From Doomscrolling to Doomspending
Doom is everywhere lately, doomscrolling, doomposting, doomspreading. Now add doomspending, spending money frivolously with little regard for future consequences. A late-2024 survey from Intuit Credit Karma found more than a quarter of Americans doom spend to cope with stress, with the share rising to 37% among Gen Z and 39% among millennials. The behavior isn't new, but the label is, and it's reshaping how a generation talks about money.
Like doomscrolling before it,
doomspending starts with anxiety and ends with a receipt. The bridge between
the two is stress, and a phone that never stops delivering bad news.
What Triggers Doomspending
The roots are economic and psychological at once. Credit Karma found 60% of Americans are concerned about the state of the world and economy, with cost of living, inflation and unaffordable housing topping the list of worries. Faced with goals that feel out of reach, homeownership, debt-free living, retirement, many young adults stop planning for the future and start spending for the present. Roughly 36% of Americans say they can't rationalize saving due to uncertainty about the world, a figure that climbs to 47% of Gen Z.
Why This Is a Dangerous Cycle
Doomspending offers short-term
relief and long-term damage. The top reason people spend to cope is that it
relieves stress in the moment, but that relief is temporary while the financial
consequences are not. Nearly one-in-five Americans currently have $0 in savings,
and 70% of Americans report financial regrets from the past year, rising to 86%
of Gen Z. Spending to numb anxiety about money often produces more anxiety
about money, a loop that's hard to exit
without intervention.
Breaking the Cycle
Financial experts point to a few
practical interventions rather than willpower alone.
- Add friction to spending
Removing saved cards, deleting
shopping apps, or using a 24-hour rule before non-essential purchases creates
space between impulse and action.
- Audit social media exposure
Since 69% of self-identified
shopping addicts blame social media, naming Instagram, YouTube and TikTok Shop
as top enablers, muting shopping content can cut triggers directly.
- Start small with savings
Even modest automatic transfers
rebuild a habit that feels impossible when goals like a house down payment seem
out of reach.
- Reframe progress
66% of Americans who built saving
habits in 2024 say they plan to continue them, suggesting small wins compound
into lasting change.
- Use peer accountability
Trends like "loud
budgeting" and "no-buy years" have already pulled 48% of Gen Z
and millennials toward better financial habits via social media itself, turning
the same platforms that trigger doomspending into a source of accountability
instead.
Conclusion
Doomspending is less a generational
character flaw than a rational response to an economy that no longer rewards
the old script of save-young-spend-old. Inflation, debt, and constant exposure
to bad news have made the future feel uncertain enough that spending now can
feel safer than saving for later.
Breaking the cycle won't come from
shame about "$28 lunches." It will come from smaller, practical
shifts, less doomscrolling, more friction at checkout, and savings habits sized
to match real anxiety, not ignore it.
References
Monahan
S., https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/04/doomspending-economy-financial-crisis
Credit Karma, https://www.creditkarma.com/about/commentary/millennials-and-gen-z-rack-up-credit-card-balances-amid-sky-high-interest-rates
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