How to not go broke during times of tariffs

Keep calm and shop on.

You don’t need me to tell you the last couple of weeks have been a whiplash; just check your brokerage account (or rather, don’t). As of Friday afternoon while I’m writing this, the Trump tariffs are currently on hold-ish for everyone but China—which is a situation I’ll get to in a minute—but like anything, that could change at any given moment. Without getting political, this is a challenging situation that will affect everyone and one that feels like we have little control over. But as I learned in therapy many years ago, you can’t control what happens, but you can control how you react to it. Here’s my advice on weathering the tariff storm.

My Birdie & Claire cardigan is made in Brooklyn and thus will never be subject to tariffs. Use code CHERYL10 for 10% off!

First of all, don’t panic

Did you run out last week and buy up all the Lululemon or coffee or whatever other imported thing you can’t live without? No judgment; I fully went to Costco and bought six bottles of Champagne. (Pro tip: Do not sleep on Costco’s Champagne. It is $20 a bottle, bone dry, and DELICIOUS.) Of course, when the 90-day pause was announced this week, I popped one of those bottles open. That said, prices are going to go up…eventually. How much depends on where the item is coming from, the negotiating power a company has with its suppliers, and the cost that the company is willing to (or must) pass along to its customers. Keep in mind, a lot of brands and stores already have fall merchandise in their warehouses (yes, really!), so prices shouldn’t go up for several months at least. (If brands are already drastically raising prices, that reads as a bit opportunistic to me, and I’d maybe reconsider shopping with them.) That said, if you’re planning to buy a new car or electronics (like a computer or iPhone), you should probably do that sooner rather than later. I am a huge fan of News not Noise and they did a great recap of what tariffs will impact the other day—highly recommend reading it.

But stop shopping at Temu and Shein

I hate to break it to you, but the days of drop-ship are over, people. Not only is the de minimis loophole closing (that’s how companies like Temu, Shein, and my former employer can ship directly from their factories without paying duties), but starting May 1st, that $13 dress will carry a 90% or $75 tariff (whichever is higher, and that goes up to $150 PER ITEM on June 1st). That said, these companies will likely find a way around this, as Amy Odell explained in her recent newsletter, but for the time being, look back fondly on all of the cheap junk you ordered from these companies, then move on.

Mentally prepare yourself for higher prices

Things are going to get more expensive, and by things, I mean everything. Food, alcohol, coffee, cars, electronics, toys, furniture, drugs, beauty products, and especially clothes. There is literally no way around this, although again, I have a feeling there will be a lot of negotiating in terms of who will absorb the cost. Obviously buying American-made items is your best foot forward, but when it comes to things like coffee, tropical fruit, and anything in a can (95% of our aluminum is imported!), you may just have to suck it up. Which brings me to clothes.

Buy less, and choose secondhand whenever possible

Perhaps you’ve already seen the widely cited statistic that 97% of clothes and 99% of shoes purchased in the U.S. are manufactured elsewhere. What is made in the U.S. tends to be relatively expensive because wages are that much higher here; aside from a lack of skilled labor and necessary infrastructure to do so, moving more manufacturing here isn’t going to keep costs down. So unless money is no object for you (and if that’s the case, congratulations, but also why are you reading this newsletter when you could be out shopping?), I think we’re all going to need to get comfortable with buying less. That may be a bad thing for the retail industry at least in the short term but in the end, hopefully better for the environment. As we all know, there are entirely too many clothes on this planet and honestly most of fashion comes back around. I’ve been on a pretty tight budget this year and when there’s something I really want to buy, nine times out of ten I can find the exact item or something very similar secondhand, for much less than retail. (That goes for furniture too!) When I was in my 20s and living in NYC on $27k a year, I bought vintage clothes like it was my job and you know what? I had a fantastic wardrobe. I stopped shopping vintage when I started making a decent salary and could afford nicer new things, but lately I’ve been getting back into it. For one, the prices are generally more tolerable, but more importantly, the quality far exceeds most of what’s out there in the market today, e.g. synthetic fabrics and cheap finishes. Even better, vintage clothing feels more unique and expressive, versus the same mass-produced looks everyone else is wearing. Sure, it takes a little more work, but I find it far more rewarding than an endless scroll online and the fleeting dopamine hit that comes when you click checkout. The best part? Everything’s already here and won’t be subject to tariffs, god willing.

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This week on the blog

Well, this feels like a slightly awkward transition after I just rallied about secondhand, but I’m still on a spring trend kick and this week it’s everything fringed, starring the Gap sweatshirt that followed me around the Internet. For the time being I am still buying new things and you can too—remember, don’t panic!

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