How to Save With the Underconsumption Trend

Spending less, it turns out, can be pretty trendy.

Social media influencers are celebrating the art of consuming less. They are thrifting, sharing no-buy challenges and buying items with longevity in mind, and showing followers how they can, too — all under the hashtag “#underconsumptioncore”.

“There is a discourse pushing back against overconsumption,” says Dana Miranda, author of “You Don’t Need a Budget” and the “Healthy Rich” newsletter on Substack. “Things have become so easy to get, including things we don’t value very much. We don’t need all this stuff in our lives.”

That stuff, adds Kasia Stolarz, a certified financial planner in Halifax, Nova Scotia, often “doesn’t make us as happy as we thought it would.”

While personal finance experts generally agree that consuming less is something to be celebrated, they also warn about taking this latest take on conscious spending too far. Here are five ways to save with the underconsumption trend without letting it negatively impact your lifestyle:

Embracing frugality in a healthy way depends on connecting spending to your own values, Miranda says. That means thinking about what feels right, where you want to make changes and what your goals are.

“Try to take a mindful approach,” Miranda says. “I can’t recommend just looking at what someone else is doing and adopting that in your life. Invest in what you’re actually needing and figure out how to make it work in your own way.”

In other words, she says, “Don’t do whatever ‘hashtag underconsumption’ is telling you to do.”

“The key is to have a really good sense of what your values are,” Stolarz says. For example, you might value spending time with family or traveling, so you decide to put more money and resources towards those categories instead of buying more items.

Smart spending depends on developing a plan that aligns with your own goals, Stolarz says.

“It’s hard to totally overhaul your spending, but if you can start small, identify one area where you feel you are overspending,” Stolarz suggests. For example, perhaps you want to spend less on online purchases, so you resolve to either temporarily pause that spending or shift it to in-person local shopping instead.

While the “underconsumption” trend has been largely focused on buying fewer cheap goods online, it doesn’t necessarily mean spending less, just spending differently, says Katherine Fox, CFP and founder of Sunnybranch Wealth in Portland, Oregon. Someone might opt to invest in a coat that will last through many seasons instead of fast fashion, or to spend more on a hobby instead of disposable goods.

The key to making the underconsumption work for you, Fox says, is to develop your own spend-less plan that lets you put money toward what’s important to you instead of toward mindless purchases you can easily live without. That might mean giving yourself a specific budget or spending limit for certain categories.

Social media makes comparisons to other people so easy, and those comparisons often make us feel badly about ourselves, Miranda says. “Whatever your circumstances are, they’re not the same as the person on social media,” who might have a much higher income, for example. “Take that into account if someone is giving budgeting advice online.”

Miranda suggests taking what is useful but leaving behind any rules or advice that doesn’t apply to your own situation. And she adds, try to avoid feeling the “stress and shame” that can often come from making comparisons on social media.

With prices up on many consumer goods, Jason Fannon, CFP and senior partner of Cornerstone Financial Services in Southfield, Michigan, recommends zeroing in on cutting purchases that have a minimal impact on your day to day life.

Fannon suggests trimming back items like monthly subscriptions, shopping around for better auto and home insurance deals and paring back interest payments by making sure you’re comparing all available loan options.

“All of this is done without compromising lifestyle too much,” he adds.

When embracing underconsumption, it’s easy to be overly restrictive, Miranda says. “I would encourage people to ask if this is really something that appeals to them. Don’t just do it because it’s trendy, but investigate your reasons,” she adds.

Similarly, Fannon suggests avoiding making sacrifices in the name of underconsumption that could negatively impact your health. Spending the extra money on fresh food versus less expensive frozen dinners, for example, might be justified.