I don’t consider myself an irresponsible person. I’m hyper-organised: the type who meal preps and packs for holidays weeks in advance and keeps a drawer full of blank birthday cards ‘just in case’.

I’m also a chronic overthinker. I rarely do things on impulse or for the plot. Brat summer is a concept that is totally and utterly lost on me. What I am, however, is a big spender. Never quite beyond my means but a little bit too close for comfort. Yet over the last few months I’ve found myself shopping even more than usual – not just scrolling, but buying. A dress for a wedding I’m not attending until next year that I ‘had to’ snap up. A cool vintage top that I proudly haggled down to a fiver on Vinted. A high-quality (with a higher price tag) trench coat that I’ve declared a closet staple that I’ll have in my wardrobe for years.

And other than boredom, the kind of restlessness that comes when all your friends are away for the summer and you’re trying not to overheat while working in your living room every day, I didn’t really understand why. Until I saw the term ‘doom spending’ trending online.    

In a recent study by Credit Karma, 43% of millennials and 35% of Gen Zs admitted they doom spend to make themselves feel better – about the state of the world, how out-of-reach their dream lives seem and their own financial insecurity. 

It might sound oxymoronic, but it’s something I know to be true. I’m a fully fledged member of the ‘buy everything, own nothing’ generation who is worried she might never be able to afford to own a house in London while six Reformation dresses hang in her wardrobe. Someone who cringes every time a Monzo notification lights up her phone screen but will also never say no to a drink after work or weekend brunch.

This isn’t to glorify any kind of financial irresponsibility as much as it is to say: the world is on fire and spending money can be a tempting distraction… for a while. TikTok creator @firstgenliving sums it up perfectly in her now-viral video that has been viewed more than 1.7 million times: “We can’t afford anything else. Homeownership or starting a family is so out of reach that we are using that down payment or kid money on whatever it is that we can afford that will bring us the semblance of the kind of adulthood we were promised.”

Of course, not everybody has the financial luxury to doom spend in the first place: research from KPMG at the beginning of 2024 found that 52% of consumers say they have had to cut their non-essential spending. Yet, alarmingly, the idea of spending what money we do have on short-term, instant enjoyment, rather than saving it for a future that may not even exist, rings true for many of us. 

Critics might be tempted to diagnose me (and others like me) as ‘snowflakes’ who don’t know just how good they have it. Indeed, get out the world’s smallest violin for the girl who shops away her sadness and insecurity on Asos. But it goes much deeper than that. 

Doom spending isn’t just about being more frivolous with money than we usually would. In the same way that doom scrolling – the act of endlessly swiping through bad news articles, posts and websites – can give us a sense of being in control (or at least in-the-know) in uncertain times, doom spending does the same thing. 

“When it comes to doom spending, there is an overwhelming attitude of ‘what is the point of saving’?” explains Alison Goolnik, a psychotherapist and member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). “With global warming, economic uncertainties like crippling student loans and high mortgage rates, people are rightfully wondering if they’re ever going to be able to fund long-term investments like houses. And if they can’t, the conclusion they are coming to is why shouldn’t they enjoy their money now and live in the moment. It’s ultimately a comfort and a distraction that leaves you with a sense of pleasure, but one that is only temporary.”

According to Goolnik, when we doom spend as a coping mechanism, it triggers the brain’s reward system, giving us a hit of pleasure chemicals like dopamine. This of course feels great in the moment, but can quickly be replaced by guilt, shame or regret, which creates the very feelings of uncertainty that can start the whole cycle over again. That’s not to mention the negative financial effects, which can range from getting into debt to an over-reliance on predatory buy now, pay later services to fund our hedonistic mentalities.

Clearly, like so many things, it’s all about moderation. I doubt I’ll ever be someone that can say no to a little pick-me-up at the end of a bad day or stop myself before checking out with a dress I really love. 

But take it from me – someone trying hard to change their response to worrying about the future from ‘add to cart’ to something a little bit more sustainable – doom spending won’t go away on its own. The things making us nervous aren’t going to change overnight. There’s not a timeframe on our anxiety, like during the pandemic, where we promised ourselves that things would be different when we were ‘back to normal’.

If we feel powerless against the core problems (which, let’s face it, so many of us do) our best bet is to focus on what we can control. To create routines and habits that don’t punish us for being human and having desires, but also aren’t so detrimental to our wellbeing that we end up worse than where we started.

If you’re looking to practice mindful spending and move away from always seeking instant gratification, Goolnik’s advice is to first identify what your spending trigger is. For me, it’s definitely seeking comfort in what I can control: the outfits I wear that make me feel better about myself. The brands I support with my hard-earned money.

Over the past month I’ve set myself a challenge: a no-buy month where shopping for clothes, beauty products and books are banned. It had been going well, but during last week’s particularly heavy news cycle I felt the familiar temptation begin to rise once again. I needed the distraction, I tried to tell myself. It would be a form of self-care. Ultimately, I didn’t cave, but as Goolnik tells me, understanding what the triggering emotion was and practicing resisting it is a good start.

“It might be helpful to keep a log of when you feel tempted to doom spend, what the item is and what triggered it, to try and identify patterns,” she adds. “If you find that scrolling on social media first thing in the morning leads you to doom spend, that is a routine you can easily change to distance yourself from the temptation.” Similarly, if marketing emails prompt you to reach for your purse, unsubscribing to them can take away the initial trigger and give you room to breathe. Because even if the world around us doesn’t feel any more certain, we can in our own actions.

Goolnik also suggests employing the 48-hour rule to any potential purchases: “If there is something you really want to buy, write it down alongside the cost and why you want it and wait for 48 hours. After the time is up, go back and ask yourself if you still feel the same way. Do you really need it? Often the answer is no and you would have been just acting on impulse.”

Speak to a Financial Conduct Authority registered financial adviser before taking financial advice, and think carefully before making any decision.

If you’re concerned about debt, please get in touch with Step Change. If you’re worried about your mental health, you can contact Mind or Samaritans. 

Images: Adobe/Getty