Personal finance in the time of Trump 2.0.
November 26, 2024 3:47 PM   Subscribe

I'm seeing endless posts on Threads and BlueSky about people making financial preparations for Trump's second term, including buying appliances / electronics before the tariffs hit, learning how to cook extremely cheaply, and otherwise economize. How much is actually known about Trump's eventual impact on our wallets, and are you making similar preparations in your own life?
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack to Work & Money (22 answers total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I have a savings account with enough money in it that if I hear from anyone in my life even a stranger that they know someone who needs an abortion I can help them get to a sane part of the country to receive the healthcare they need. Maybe twice. Technically this has been true for a while, Trump adjacent obviously but not a direct planning of his reelection.

Everything else at this point is entirely speculative. More than likely nothing much will change except life will get worse (benefits reduced, etc) for people who are already on the edge. Whatever people on Bluesky are saying they're doing to optimize the best price to upgrade their flatscreen or whatever? Bless.

You should learn how to cook cheaply anyway, that's just a life skill.
posted by phunniemee at 4:10 PM on November 26, 2024 [17 favorites]


I expect the American stock market to do quite well in the next few years, so I'll probably stay in index funds for a while.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:34 PM on November 26, 2024 [5 favorites]


The upcoming trade wars aren’t about industrial policy or onshoring critical technologies - its pure domestic politics. Last time the tariffs were threatened and then industries that donated to the GOP got favorable treatment. There is thousands of examples from the last round. This would be brilliant if it wasn’t for the fact that these types of actions can’t be contained. Last time we ended up providing the largest government subsidies to farmers in history because China stopped buy soybeans.

It will be deeply disruptive for particular sectors. Could it become a generic economic stall or failure? I for one, am stretching my budget because I expect things with batteries to be more expensive.
posted by zenon at 4:34 PM on November 26, 2024 [1 favorite]


I recently received an inheritance, and am using some of it to upgrade my family's tech items (laptops, phones, etc). Ostensibly this is to beat the possible tariffs, but it was needed anyway.
posted by lhauser at 5:12 PM on November 26, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I am seriously beginning to entertain the idea that the tariff threat is a(n effective) ploy to stimulate spending on durable goods, which has likely been stagnating due to different economic anxieties.

That said, I did go out and replace all my kitchen appliances, but potential tariffs were the least part of my motivations

Other than that, I am waiting and seeing.
posted by jimfl at 5:20 PM on November 26, 2024 [4 favorites]


I'm considering replacing my car, if circumstances were different I might wait on this a little longer as I don't do this sort of thing often but I have almost 200k miles so it seems like a good time to consider it. Even though it the past I might have waited until a major repair was needed that was more than the value of the car, it's not so much that the election results are causing me to make this decision but that it got me to think about how much time I would actually have with this car.

I would be buying a used car but typically new car prices going up causes used car prices to go up as well, even for the lower end used cars.

I'm also trying to get anything relating to major health care done sooner rather than later. My doctor recently asked me if I wanted to go ahead with a particular thing or wait. I currently have reasonable insurance that covers preexisting conditions so I got it taken care of now.
posted by yohko at 5:49 PM on November 26, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: The central tenet of my financial plan is that it already factors in uncertainties and possible bad outcomes precisely to avoid me reacting out of fear. If the major crash at the start of Covid in 2020 didn’t change my plans (it didn’t) and if the mortgage crisis in 2008 didn’t change my plans (it didn’t), hypothetical plans from a politician who likes to change his mind are absolutely not going to change my plans.

That being said, I already cook frugally (and know how to cook even more frugally than I do), and that is a wonderful and rewarding skillset I hope everyone picks up, whatever their reasoning!
posted by moosetracks at 6:18 PM on November 26, 2024 [9 favorites]


It's pretty clear they're going to try to get rid of the EV tax incentive, so if you're thinking about buying an EV and those dollars make a difference to you, consider getting in now.

...if you're not really thinking about a new car, then obviously skip this.
posted by aramaic at 6:21 PM on November 26, 2024 [1 favorite]


I already cook for myself. A 25% tariff on Mexico will make trips to the grocery store more expensive. That's where a majority of America's non-corn-based, non-snack food comes from. I don't see the United States growing its own food overnight to meet the shortfall. I'm not sure there is much anyone can do about that, but learning to cook, grow, and preserve food may prove to be useful skills.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:43 PM on November 26, 2024


Best answer: Last time around (2016), spouse & I bought new phones in this walking ghost period, 'cause the tariffs with China were the big things he was claiming to do on day one.

It turned out it wouldn't have really mattered -- phone prices didn't change much during the time. So, any time I've got panicky about this kind of stuff in the past few weeks, I think about my phone experience, and sigh, and figure who knows what he'll actually end up doing. Anything I do now to save money in the future may or may not have any sort of impact.

I am being sure to get a small medical procedure done, but I should do that anyway, so a push is good there.
posted by chiefthe at 7:56 PM on November 26, 2024


As far as cooking cheaply goes, this is the season to remember - you can do a LOT with turkey. Not just a main meal, or sandwiches, etc but you can boil the meat off the bones, etc. to make soup. When you figure it out, the meals average out to be pretty inexpensive.
posted by TimHare at 8:17 PM on November 26, 2024


I ended up picking up a new laptop a lot sooner than expected; partially because of tariff fears, and also because Costco had a great sale on M3 MacBook Pros - and I needed a new laptop. Only other stuff I got was a couple of small kitchen appliances, and a couple of phone charger sets; also because of sale. I feel pretty OK with all of these purposes, and am waiting to see what happens.

I am nervous, though, about *everyone else* freaking out about Tariffs, and that + Black Friday/The Holidays™ means that there might be a high demand for cell phones. I do need a new phone, but my current phone is something I'm paying off in monthly increments, and that last payment is in early January 2025, a couple of weeks before the Inauguration. I'd like to be able to wait for that to expire, in case there's fees associated with paying the phone off early. I may have to do that, though, if there's suddenly a high demand for Pixel 9s, which is my Dream Phone.
posted by spinifex23 at 9:31 PM on November 26, 2024 [1 favorite]


I've kept my retirement savings where they were: partly in a US whole-stock-market index fund, partly in an international index fund. One could outperform the other for a while and I'd still be happy. If you've got investments in specific companies, it might make sense to move them to index funds, on the assumption that nobody really knows what's about to happen or who's about to benefit — or at least, nobody without solid information on Trump's future behavior, which frankly I don't think even Trump has.

We're keeping a bigger back stock of food staples — like, not prepper amounts, but two big jugs of soy sauce in the pantry instead of a single bottle, and four unopened jars of jam instead of one. Our guess is that individual things might get scarce unpredictably, and it would be nice to still have jam if there happens to be a global jam shortage.
posted by Birds, snakes, and aeroplanes at 5:28 AM on November 27, 2024


I'm not making specific day-to-day financial decisions based on my expectations of the next administration's actions. But I have made decisions in the past month about a new job, new health insurance, and birth control methods that were all influenced by my expectations for the Trump administration.

I'm also planning an extra-whopping holiday tip for my beloved hairstylist, because she expects her business to crater in the new year as people focus on economizing and cutting out the luxury spending.
posted by Stacey at 6:01 AM on November 27, 2024


Best answer: I've been living this kind of frugal-living way for pretty much my whole life, due to a seriously unlucky career path and the fact that I live in New York City and am just way too stubborn to leave. I was also raised by frugal New Englanders, one of whom had some generational money anxiety that bled over onto me. So I'm not planning on making any big changes because I'm kind of already there. ....Fortunately, I also am currently 100% debt-free and am currently maxing out my IRA contributions, so this kind of approach can make a difference.

Some advice:

1. Yeah, learn to cook. But along with that - get in the habit of meal planning. I got into that habit more as a way to cope with the insane onslaught of produce I get every summer weekend from my farmshare (more on farmshares in a minute), but after a couple weeks I noticed it had also brought my weekly grocery bill way down. When the farmshare is going on, my weekly grocery list is only about four or five items long - a typical one is toilet paper, milk, eggs, and a box of spaghetti and that's kind of it. That cut my grocery bills WAY down.

2. Farmshares are a good deal in the long run. It is a hefty one-time cost, but when you factor in what you would have spent on produce at your supermarket week by week over the same period of time, you come out ahead - and you get way better food. Often you get MORE than you need, and some of it can be frozen to carry you over the winter and that saves you even more.

3. Look into "zero-waste" cookbooks. There's a couple books I've fallen in love with for this - Perfectly Good Food by Margaret and Irene Li, and Tamar Adler's Everlasting Meal Cookbook. Both have recipes, but both are primarily sort of "reference books" for "here's something you can do if you have a past-its-prime zucchini" or "here's something you can do if you have way too many carrots" or "here's how to tell whether you can salvage bacon or you need to throw it out". That can help you stretch the food you've got.

4. I'm not all about food. Check out the Buy Nothing group in your area for things. I've gotten everything from DVDs to dishware to home decor to even a computer monitor from my own group, and I've offered furniture, clothing, crutches and small appliances. 100% free. I've even see some people offer up half-used bottles of shampoo and seen other people interested in claiming it.

5. Some libraries also have a "Library of things" department - you can check out tools like you would books. Brooklyn's library system also checks out telescopes, board games and musical instruments, and sometimes will also let you "check out" entry tickets for selected museums or other cultural hubs.

6. I guarantee there are some free cultural events going on in your community - anything from free movies at your library on the weekends to pay-what-you-want weird museums to monthly jam sessions at some random pub.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:32 AM on November 27, 2024 [6 favorites]


I was vaguely considering replacing my dishwasher because of tariff concerns. Then I checked the serial number and realized it’s 20 years old, so now I definitely am. Might do the same with my laptop. All my household’s other high-cost machines should be okay for awhile. I’m also thinking a lot about how to weather whatever destruction is going to hit my field (public health) and how to materially support friends and colleagues whose jobs rely on federal funding.
posted by centrifugal at 8:13 AM on November 27, 2024


My appliances are dying (thanks, crappy electricity provider) so i'll speed up the purchasing process, may even shop Friday, sorry.

otherwise, I feel pretty powerless. As I do about all sorts of facets of this shitshow.
posted by theora55 at 9:39 AM on November 27, 2024 [2 favorites]


I bought a new refrigerator, but the old one was over 30, so, well, it was coming. We're also doing a small kitchen reno - putting cabinets and a counter where before, we had a table. We were going to do all this anyway once we figured out that we weren't going to be able to move, but the horrible Trump stuff kind of sped it up a little. I'm using the last bits of the home equity loan I took out two years ago to fix up the kitchen.

Only one person in my entire family has any money anyway. Everyone else exists in a perpetual state of barely / not quite solvent. We'd be the proverbial one paycheck away from homelessness if I didn't own this house. I just need to hold on to it with teeth and claws and pray to whatever gods will hear me that they don't come in the middle of the night for it. My daughter very much wants to leave the country and she wants me to come too. I don't really see that happening at this point in my life, but we'll see.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:32 AM on November 27, 2024 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Really appreciate the responses so far. I know we can't predict the future, but would love some thoughts on what seems like a sure bet versus what's just speculation at this point. It never hurts to be frugal (and I am quite good at that!) but if, say, we're pretty sure that iPhones are going up $500 under the new tariffs, that would be good information to have. I just can't tell if people are spiraling and controlling what they can, or if these are rational, well-reasoned decisions.
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 11:15 AM on November 27, 2024


Best answer: I think it's a mistake to buy expensive things now out of worry that they will get more expensive in the future, unless one really needs them.

My plan is to do the opposite, actually. Try to cut purchases, keep some liquid savings, but also to donate to local food banks and other relief orgs, local housing advocacy, and national/global orgs like ACLU and abortion funds.

I'd rather make do with an outdated phone or laptop than live amidst dystopia and despair. Trump is definitely going to defund cities in blue states. Our communities are what we make them.
posted by splitpeasoup at 11:27 AM on November 27, 2024 [8 favorites]


The future is hazy, and I'm working off my displeasure with how comfortable the business world is with demagoguery, rapists, Project 2025, etc., plus my opinion that Republican administrations are bad for the economy.

I plan to have a midlife crisis and spend the next few years revisiting the frugality of my underemployed youth. I'm also looking at what practical skills I can acquire or practice over the next few years.

IMHO, everything I'm doing is a practical and well-reasoned response to looming chaos (and, really, way of life), but it's also very much about my personal preferences and what I can control.
posted by mersen at 12:35 PM on November 27, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I'd rather make do with an outdated phone or laptop than live amidst dystopia and despair.

Yeah, this. Do you really need to have the state-of-the-art blender or stand mixer or computer or phone or whatever? If it's a legitimate business expense, like you are a craftsperson who needs the high-end computer so you can do the designs best for the things you're screenprinting or whatever, then that's one thing. But if you're just an office actuary, maybe you can get by with last-year's phone, right? Or if all you do with your home computer is the basic home-management stuff and your email, isn't the one you got a few years ago still chugging along okay, if you think about it? (I'm typing this on a ten-year-old laptop, and it's a little slow but otherwise is working just fine.)

Hard thoughts like this about your consumerist habits not only saves you your own money, but it starts to chip away at the power of the rich shits who are trying to control things as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:17 AM on November 28, 2024 [3 favorites]


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