‘Build up your emergency fund’: Millennials are sharing recession survivals tips on TikTok

Millennials were told the 2008 recession was a “once in a generation” economic crisis. Almost two decades later, déjà vu has struck.

While the U.S. market rose following President Trump’s decision to pause global tariffs on most countries—and global banks reset their recession risk assessments—lingering fears of economic collapse are driving millennials to TikTok, where they’re passing down survival tips to Gen Z.

“We don’t panic during recessions, we prepare for them,” content creator and marketer Itzett Romero said on TikTok. “Listen to your millennial friends.”

Romero advised her 70,000 followers to “make alliances” by sharing the cost of subscriptions and bulk grocery items with friends and neighbors.

“Cannot stress buying bulk and buying EARLY,” a user commented on Romero’s video. “You don’t want to be in the store when everyone is panicking.”

In a separate video, TikTok user @yaptrapped, who graduated college in 2011, also emphasized sharing. “Make friends because you can share a lot,” she said. “We survived a long time like that.”

Financial advice was also widely shared across various videos. In one video, TikTok creator Rach to Riches advised that people “Build up your emergency fund, you should have three to six months of living expenses saved.”

Separately, Saprina Danise, a creator focused on personal finance, said she will scale back her retirement contributions. “Anything above my minimal contribution I am diverting into my emergency fund for the foreseeable future,” she said in a video.

@moneywithsaprina

Replying to @FAM_embroidery here’s what I’m doing with my money right now

♬ Avoid Copyright – Wolf

Other popular tips offered budget-friendly recipes and grocery shopping strategies. Advice included checking your fridge before heading to the store, meal-prepping with what’s already in the pantry, buying meat in bulk to freeze, stocking up on shelf-stable goods like canned tuna, and cooking from scratch using dry ingredients like beans.

Other millennial creators took a separate approach, simply sharing a glimpse of what life during 2008 looked like. “Working crappy retail jobs, making just barely above minimum wage, living at home with my parents,” user @sellingnwa shared on her TikTok. “On the weekends I was putting on business casual outfits and going to house parties.” She explained how jungle juice—a cheap liquor concoction—was served with no food.

One user commented on that video saying that millennials “know how to party on a budget.”

“You wan’t to know how to survive a recession,” another user commented. She offered a quick response in the description, “Cheap booze, that’s how.”

https://www.fastcompany.com/91315594/millennials-share-recession-survivals-tips-tiktok?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Vytvořeno 3d | 12. 4. 2025 0:40:02


Chcete-li přidat komentář, přihlaste se

Ostatní příspěvky v této skupině

5 under-the-radar Kindle tricks to elevate your e-reading

At first glance, your Kindle might seem like a no-frills reading device: straightforward, minimal, and focused on the basics. Kind of like an actual book, huh?

But beneath its simple exterior lie

15. 4. 2025 5:10:05 | Fast company - tech
Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey want to kill IP law. That would be a huge mistake

Few statements communicate a sentiment more directly than the four words Jack Dorsey, a cofounder of Twitter, posted over the weekend o

14. 4. 2025 22:10:09 | Fast company - tech
Uber and Lyft drivers in California could get the right to unionize under this bill

Two California Democrats have introduced a bill that would allow rideshare drivers to bargain with gig companies, including Uber and Lyft, for better pay and certain benefits.

The measur

14. 4. 2025 22:10:08 | Fast company - tech
OpenAI launches new GPT-4.1 models with improved coding

OpenAI on Monday launched its new AI model GPT-4.1, along with smaller versions GPT-4.1 mini and GPT-4.1 nano, touting major improvements i

14. 4. 2025 22:10:07 | Fast company - tech
Why you should update your old dating app profile photos ASAP

Daters: It might be time to spring clean your dating app profile.

More than 50% of young Americans have gone on a date with someone who looked different from their profile photos, accord

14. 4. 2025 19:50:02 | Fast company - tech
TikTok travel influencers are illegally hitching a ride on Mauritania’s Iron Ore Train

Mauritania isn’t typically a major tourist destination. But its only railway has recently become the subject of a viral TikTok travel trend: riding the “Iron Ore Train.” This 437-mile journey thro

14. 4. 2025 17:30:06 | Fast company - tech
Sony Playstation 5 prices are going up. Here’s where consumers will get hit

Sony said it will raise prices starting Monday for some

14. 4. 2025 17:30:05 | Fast company - tech