While higher inflation has taken its toll on Americans, higher costs have been disproportionately paralyzing for young people — especially Gen Z. Thankfully, the social media generation has each other to talk shop on today’s cost of living crisis, the job market, and personal finance. And to start 2025, some are abandoning the pursuit of physical possessions for fun and profit.

• Social media users are embracing No Buy 2025, a popular new personal finance trend among Millennials and Gen Zers, which discourages unnecessary spending.
• During No Buy 2025, participants pledge to spend only on essentials, aiming to increase their savings and investing — and to promote healthy habits.

How are those other trends going? No Buy 2025 is just the latest in a series of other financial trends popular among young people on X (formerly Twitter) and FinTok, including loud budgeting and cash stuffing, among other things. But Bloomberg’s Erin Lowry warns that the new trend might not have the desired effect. Nonetheless, young people gaining a better grasp of their finances is something to cheer, even if they do have their occasional delulu moments — whether that’s unrealistic salary goals, reliance on the Bank of Mom & Dad, or a paralyzing pursuit of highly competitive fields like finance.