March 23, 2026
This spring, we’re focusing our energy on community-building–from last week’s political action workshop to helping you retool your budget to be less consumption-minded. And being more community-focused means putting your dollars where they can make the most impact: through a community foundation that’s fueled by people in their local region.
For those of us here in the NYC area, The New York Community Trust is the region’s trusted community foundation, playing a vital role in making life better for everyone, from those struggling to pay the bills to immigrant families and LGBTQ+ communities, among many more. With more than 2,200 charitable funds created to benefit NYC and beyond, a Donor-Advised Fund at The New York Community Trust is the best first step to make a big difference. A DAF works like a charitable checkbook that lets you give tax-smart, eliminate paperwork, and use a variety of assets. Your fund is invested for growth, meaning your money often goes further than through a simple donation.
Level up your giving to the causes you care about with The New York Community Trust.
By Skylar Hunyadi
As a personal finance nerd and longtime TFD community member, my brain is basically wired to pick out fishy trends. And because the algorithm knows this about me, it’s been serving up a steady stream of questionable financial content.
From where I’m scrolling, there’s been an uptick in trends such as underconsumption-core and “loud budgeting.” Which, from one angle, may appear a step in the right direction, and I would argue that it does center important conversations around anti-hyperconsumerism. But to this chronically online, skeptical millennial, these trends aren’t exactly passing the vibe check.
What may feel like resistance to hyperconsumerism can also be interpreted as an increasingly aestheticized, and ironically monetized, folding back into the same system these trends critique.
But before we get into the weeds, let’s talk about how we got here in the first place.
Burgeoning financial products such as Buy Now, Pay Later services and platforms like Affirm and Klarna have overwhelmingly normalized paying in installments, encouraging us to buy more under the guise of financial responsibility. Add in rising subscription prices and the recently coined term “subscription fatigue” — even subscriptions designed to help you unsubscribe from other subscriptions — and it’s no wonder we’re left wondering where our money is going. To make matters worse, algorithm-centric shopping culture continues to strip away the (very important) friction between the urge to buy and the act of spending.
To put it in a cute, little capitalistic bow: rising costs, stagnant wages, and more opportunities to grow debt are fertile ground for some cultural backlash via the aforementioned anti-consumerism trends.
And honestly, I see the appeal of this backlash. Take “loud budgeting,” for example, the practice of openly naming your financial limits instead of making excuses for not spending. It’s essentially public boundary-setting around money, which can be incredibly empowering. Or consider “underconsumption core”: repeating outfits, using products to the last drop, rejecting excess. Preach — I love that we’re encouraging this. It feels change-making because it reframes restraint as aspirational.
But this is the moment my skepticism kicks in: this rebellion can also serve as a generative revenue stream and a sneaky consumer incentive to buy more things, just differently. The most glaring example of this is when influencers monetize the concept of a “minimalistic life.” This shows up in the sale or promotion of products like lounge clothes or curated home essentials. In the “spirit” of anti-consumerism, even restraint becomes identity-driven consumption.
Even more problematic is the subtle manipulation of consumer behavior, sometimes called “de-influencing,” in which the very act of encouraging restraint prompts new spending habits. For instance, an influencer might promote a decluttering challenge, but sell a branded minimalist planner or a “declutter kit” to help you stick to it. The very act of encouraging restraint drives new spending habits.
For example, creators hopping on the “loud budgeting” trend (using hashtags, key phrases, and generally playing it up to the algorithmic gods) drive traffic and engagement to their likely sponsored posts about their financial journey. Spoiler: You rarely hear about that journey again.
So how do we reconcile performative frugality versus real financial agency? In other words, what’s the difference between something genuinely educational and posting this kind of content just for social clout? The difference lies in intent and outcome: real financial agency focuses on learning and making lasting changes, such as building an emergency fund or paying down high-interest debt, while performative frugality centers on social signaling without any lasting personal impact.
So, keeping this trend analysis in mind, here are some practical ways to resist hyperconsumerism and reclaim real control over your spending:
Audit your fixed expenses first. Knowing what’s coming in and what’s going out leaves less room to impulsive spending or chasing trends disguised as necessity.
Do quarterly subscription reviews. This routine eases subscription fatigue and eliminates products or services that exist primarily to monetize “anti-consumerism.” You can do this on your credit card/bank statements, or through your preferred budgeting app.
Always question aesthetics. Before buying the latest minimalist planner or hopping on an “anti-consumer” trend, ask whether it genuinely supports your financial priorities, or simply folds you back into the same monetized system.
Set personal rules. Create your own guidelines, such as banning personal use of Buy Now, Pay Later purchases or adopting a one-in, one-out rule for new products, to prevent algorithmic nudges from steering your choices.
Focus on more reality-based consumption. Emphasize getting full use out of what you already own, repairing or repurposing items, and prioritizing function over trend, keeping your spending tied to real needs rather than curated aesthetics.
*****
In some forms, the de-influencing movement can get caught up in the very monetized systems it seeks to resist. Anything can be commodified, even financial restraint. As I wrote this piece, I kept asking myself: Is there any winning here? It can feel genuinely depressing to consider how critical, aware, and diligent one must be just to survive in this capitalistic, hyperconsumerist hellscape.
But not all hope is lost. Authentic, lasting resistance comes from making choices that reflect your values and hard-learned lessons around money. It’s about taking back control, staying intentional, and letting your own priorities, not trends or algorithms, guide your spending.
For more from Sky, join her on Substack! Subscribe here to receive her personal essays right to your inbox. Here's her latest post. This newsletter is a cozy corner of self care, reflections, and other small pleasures. All are welcome <3
Skylar is a licensed clinical mental health counselor who talks about self-care as the foundation of a prosperous life. She has a deep love for yoga, vegetarian cooking, and religiously organizing her Google calendar. Follow her on Instagram for more self-care and mental health content or on LinkedIn for the more ~professional~ stuff.
This week, instead of sharing a recap of my spending, I’m going to focus on the big goal that is one of the driving motivations behind my Nothing-New Year challenge: bulking up our childcare savings. As I have mentioned on here before, we decided to save for childcare ahead of time, as the monthly cost is essentially equivalent to a second rent payment. We didn’t want to have to squeeze our budget quite that much.
We are lucky that my husband receives a consistently high year-end bonus as part of his compensation package, which used to go almost entirely to long-term savings/investments. This past year, and for the next several years, this is all going to childcare. That still only accounted for 75% of the cost, so we’re making up the remaining 25% from our everyday budget. I’m tracking this goal in my Monarch app, which lets you set goals that are allocated from your overall budget:
I’m thrilled to report that so far this year, we have met our goal of contributing $700 a month, and even exceeding that amount slightly in February. (Note that the balance is “down” because this is also the account we have direct deposit payments come out of for daycare. The $40,000 number (yes, I shudder at that as well) is about what our annual costs are, but I don’t expect this account to always be a full year ahead.) Now, this isn’t just a result of my no-spend challenge: we’re also contributing less to our travel sinking fund each month, and we’re spending a lot less going out to eat than we did in our pre-baby life. But since we use “flexible budgeting” and simply track our overall spending in Monarch, rather than budgeting category-by-category, we’re able to just keep our overall discretionary spending low enough to meet this goal number. And it’s working!
Stay tuned next week for my last little update before giving you my full March no-buy breakdown!
♥️Holly
If you want a simpler way to stay on top of your spending, Monarch makes it easy to see the full picture and adjust as you go. Use our link to download now and get 50% off your first year!
The Society at TFD is our members-only community with access available on both YouTube and Patreon. Joining The Society is the best way to directly support TFD! The Society offers the exact same things on both platforms, so choose whichever one you prefer!
We offer 3 tier options:
The Society at TFD Lite: $2.99/month
Monthly office hours with Chelsea to chat and get your personal questions answered
Access to our monthly book club hosted by TFD Creative Director, Holly
Illustrated tech backgrounds every month
Access to Society Discord
The Society at TFD: $4.99/month — includes everything in the $2.99 tier plus:
Monthly ad-free extended director's cut videos from Chelsea
Exclusive members-only events and workshops
Complete post archive (including exclusive members-only videos of Chelsea ranting on different topics)
The Society Premium: $9.99/month — includes everything from the previous tiers plus:
Weekly newsletter from Chelsea
Monthly multi-page workbook/guidebook on a different topic each month
Members-only capsule podcasts
