Finally, it’s cool to still be wearing the clothes you bought in middle school and showing off your tiny apartment with no art on the walls. Don’t call it bankruptcy, Gen Z says; call it “underconsumption“.”
The viral hashtag on TikTok is full of young people bragging about the ways they’ve chosen not to buy new products in favor of using the ones they have. From sticking with a worn-out Stanley water bottle to opting out of getting a manicure or buying art for their homes, Gen Z has been avoiding buying new items in favor of trying to appreciate what they have.
Adeline M., a 27-year-old musician living in Boston, has recommitted to using every ounce of skin-care product in her bottles, as well as continuing to use worn-out but functional makeup brushes and wear 15-year-old clothes. She’s exhausted watching TikTok videos from influencers and creators promoting the latest item that will be trending for just a few days before a shiny new item steals the show.
“It’s not bad to want to buy things,” said the mother. luck“But I feel like now we’re seeing an oversaturation of people who feel like they have to buy the latest stuff to keep up.”
Underconsumptioncore is a movement similar to TikTok’s de-influencerization, where users convince viewers not to buy the latest products advertised to them by a group of content creators with deals with brands. While the influencer market is expected to balloon to $50 million by 2028, some young people are decrying the rampant consumption it generates.
For a generation anxious about their financial future and the environment, these trends are empowering and achievable, according to Bank of America’s 2024 report The Financial Health of Generation Z According to a report released this month, of 1,091 Gen Z adults surveyed between April and May, more than 50% of the younger generation believe the cost of living is their biggest financial challenge and the biggest barrier to success.
“They’re feeling the cost of living going up,” said Holly O’Neill, head of retail banking at Bank of America. luck“They know they need to budget, they know they need to find ways to cut costs, and they look at those budgets… to meet those priorities.”
No need for shiny new things.
The culture of low consumption, though built on financial intelligence, has transcended socioeconomic status and the need to simply save money. A mother and her husband have remained financially stable despite career changes and the pandemic, but they are still frugal with their purchases.
“It’s so exhausting to watch people tell me this is the latest thing I should buy,” she said.
For Umm, the spending was meant to take a break from the trend cycles that dominated the internet. With her addiction to scrolling, Feed anxiety and depression Among young people, Gen Z is becoming increasingly sensitive to screen time, turning to flip phones to detox from digital toxins.
But after spending a year in England, her husband’s native country, Um developed a deep appreciation for the quiet of the countryside. Um’s parents had immigrated to the United States from South Korea, where food was scarce. To feed her family, her grandmother became adept at cooking whatever was available. And by spending time between her parents’ and grandparents’ homes, Um developed a deep appreciation for the joy of harvesting food from a small backyard garden.
“I kind of learned how to do that, too,” she said. “I really don’t like throwing food away or when food goes bad. I feel so guilty about it.”
For Sabrina Barry, a 31-year-old content creator in Detroit, guilt has also prompted her to pay attention to her spending. Consuming less is not a new concept in the world of sustainability, which is what Barry makes her TikTok videos about. For her, it’s an ongoing process of upcycling, or reusing items that would otherwise be easily thrown away but given new life. But while these trends help Barry make a living creating content online, she admits they won’t take her much further in tackling climate change.
“The planet continues to warm, and it’s clear that reducing consumption won’t solve the problem,” she said. “But at least it helps me feel more in control of the actions I take.”
Even if engaging in non-essential consumption is not economically necessary for its participants, it is still consistent with the younger generation’s narrative of bringing a deep awareness of their financial well-being, O’Neill argued. This trend is consistent with O’Neill’s observations about the generation’s financial patterns, which include reduced discretionary spending, the distribution of dollars, and the systematicallyThey prefer to buy store-bought items or cheap brands over luxury items.
“You don’t want to waste what you’ve already invested in or bought; you want to improve it,” she said. “That has an impact on budget and sustainability. I mean, we all know the satisfaction of using everything you buy and not wasting it. Gen Z is very attuned to that.”
Despite its widespread prevalence, the decline in consumption is unlikely to radically change spending trends, she said. These trends exist online because of broader ideas about the economy among an entire generation, but they probably won’t affect them.
Mom will be the first to admit that she’s not immune to influence and won’t make any promises not to buy a particular item. But TikTok trends about spending and personal finance are still welcome on her dedicated page for you.
“You don’t need to buy a new set of flat irons just because your current one is getting rough,” she said. “If it still works, it still works. For me, it was actually a great reminder.”