How to do ‘recession core’ — the Baltimore way

A quick scroll through social media can send you down a rabbit hole of recession indicators: grown-out roots, less lipstick, jazzed-up cans of tuna.

There’s seemingly no end of content about unconventional ways to save money.

But those clips are just clues. A recession is officially triggered by two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product growth. The U.S. checked one box when it reported recently that the economy contracted in the first three months of the year.

In preparation for the worst-case scenario, people across the internet have been changing their habits and sharpening their survival skills. And they want to talk about “recession core,” as it’s known online. (It has a companion, “underconsumption core.”)

Adding “core” to a word or phrase signifies a style or subculture — think mumblecore minimalist movies of the early 2000s and the more recent cottagecore trend that idealizes rural living.

Although the recession core fad started a few years ago, rooted in fashion trends that moved from flashy and maximalist to subtle and minimalist, it has expanded to other categories like food, home goods and personal finance as fears of a recession grow.

Goldman Sachs Research, the economic insights arm of the financial services company, raised the probability of a recession in 2025 to 35% after President Donald Trump started a global trade war. That’s more than double its October 2024 prediction of a 15% chance.

J.P. Morgan’s research arm also increased the probability of a recession in the next 12 months from 40% to 60%.

Aside from a brief financial scare at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. hasn’t faced a recession since June 2009, when the Great Recession of 2008 officially ended.

Alarm over the economy is largely unfamiliar to younger generations. Their natural inclination for social media and self-made content has led to a catalog of tips, leaving us all better prepared to pinch pennies.

If you can’t buy it, make it

The phrase recession core is new to some, but for Jill Kyle-Keith, a volunteer at SCRAP Creative Reuse store, “it’s a new name for the stuff we’ve always been doing.”

Savvy shoppers head into SCRAP, a nonprofit and donation-based creative reuse store in Baltimore’s Pigtown neighborhood, to find new or gently used craft supplies for a variety of projects.

The store’s shelves are lined with yarn, fabrics, beads and other craft tools that make patching a hole in your favorite jacket or whipping up a handmade gift for your loved ones easy and inexpensive.

At nearly 10 years in business, the store has diverted around 20 tons of materials from landfills. Nancy Hotchkiss, the site’s executive director, estimates they receive around 2,000 pounds of donations every month.

Hotchkiss calls SCRAP “the happy place” and a “welcoming and safe space for people who are involved in the arts.”

“People are happy in here because they’re getting great prices, they’re getting to see stuff they didn’t know was available and every time they come, it’s a little different,” she said.

SCRAP hosts crafting nights for the community to learn the basics of knitting and sewing, and will soon offer an after-school arts club.

“Everybody comes in with a different thing that they’re interested in and our job is to help them find resources,” Hotchkiss said.

One person’s donation is another person’s treasure

Keeping up with the newest fashion trends during a recession may not be the best choice for your wallet. To Angela Showell, thrifting is a tried-and-true method for saving money and finding items you need and will love.

Showell is the owner of The Thrifting Place, a store at the Old Town Mall where everything is $10 or less. She went viral on TikTok last year and has attracted customers from Philadelphia and beyond.

“If there is a recession and things do get tight, come here,” Showell said. “I want to be a resource bank. I want to help lighten that burden. That’s what I want to do.”

Showell said she grew up buying secondhand. Opening The Thrifting Place was her way of fulfilling a lifelong dream after retiring from a 40-year career working for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City.

Thrift stores are more popular than ever, with more than half of shoppers looking to secondhand stores for clothes, according to an annual resale report from ThredUp, an online thrift store. It’s especially popular among the younger generations, the report found.

The Thrifting Place has a variety of items: suits, gowns, school uniforms, onesies, shoes and more. For those in search of higher-end items without the high-end price, they can be found on Showell’s eBay store.

In-store, you might have to do some digging to find that stand-out item, but that’s part of the thrill of thrifting, Showell said.

While The Thrifting Place is a treasure trove, it’s still missing some items that customers frequently ask for. Showell said she’s looking for women’s shoes, sizes 10 and up, and men’s shoes, sizes 11 and up, as well as children’s clothing to fill a need in the community.

“My purpose is to be here and to serve the citizens of Baltimore City, a community that’s been neglected for so long,” Showell said.

Where there’s a tool, there’s a way

Houses aren’t getting any cheaper, and home decor and furniture could become increasingly expensive, thanks to tariffs.

Repairing and refreshing are in, and the Station North Tool Library has many of the tools needed for home improvement projects.

Chris Lavoie, director of shop programs, is a founding member of the Tool Library, which launched in 2013 and now has more than 2,000 members. It works a lot like a traditional library, he said.

“What we supply are tools to renovate houses, to fix things, to do yard work,” Lavoie said. “We also lend out tools that are like quality-of-life-type hobbies. And we try to supply those tools with as few obstacles to accessing them as possible.”

A membership is required to access the more than 4,000 tools the library has, including hammer drills, sanders and lawn mowers, and to use the open shop for independent projects.

The suggested minimum annual membership fee is $1 for every $1,000 in annual income. Up to eight tools can be borrowed for a week at a time.

“Most people pay about as much for their membership per year as you might pay renting a miter saw for one or two days,” Lavoie said.

Tool newbies can take classes on shop safety, tool basics or bicycle repair 101, though some classes don’t require know-how or skills. Others can take up candle making, soap making and macrame.

The Tool Library accepts donations, but they’re primarily looking for more hammer drills, electric lawnmowers and Weedwackers.

Lavoie hadn’t heard of recession core, but he’s familiar with frugality, saving resources and materials and “making the most of what you have.”

“That all makes sense to me,” he said, “and it’s the kind of culture that’s been going on here for a long time.”