logo
No buy, low buy, slow buy: How many consumers are preparing for an economic hit

No buy, low buy, slow buy: How many consumers are preparing for an economic hit

NBC News09-05-2025
Americans have been worried about being able to maintain their standard of living since inflation first began to spike in 2021. With renewed cost concerns after President Donald Trump implemented his tariff agenda, many people are prepared to do something about it.
A whopping 83% of consumers said that if their financial situation worsens in the coming months, they will strongly consider cutting back on their non-essential spending, according to a new study by Intuit Credit Karma, which polled more than 2,000 U.S. adults in April.
On TikTok, money saving hacks, with hashtags such as no buy, slow buy, low buy and underconsumption, have skyrocketed in popularity, especially among young adults. All are aimed at making the most of what you already have and resisting the temptation to buy more stuff, or even anything at all.
How no buy, low buy and slow buy challenges work
'No buy 2025' encourages shoppers to cut out all non-essential purchases for the year, including clothing, books, electronics and entertainment. Alternatively, low buy and slow buy advocate for a more mindful approach to buying decisions, such as following ' the 48-hour rule ' before making any discretionary purchases and limiting purchases altogether. The goal is to break the habit of overspending — or ' doom spending ' — as fears of a recession rise.
Recent data from H&R Block's Spruce also found that 68% of Generation Z consumers reported being influenced by social media finance trends, with over one-third of them looking specifically to social media for financial knowledge. (America's young adults are also increasingly turning to social media to express their financial dissatisfaction, making a joke of so-called recession indicators.)
Why savings challenges are so popular
To be sure, Americans are feeling the pain of higher prices, with various reports showing many have exhausted their savings and have been leaning on credit cards to make ends meet.
With sweeping U.S. tariffs now going into effect, concern is heightened about the rising cost of goods and making ends meet, especially as the economy shows signs of contracting.
'Consumers are going to have to pay for the increase in prices these tariffs are going to cause and there is no way around it,' said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James. 'The alternative is to reduce consumption, especially in discretionary items.'
A survey by Gallup last month found that inflation, housing costs and lack of money are the most commonly cited financial challenges by U.S. adults.
According to the poll, which was conducted during a period of extreme market volatility after the Trump administration announced new tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, a record 53% of consumers said their financial situation was getting worse, while just 38% said it was getting better. Additionally, 57% worried about not being able to maintain their standard of living.
A separate report by Bankrate found that 43% of adults said money now negatively affects their mental health, at least occasionally, causing anxiety, stress, worrisome thoughts, loss of sleep and depression.
'Tariffs, inflation, higher interest rates and a recession are all forces that Americans can't prevent, no matter how much they want to,' Sarah Foster, Bankrate's economic analyst, said in an email. 'Taking proactive steps to manage your finances can provide a sense of stability and security.'
A better way to improve your finances
Financial experts say TikTok's latest microtrends can provide a short-term boost to help reach some savings goals, however, there is no substitute for practicing good long-term habits.
'Ignore what others are doing with their money,' said Daniel Milan, managing partner of Cornerstone Financial Services in Southfield, Michigan. 'That to me is a very foundational tenet for any household.'
Milan says financial planning starts with a budget. 'People don't like that word,' he said. But rather than jumping on the latest TikTok trend, 'sit down and pencil out what you actually are spending.'
Milan recommends flagging excess expenses that can be cut, considering which are 'wants' or 'needs.' Milan says he did this himself at the start of the year after getting married, and was able to cut out some recurring bills as well as subscription services that overlapped with his wife's — to the tune of $800 a month.
'That type of exercise can be extraordinarily powerful from a cash flow perspective,' he said.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Euro rises after US, EU agree to tariff deal
Euro rises after US, EU agree to tariff deal

Reuters

time26 minutes ago

  • Reuters

Euro rises after US, EU agree to tariff deal

TOKYO, July 28 (Reuters) - The euro gained on Monday following the announcement of a framework trade agreement between the United States and the European Union, the latest in a flurry of deals to avert a global trade war. Meeting in Scotland on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal, which will result in a 15% tariff on EU goods, half what Trump had threatened to impose from August 1. Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators are due to meet in Stockholm on Monday with an aim to extend a trade truce and prevent steep tariff hikes. Meanwhile, investor attention is shifting towards corporate earnings and central bank meetings in the U.S. and Japan. "It could be a positive week, just purely from the fact that now we know the rules of the game, if you like," said Rodrigo Catril, senior currency strategist at National Australia Bank. "Now that there is more clarity, you would think that not only in the U.S., but around the globe, there will be a little bit more willingness to look at investment, to look at expansions, and to look at where the opportunities are," he said on a NAB podcast. The euro stood at $1.1763 , up 0.2% so far in Asia. The common currency rose 0.2% to 173.78 yen . Trump said the EU plans to invest some $600 billion in the U.S. and dramatically increase its purchases of American energy and military equipment. The pact is similar to one forged with Tokyo negotiators last week that will see Japan investing some $550 billion in the U.S. and a 15% tariff imposed on its cars and other imports. The baseline 15% tariff will still be seen by many in Europe as too high, compared with Europe's initial hopes to secure a zero-for-zero tariff deal. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable trade pact with the U.S. No breakthrough is expected in the U.S. and China talks in Stockholm, but analysts said another 90-day extension of a trade truce struck in mid-May was likely. The U.S. dollar advanced on Friday, bolstered by solid economic data that suggested the Federal Reserve could take its time in resuming interest rate cuts. Both the Fed and the Bank of Japan are expected to hold rates steady at this week's policy meetings, but traders are focusing on the subsequent comments to gauge the timing of the next moves. The dollar was little changed at 147.68 yen . The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against major peers, fell 0.1% to 97.534. Sterling traded at $1.34385 , down almost 0.1%. The Australian dollar fetched $0.6576 , up 0.2%, while New Zealand's kiwi dollar was flat at $0.6019 .

China's rebound has a distinct cool factor: Taosha Wang
China's rebound has a distinct cool factor: Taosha Wang

Reuters

timean hour ago

  • Reuters

China's rebound has a distinct cool factor: Taosha Wang

HONG KONG, July 28 (Reuters) - The first seven months of 2025 have delivered a whirlwind of news on Chinese technology and business, oscillating between anxiety and euphoria, but what has cut through the noise has been the emergence of a "cool factor". In January, TikTok suspended its U.S. services for one day, when the outgoing administration shut down the app due to its ties to China, before the decision was swiftly reversed by the incoming Trump administration. Days later, Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek shocked the world with its cost-effective, high-performance R-1 reasoning model, triggering an intense debate about who will lead the 'AI race'. And then in early May, U.S.-China tensions reached unprecedented heights, as tariffs jumped above 100%, effectively halting bilateral trade, before de-escalation. By summer, however, China was once again exporting critical rare earth to the U.S. and Nvidia had re-started the sales of its AI chips to China, suggesting a burgeoning trade detente between the world's two largest economies. Amid this volatility, China's capital markets have responded favorably. The MSCI China Index has surged around 25% year-to-date through July 25, outpacing the MSCI All-Country World index's 12% gain and the S&P 500 index's 9% rise. Notably, this strong performance has been driven not just by typical business-cycle fluctuations, but also an appeal rooted in innovation, collaboration and youth culture, suggesting China's next growth cycle could look very different from those in the past. China's evolution from low-cost imitator to global innovator is epitomized by its electric vehicle dominance. Chinese EV leader BYD, which began as a battery maker and currently has a market cap of $150 billion, was once dismissed by Elon Musk for its unattractive products and weak technology. However, a decade of development, supported by state-backed infrastructure including China's 10-million-strong charging network, has propelled BYD past Musk's Tesla in global sales. In 2024, one of every five EVs sold globally was from BYD, whose market share is now double that of Tesla's. Moreover, BYD's vehicles, like many other Chinese EVs, now boast the type of sleek designs and novel amenities associated with its U.S. rival. Beyond product innovations, some Chinese companies are also experimenting with new business models and sales strategies. For example, livestream social shopping, which was pioneered by Alibaba, has been adopted by Amazon, Instagram, YouTube and even Walmart (in collaboration with TikTok) in the U.S. to target Gen-Z and millennial shoppers. New players like Chinese toymaker Pop Mart are also experimenting with fresh business models. Its designer toys are sold in mystery boxes, where sealed packages conceal randomized plush "Labubu" figures, which adorn the luxury handbags of many influencers. This strategy seeks to tap into the thrill of uncertainty, creating viral demand beyond the Chinese domestic market. And this appears to be working. Pop Mart's sales from outside mainland China contributed to nearly 40% of its total revenue in 2024, and its profit in the first half of 2025 is expected to soar by at least 350% year-over-year. Historically, tensions surrounding intellectual property have dogged China's global trade relationships. Today, however, its embrace of open-source collaboration appears to signal a profound shift. China is now the fastest-growing and second-largest contributor of open-source code on GitHub, the world's leading platform for software collaboration. Moreover, Chinese tech giants like Huawei and Tencent rank among the top corporate sponsors of Apache and Linux foundations, major nonprofit organizations that shape foundational technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud computing. DeepSeek's R-1 model exemplifies this strategy. Released under the permissive MIT license, it grants large-scale commercial reuse rights (unlike Google's Apache 2.0 or Meta's Llama licenses) and has fueled countless derivative models globally. Such openness has the potential to build developer loyalty, influence AI standards, and circumvent geopolitical friction. This shift has been underpinned by a focus on developing scientific prowess. In 2024, China led the world in high-quality research publications, according to Nature, holding the top spot for the second consecutive year. Its advantage in publications extends even to semiconductor design and fabrication, a field where U.S. technological superiority is often assumed, with Chinese scholars authoring over half of the most-cited papers in this field in 2024. However, the outlook for the country's businesses is not all rosy. Industrial profits are still shrinking, falling 1.1% year-to-date, despite various government stimulus measures, including a recently expanded consumer subsidy scheme and a central bank-backed initiative for state-owned enterprises to buy unsold homes. And price wars in sectors such as EVs and food delivery have gotten so brutal that the authorities have stepped in to mediate 'irrational' competition. Another structural issue is the country's stubbornly high youth unemployment rate (16-24-year olds excluding students), which remained at 14.5% - well above the 5% rate for the labor force as a whole. If China's future growth is to be driven more by a 'cool' factor, then the career prospects of its youth need to be strong enough to support their distinct consumption preferences as well as their entrepreneurial endeavors. Regardless of these challenges, innovation and open collaboration still have the potential to reshape China's global identity. Importantly, economic growth driven by these factors may be more evenly distributed and idiosyncratic, and therefore less cyclical, compared to China's old economic engines of real estate, infrastructure and production capacity investments. No longer just the world's factory, China is becoming a source of culturally resonant innovation. And as America's track record over the past decades suggests, no one should underestimate the value of cool. (The views expressed here are those of Taosha Wang, a portfolio manager and creator of the 'Thematically Thinking' newsletter at Fidelity International). Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI),, opens new tab your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI,, opens new tab can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn,, opens new tab and X., opens new tab

Irish premier welcomes trade deal between EU and US
Irish premier welcomes trade deal between EU and US

South Wales Guardian

timean hour ago

  • South Wales Guardian

Irish premier welcomes trade deal between EU and US

The deal was reached during a meeting between Donald Trump and the president of the European Commission on Sunday. The US president met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to hammer out the final details on the trading relationship between Europe and the US. Reacting to the deal, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the agreement was very welcome. I welcome the outcome of trade talks today between the European Commission and the US. — Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) July 27, 2025 'It brings clarity and predictability to the trading relationship between the EU and the US – the biggest in the world,' the Fianna Fail leader said. 'That is good for businesses, investors and consumers. It will help protect many jobs in Ireland. 'The negotiations to get us to this point have been long and complex, and I would like to thank both teams for their patient work. 'We will now study the detail of what has been agreed, including its implications for businesses exporting from Ireland to the US, and for different sectors operating here. 'The agreement is a framework and there will be more detail to be fleshed out in the weeks and months ahead.' Mr Martin said the higher tariffs will have an impact on trade between the EU and the US, which will make it more expensive and more challenging. 'However, it also creates a new era of stability that can hopefully contribute to a growing and deepening relationship between the EU and the US, which is important not just for the EU and the US, but for the global economy,' he added. 'Given the very real risk that existed for escalation and for the imposition of punitively high tariffs, this news will be welcomed by many.' The deal was also welcomed by deputy Irish premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris, who said it brings clarity to businesses. 'While we have yet to see the detail, I welcome that an agreement has been announced by Commission President von der Leyen and US President Trump,' Mr Harris said in a statement. 'A deal provides a measure of much-needed certainty for Irish, European and American businesses who together represent the most integrated trading relationship in the world. Ireland makes a key contribution to this with the Ireland-US economic relationship valued at more than one trillion euros. 'The US had made clear, and this has been replicated in other recent agreements, which the US has reached with other countries, that a baseline tariff was always going to be part of the outcome. 'I have always stressed that tariffs are damaging and will have a negative impact on companies exporting to the US. 'While Ireland regrets that the baseline tariff of 15% is included in the agreement, it is important that we now have more certainty on the foundations for the EU-US trade relationship, which is essential for jobs, growth and investment. 'President von der Leyen described this as 15% tariffs across the board, all-inclusive.' He said further detail is needed around pharma, aviation and other sectors. Mr Harris said he will examine the details of the agreement over the coming days to establish the effect on Irish businesses and the economy. Earlier, EU commissioner Michael McGrath said the meeting was a 'significant and decisive moment'. Mr McGrath, EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, said it would involve substantive negotiations between both sides. 'It's a significant moment, we hope a decisive moment, and it builds on an enormous amount of work that has been done over quite a period of time,' Mr McGrath said ahead of the meeting. 'President Trump invited President von der Leyen to Scotland for a meeting. 'This follows on the back of intensive negotiations over a number of months. He added: 'It is not a case of turning up and signing on the dotted line. There will be a real discussion that will happen, and it will take on a dynamic of its own, and let's see what happens over the course of the afternoon. 'But from the EU's point of view, we are determined to do all that we can to get a deal for European businesses, because we recognise the cost of uncertainty. 'It manifests in trade and in investment decisions and ultimately in employment and of course tariffs can cost consumers at the end of the day. 'We want a good deal. We have negotiated hard, and we're at a point now where hopefully the two leaders can today bring it to a concluding phase.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store