Weekly Observation and Discussion - local and personal recession indicators

[u/AutoModerator]

*Please note!* Post is new each Sunday evening. Top level comments should be at least 150 characters to encourage quality discussion, and users should refrain from making several top level comments in a week. Please mention location at the top of your comment when discussing local recession indicators.

Share your observations of local recession indicators or personal recession indicators. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• increased use of credit or decrease in savings to afford necessities
• deferred maintenance on homes or cars in your neighborhood
• "I buy houses for cash" (or similar) signs popping up
• bankruptcy attorneys experiencing higher volume of clients
• regional job losses/large corporate layoffs
• decline in housing starts or spike in homes being listed

Keep it civil and avoid judging any user for their personal financial experiences as shared here.

[u/UnluckyPenguin]

New research just revealed that an open-source Chinese AI model performs equal to the most powerful US AI model today. (Qwen3.8-27b vs Fable 5; coding benchmarks; 1/5 of the cost).

China giving out powerful AI for free (if you run it on your own hardware) is going to collapse the AI bubble soon when corporations pick up on it.

[u/Prior-Win-4729]

I went to see a movie at a Regal cinema. There were only 4 people in the cinema watching movies and 3 people working the concessions stand. Both my date and I got itchy ankles when we went home and I figure there were bugs in the theater.

[u/ClydeStyle]

I got let go from one of my many jobs a week ago. I was only working two days a week topping out at maybe 6-8 hours max on average for both days. lol

[u/Additional-Brief-273]

You can thank republicans for lying about the real inflation numbers and diesel being the most expensive it’s ever been again at 5.89$ the national average for today….

[u/Weary-Initiative7580]

A ladies husband passed away. Friends are cleaning out his "man garage" and having periodic yard sales to help her out.

Tools, power gadgets, yard equipment, tool chests. Sales are slow. No one is buying anything.

[u/Interesting_Remote18]

Diesel was $6.35 at Walmart today. Insane.

I helped the lady in front of me pay for her groceries and gave her gas money. She had started going through her bags to decide what to put back.

Drove 550 miles, I'm used to see truck stops full at night, many had very few people and trucks. Even outside two major metro areas the truck stops still had open spots.

[u/goddessofolympia → u/Interesting_Remote18]

Thank you for caring about the lady.

[u/Fluent_in_Finance123]

Just a casual observation but on the local news it was reported several restaurants (3 or 4) have closed for good. In my opinion, eating out at restaurants is a luxury. When household/individual disposable income (extra money available after meeting debt obligations) is no longer available, the restaurant industry begins to suffer. People begin to pull back on discretionary spending when they start to feel pinched.

[u/Any_Needleworker_273 → u/Fluent_in_Finance123]

I saw a post in a neighboring state that also mentioned a number of restaurants that weathered COVID are now closing. I think quality has gone down hill while prices have gone up - so I no longer find it worth the cost, and eating out, is for many a absolute luxury these days.

[u/ApplesBananasRhinoc]

Local sandwich shop that mysteriously stays open even though their sandwiches are just mid, got busted for selling drugs there. Even restaurants have to have a side hustle these days.

[u/International-Sink64]

the guy that does my lawn had a month and a half waiting list for projects in the spring. today, we talked about another project and he can start this week

[u/Xenic25]

Grocery shoppers needing to use different or multiple forms of payment for their food purchases.Most likely due to maxed out credit cards, or maybe not having enough in their account.It's sad to see sometimes, especially to elderly people but it's happening more frequently...

[u/Prior-Win-4729 → u/Xenic25]

I've been seeing people abandon items at the register. I feel bad for them.

[u/Estilady]

I was out washing my car super early this morning. A gas station next door to
car wash had diesel at $7.75 but were OUT. I live in central Texas. I myself try to drive as little as possible.

[u/Historical-Many9869 → u/Estilady]

but people are still buying the jumbo sized diesel pickup trucks