food and rent going up. Pretty sure cooking at the hospital pays better.
#24
Used car that’s almost 20 years old had an asking price over $5,000… hell over $2,000 is absurd.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 5 hours ago
My van is 25 years old, but it's an unusual make/model (VW Eurovan, was only produced/sold in the US for a handful of years) and it's got such low mileage for a 20+-year-old car (70k) that a lot of random people still make really high offers for it. Even just randomly on the street, someone will compliment my van and then ask if I ever planned on selling it XD No, my dude, one of the reasons I'm still driving a 25-year-old van is that I can't afford a new car, and even if I sell my van for what they're offering, I won't be really getting an upgrade in a different used vehicle XD
#25
I don’t buy things for the principle of it because I remember the previous price. I remember the previous price because it’s made multiple 20-30 cent jumps in the last year alone.
#26
I buy less meat. Not because i want to eat less meat, but because my wallet cries whenever I do buy it.
#27
Looking for a job, three years ago I changed jobs, got 4 offers out of 20 applications.
Now, I dropped at least 50, two interviews, no follow up.
Spencers slave no more 4 hours ago
In this particular stage of world BS, I'm forever thankful that my sons both chose trades because they will always have work.
#28
People in public places or stores talking about what they are cutting back on or how expensive things are in general.
Was in Michael’s yesterday and a couple women were chatting. I overheard one saying something about giving up coffee from Dunkin because it’s “$5 for mostly sugar.” Dunkin has always been all sugar, this isn’t anything new.
People start negotiating what they can do without, small luxuries are the first to go.
I catch my own self making comments under my breath at prices when I’m at a store.
#29
I'm an insurance broker. We work to help find families best terms on various types of personal insurance. Requests to insure luxury or recreational items like newly purchased cabins, boats and motorcycles has essentially completely stopped.
Glen Ellyn 2 hours ago
I'm not feeling too sorry for people who have cabins, boats, etc. If they can afford that, I think it's okay for them to self-insure. Sounds a bit cruel, I suppose, but oh well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
#30
The vast number of individuals bringing up a full revolution as a part of small talk. Literally took 5 sentences of small talk before the guy at the gas station said "feels like we're gonna just burn it all down soon.".
#32
The trans-Atlantic flight I’m on right now is half empty. I booked it with points several months ago. Trying to enjoy it because with the fuel surge, I won’t be on a plane again for a while.
Related, probably finally cancelling my travel AMEX because the annual fee is no longer worth it if I cannot afford to travel.
Kabuki Kitsune 3 hours ago
OP got lucky. Sounds like they caught a ferry flight. Ferry flights are when a plane needs to be moved from one location to another (usually for repairs, or some mandated inspection). Rather than sending the plane along completely empty, they put a handful of passengers on it, if any at all. The other "passengers" being employees of the company who are needed to be moved elsewhere. For example, pilots and air crew are limited to about 100 hours per month, max, and roughly 30 hours per consecutive 7 day period. Well, if they run out of time far away from home, the airline has to bring them home somehow. Every so often passengers will also get on these flights. Honestly, they're a gem to fly on. I've been on three in my lifetime. One where I was the sole passenger.
#33
Shrinkflation hit hard. Same price, half the product. Classic recession stealth mode.
Patrick van den Houten 1 hour ago
the toiletpaper i use to buy is smaller and no longer fits in the holder i have. s***s big time.
#34
There’s a restaurant in Canada called Swiss chalet, it’s rotisserie chicken.
They now let you klarna your meal into payments upon checkout.
#35
I'm sitting in the dark or really low light a lot more lately.
#36
A bag of chips costs about the same as federal minimum wage. For an hour of work.
Spencers slave no more 4 hours ago
Really? Seriously? I can only assume the US because minimum wage here in New Zealand would get you ~10 bags.
#37
400 dollar concert tickets for two people. Just OK seats too.
Glen Ellyn 2 hours ago
Is that all?? Ticketmaster (US) will charge at least twice that amount, I'm sure. But hey, maybe the ticket scalpers will be left holding the bag enough times that they'll quit.
#38
Most of the posts on my local subreddit are people looking for work or talking about how hard it is to find a job.
Little Bit 3 hours ago
Or people hanging on to jobs they hate because it pays the bills and puts food on the table.
#39
Concerts not selling out like they used to. There’s a lot of tours being canceled right now.
Little Bit 3 hours ago
The cost of concert tickets is astronomical now. Anywhere between £100 & £300, and that's before the cost to get to the venue.
#41
I work in a manufacturing plant and it is absolutely insane. I needed to replace a hydraulic cylinder for a foot pumped lift. Just your typical hydraulic cylinder, nothing special. The lift is a bit specialized but that's it. Found a place in town that is a licensed distributor for this lift, asked for a quote bracing myself for like $800 USD. Got an email back asking for $2,100. A brand new lift to replace the old one is $3,600. Pretty much any part we need is over 200% more expensive than it used to be just a few years ago.
Rick Murray 4 hours ago
Thanks to AI, have you seen the price of memory? A RAM stick for a hundred quid? Nope, not any more. Add a zero.
#42
I just did the shopping list in my grocery store app for a carrot cake. I haven’t baked for a while so I need all fresh ingredients.
$55AUD which is ~ $40USD
That’s before I get to the cream cheese buttercream….
Spencers slave no more 4 hours ago
I just did a quick calculation, because we love carrot cake in my house, and total ingredients cost ~$15. This person needs to shop in store instead of online. $55AUS for carrot cake ingredients is BS.
#43
Literally everything. I’m a single mom and I buy the same things every month, same bills, no real fluctuations on what I do. I have a budget for everything. Everything has increased in price from electricity and natural gas to insurance and cable/internet.
I literally cried today in the bathroom because today I realized that I don’t have enough to feed my kids over the next four weeks. What I have budgeted for food isn’t enough to get us through. I’ve been trying to rework the meal plan and my ingredients and I’ve been doing this for a few months now and I finally hit the wall. I don’t know what to do. I’m literally going to make a food bank appointment and I’m praying that the wait isn’t two weeks like I read about online.
I don’t know what to do anymore. I work 55+ hours a week. Im too old to be working this hard and seeing my pay not raise but the price of everything surpass what I can handle.
Big decisions are going to have to be made and lots of cutting - again. My 16 year old boy who is growing like a weed is always hungry and I hate not having anything to feed him. Plain rice tonight and only because he’s sick of beans. My daughter has lost weight. This isn’t workable anymore. I hate it here.
#44
This is a niche one but I’ve been seeing more weekend happy hours. A couple years ago that was not a thing, at least from what I remember.
#45
I do money services at a store that ends with a mart. We have a CoinStar in the office there. There is always someone plugging change into it, to the point that the guy comes everyday now. He used to come once a week. Those machines hold thousands of dollars and that dude is having to empty it every single day.
Also, when I'm helping people put money on their cards, they're putting much smaller amounts, digging through their wallets and purses to try to find more to put on there.
If you don't have a bank, getting your paycheck cashed costs you every single time you do it. I've been showing people how to use fintech banks instead, so they don't have to pay that fee. They have to wait a few more days, but, they aren't paying onerous fees just to cash their paychecks.
Oh, I just remembered something. Our store got a second lottery machine. Our other one was running out too often, so they put another one in. That, more than anything else, tells me that things are not good. Poor folks blowing their checks on lottery tickets is a bad indicator.
Spencers slave no more 3 hours ago
I'm just picking the "cashing a paycheck fee" part, because why are people in the US still not being paid by direct bank credit? It beggars belief that a country so large still pays people with a cheque. People on a fixed hours contract with hourly rate/people on a salary, should know exactly what their take home pay is every week/fortnight/month and what day of the week it gets automatically paid into the bank.
#46
Nostalgia is everywhere for the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, and now 2010s. A country focused more on its past than its future.
#48
Chicken wire. How the eff is one roll of it $140?!?!? I even comp shopped and didn't find much difference!
I purchased a similar roll of wire 3 years ago for $70... Doubling in 3 years is absolutely nuts!
#49
I have contracted an electrician to perform some residential maintenance and he said he could come today. Usually they’re booked up for weeks.
#50
Our neighbors are going on vacation later this month with three other families. One has dropped out. And the other two are planning to cook all their meals. Hauling groceries to the cabin. That’s zero food and beverage tax for the touristy town from their visit. No tips for wait staff.
Replicate that across the country… not looking good.
What do you think ?
Lost Panda 5 hours ago
Probably just me whining, but I got my paycheck two weeks ago and my VA benefits a week ago. After paying what has to be paid, buying my wife and son new shoes (he has out grown his and she hasn't had new shoes in almost three years) I now have about $300 to my name to last until next payday at the end of the month. Going to be a bare kitchen this month...
Breadcrumb. 5 hours ago
I clean rich people's houses on my weekends. Sometimes I never even meet them in person.
Kitty Litter 1 hour ago
Noticed the word "crisis"....what crisis?! Being broke is something everyone is going to go through unless you're born into money. Welcome to reality, at some point in your life you will be forced to budget, you will barely scrape by and you may have to choose between food or keeping the lights on. Been there done that. Improve your situation, stop acting like you're a victim and figure it out. I see people struggling every single day and 90% of it is self-inflicted. Economic situations will always change, markets will always fluctuate and prices will always skyrocket and rarely plummet. That's life. If you're not starving to d***h in a hut with a dirt floor, suffering from a disease while trying to keep the rats from eating your toes while you attempt to sleep then just shut up already. Too many people think their problems matter, well they don't everybody else has been through it, you're not special
Bartlet for world domination 1 hour ago
Wow, go buy some empathy. It's a crisis because so many people are going through it at the same time and it's not their fault.
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Lost Panda 5 hours ago
Probably just me whining, but I got my paycheck two weeks ago and my VA benefits a week ago. After paying what has to be paid, buying my wife and son new shoes (he has out grown his and she hasn't had new shoes in almost three years) I now have about $300 to my name to last until next payday at the end of the month. Going to be a bare kitchen this month...
Breadcrumb. 5 hours ago
I clean rich people's houses on my weekends. Sometimes I never even meet them in person.
Kitty Litter 1 hour ago
Noticed the word "crisis"....what crisis?! Being broke is something everyone is going to go through unless you're born into money. Welcome to reality, at some point in your life you will be forced to budget, you will barely scrape by and you may have to choose between food or keeping the lights on. Been there done that. Improve your situation, stop acting like you're a victim and figure it out. I see people struggling every single day and 90% of it is self-inflicted. Economic situations will always change, markets will always fluctuate and prices will always skyrocket and rarely plummet. That's life. If you're not starving to d***h in a hut with a dirt floor, suffering from a disease while trying to keep the rats from eating your toes while you attempt to sleep then just shut up already. Too many people think their problems matter, well they don't everybody else has been through it, you're not special
Bartlet for world domination 1 hour ago
Wow, go buy some empathy. It's a crisis because so many people are going through it at the same time and it's not their fault.
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