The doom spendingor “expenditure from imminent catastrophe“As we would translate it into Italian, it is a psychological and behavioral phenomenon that consists in making compulsive purchases as a response to stress, the uncertainty that is felt regarding the increasingly uncertain future that looms on the horizon. A sort of consolation, in fact , which for some time removes the anxieties of tomorrow. pessimism towards a world in deep crisis.
What is the Doom Spending, the “Entering catastrophe expense”
The term, born on social platforms, was made official by a recent survey conducted by the American company Credit Karma, which analyzes credit data. Derives from the union of Doom (“Ruin”, “catastrophe”) e spendingand refers to the habit of spending money compulsively when you feel overwhelmed by Negative news and global crises (Covid-19 has particularly influenced the spread of the phenomenon). In this case the purchase becomes a mechanism of copingthat is, a way to relieve negative emotions at least temporarily. Thus the uncertainty for tomorrow is turned into purchases often and willingly within reach (but physical purchases are also worth in the shop).
The most involved population bands are those of the millennial (43%) and the Z generation (35%), which are experiencing their youth in a present that offers visions of an uncertain future. For a large slice of these generational bands, doom spending has become one form of consolation: buying something in fact gives the illusion to do something for one’s physical and mental well -being, and helps us to do it Feel more in controleven if only temporarily, as stated by the psychologist Kristina during to The Cutwho added:
Having a human brain in today’s world means being chronically stressed. Most of the problems we see every day are things that we can’t do much. On the contrary, buying things is an action that you can complete and that immediately solves a perceived problem.
Anxiety for the future and feeling impotent towards the many injustices that are read via average, however, it is not the only factor, because often the personal concerns To the phenomenon of the doom spending: moreover, why should we save for the future if in that future we cannot perceive significant perspectives? Here then a need, the “treating us well” in the head. Even if we intimately know that ordering takeaway sushi will not do well to our portfolio, on the other hand it may happen to feel that we have to enjoy the time we now have for hunt the bad thoughts away. This applies to a dinner based on comfort foodbut also for that nice pair of sneakers that we saw at the foot of a singer, that new type of bag that goes so fashionable on social media, the t-shirt of that brand or the irresistible seasonal color, the new model of iPhone and so on.
Not to mention all those Shops designed ad hoc precisely with specific strategies of Design, aesthetics and marketing To attract Millennials and Gen Z. there, together with the low -cost online platforms, a more silent and apparently contained doom spending is consumed, because all those objects with irresistible colors and shapes cost little, but if at the end of the year all these mini we added -Spese we would realize how much we could have saved.
The negative side of the boom spending: the consequences
In addition to becoming a possible dependence on shopping which ends up occupying a nice slice of thoughts by removing from reality, the doom spending is a nice problem because it does nothing but worsen finances.
The old generations, observing the phenomenon, might think that perhaps the young people who make Doom Spending is missing a vision for the future and that they do not know what sacrifice is, but it is not so. In a video that has become viral on Tiktok, the Content Creator Maria Melchor So he replied to those who think that the new generations Scialacquino their money without thinking:
When the oldest people ask me how young people do to afford to buy all those beautiful things they would not buy, I answer that it is because we cannot afford anything else. The ownership of a house or the creation of a family are so outside our reach that we use savings or payments for anything that brings us a semblance of the idea of adulthood that has been promised to us.
Melchor puts the point on the question in no uncertain terms: young sacrifices seem to have ends in themselves, and with the most total distrust in the future All that remains is to do one thing: to live in the present.
How to avoid compulsive expenses
At this point, if you are “victims” of this phenomenon you are wondering: but there is no way to stop this cycle by Doom Spending? If it is true that retailers have optimized the payment systems to the maximum (online with a few clicks or in the store by placing the paper on the reader) and spending is increasingly simple, it is also true that not everything is lost, and with a pinch of awareness And will you be able to impose a brake.
The first thing we can do to get out of the Doom Shopping is Change our habits on social media and onlineunbelieving us from the newsletters, stopping following the influencers who recommend purchases, or – more simply – scrolling less. In fact, social networks have now become huge shimmering windows where everything seems desirable, and from which it is difficult to escape, but it is important to reach an awareness: keeping up with fashions is financially impossible for a consistent slice of the population.
But if you have seen something that interests you and you are thinking of buying it, stop. Do A pause of (at least) 24 hours before clicking on “Confirm purchase”. Giving time to reflect on purchases could make us discover that perhaps we really don’t really need that thing … and that perhaps we don’t even like it so much. For purchases in the shop instead, it could be useful Cashwhich offer a visual idea of the expense and which for this reason can put a greater brake on shopping.
If you are Doom Spenders, suddenly deprive you of all these expenses, it may not be a good idea: to get out of this vicious circle, it could help impose a monthly budget And respect it, making it fall as I gradually.
Finally, we always keep in Men that granting small material gifts is a pleasure, but it must not be an almost daily pleasure: there are many other things that can be done without spending a euro and that still give a moment of happiness, far from Anxieties of tomorrow.
