Concerns about a global recession are growing louder and louder, and it’s certainly of special interest to people who work in industries likely to be hardest hit by a recession. Those of us who lived through the 2008 economic collapse know just how harrowing it was to watch jobs be lost and retirements wiped out, all while many people seemingly didn’t know what to do. We can turn to the experiences of others, and Reddit is one of the best places to do that.
A recession is defined as a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters. While they do tend to be temporary, recovering from a recession can take years. I wanted to quickly point out some of my favorite Reddit communities that may help you ride out and survive an imminent recession.
r/Frugal
According to the subreddit r/Frugal, “Frugality is the mental approach we each take when considering our resource allocations. It includes time, money, convenience, and many other factors.” This community is great for asking questions about being more frugal, searching for specific advice, or blowing off a little steam with some frugal living memes. As of this writing, the community has a whopping 2,531,566 members. If being more frugal is in your interests, this is a great community to join.
r/Preppers
The subreddit r/Preppers isn’t focused solely on surviving a recession, but “prepping” as a general subject. This survival preparedness forum describes itself as “a place to share information on emergency preparedness as it relates to disasters both natural and man-made.” r/Preppers excludes discussion about politics, current events, and religion, which makes it an awesome neutral space for individuals of various beliefs and backgrounds. Racism, bigotry, hate, and condoning violence are also strictly prohibited by the subreddit’s moderation team. Everyone should feel at home in this subreddit. As of this writing, r/Preppers boasts a membership of 327,708 preppers.
r/PovertyFinance
The subreddit r/PovertyFinance is a great place to go if you want advice on becoming more financially sound ahead of a recession, but you don’t necessarily have a ton of disposable income to throw around. It’s an incredibly welcoming community that assures readers that you don’t have to be at a certain level of poverty to participate. It’s a great place to go to learn about getting by and living well if you don’t have much. The advice in this community can help you prepare for tough economic times.
r/WorkReform
The subreddit r/WorkReform is a non-political community of 623,873 members as of this writing that focuses on fighting to win better working conditions for people who sell their labor. They have a core set of goals and beliefs all around making things better for workers. There are countless thousands of submissions to this subreddit where workers who are facing tough times at their jobs were able to get usable, constructive advice. In the event of a recession, a community of supportive workers may be able to help you navigate the world of layoffs, pay cuts, and other difficult situations. It is probably the most focused workers’ subreddit on Reddit.
r/Collapse
The subreddit r/Collapse is a bit of a wild community, but I wanted to include it in this list because I think it offers an interesting framing for things happening in our world. While recessions tend to be temporary, r/Collapse frames the discussion through the collapse of global civilization as a whole. The community largely aggregates content through that narrative and provides an interesting look into where and how things are going wrong around the world. It may not help you prepare for a recession, but it’s a good community to browse to keep your thumb on the pulse of global downturns.
r/PersonalFinance
The subreddit r/PersonalFinance is a community of nearly 17 million people whose mission is to help you get your financial house in order, learn how to better manage your money, and invest for your future. The subreddit provides solid advice on dealing with debt, investing, budgeting, saving, retirement, taxes, and more. It’s really your go-to place for trying to get a handle on your money, especially if you do have debt and have a little bit of disposable income.
r/Gardening
The subreddit r/Gardening is a must-follow if you’re a gardener browsing Reddit. It’s one of the ultimate gardening subreddits dedicated to providing the best guides, pictures, and discussions of everything related to gardening and plant care. The subreddit is a trove of information. If you have a specific question, use the search feature (which is admittedly hit or miss on Reddit) to find other threads on the subject you want to learn more about.
r/EatCheapAndHealthy & r/Fitness
What do r/EatCheapAndHealthy and r/Fitness have to do with a recession? One of the ways you can recession-proof your life is by getting into the best shape of your life. If you’re fit and supplying your body with healthy food, you’re a lot less likely to need to see a doctor for anything urgent during a period of economic turmoil and income insecurity. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure. These two communities can help you begin a healthier journey.
r/Anticonsumption
The subreddit r/AntiConsumption isn’t exactly a community for surviving a recession, but I think it’s an important one to add to this list. Anticonconsumption is a subreddit with nearly 500,000 members that is geared toward questioning current consumption standards, including inefficiency, marketing, materialism, planned obsolescence, and sustainability. It’s a good community to get acquainted with, as the way we spend money during a recession usually needs to change pretty significantly.
r/BuyItForLife
The subreddit r/BuyItForLife is great whether or not we’re in a recession. With over 1.2 million members, this community helps guide its readers on how to buy goods that are durable, practical, proven, and most of all: made to last. Before making a submission asking for advice, be sure to use the search bar to see if a post has already been made.
