Seeking encouragement due to tariff/price increase anxiety

[u/ChiMara777]

I’m extremely frugal and only purchase necessities, often procrastinating on purchases (due to analysis paralysis) or just making do without things I need. I am low income and have financial anxiety due to growing up in poverty.

Trump’s tariff orders this week have been causing me a lot of anxiety. I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure to make purchases now in order to avoid potential price increases in the future. I’ve been spending a lot of time considering what purchases I’ve been putting off or will need to make in the coming months and trying to make decisions.

One positive is I bought a new pair of running shoes yesterday (it’s time for a new pair anyway and I was able to get them on sale; they are made in Vietnam where a 46% tariff has been announced).

Does anyone have any feedback or encouragement for me related to the anxiety surrounding tariffs and price increases? One thing I’ve thought of is to consider if I can find a way to make do without these things if necessary.

[u/buddy843]

My hope here is that we (as a society) go backwards on a few things and return to a time we used to do some things.

• cooking at home and doing many things for yourself that we used to hire people for
• a return of community where we band together more in our neighborhoods to help each other
• using the library for free entertainment
• consuming less farm raised meats and eating more cheap forms of protein to save money (which will reduce the consumption of a highly demanding industry).
• learning that buying things shouldn’t be what you do to make oneself happy

I know these may not be the positives you were hoping for in dark times. But at least they are something.

[u/NotFunny3458 → u/buddy843]

The libraries in my area are at risk of being shut down because of cuts in state funding. But otherwise, lovely list of ideas.

[u/Risque_Redhead → u/NotFunny3458]

I just saw that California, Washington, and I think Vermont have had their library federal funding completely cut. I’m sure some of them will still be fine with state funding, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it shut a lot down.

[u/NotFunny3458 → u/Risque_Redhead]

In Ohio, it hasn't actually happened yet, but the state has a really good library system (free membership) in Cincinnati and if the funding gets gutted, there will be a LOT of people that use the library to find jobs and have books available for their family, etc.

[u/Risque_Redhead → u/NotFunny3458]

Libraries offer so much support to their communities that people like me who don’t need those services completely forget about them at times. Libraries are a vital part of communities in so many ways than most of us even realize. It’s asinine what they’re trying to do. Straight up dystopian levels of evil. So many people will be hurt by this.

[u/NotFunny3458 → u/Risque_Redhead]

I don't use mine that often, so I have the same issue as you (I often forget it's there and the variety of services they provide).

[u/Risque_Redhead → u/NotFunny3458]

I used mine a lot last year, but it was strictly for books. I know they serve as heating and cooling centers and that they have a food pantry and social services available. But I know that just scratches the surface. The books and internet access alone are a huge deal for so many people, let alone everything else they offer their communities. They do such good work and now they’re being villainized more than ever. It’s so sad and scary and gross.

[u/calinrua → u/Risque_Redhead]

I don't use my library nearly enough, but your mention of heating/cooling is legit- I was so lucky two years ago when most of my city had no power in mid-June. You don't think of that as so bad- it was only ten days, and they had to work from rural areas inward, and we had help from as far away as Maine, which is insane. But it was 95° with insane humidity (which is arguably worse than 100°, which tends to be drier), and of course no light after dark, when you'd rather be awake due to lower temps, etc- once we were able to get gas again to get there, the library was a haven