Girl Math, Loud Budgeting, Moneymaxxing: Were These Trends Worth Trying?

Manifest money (2020)

What it is: Using affirmations, mantras and abundance mindset rituals to try to attract wealth, no spreadsheet required.

What it’s about: Say it, believe it, receive it. TikTok’s #MoneyManifestation corner leans on Law of Attraction ideas: visualize the bank balance you want, repeat a mantra and the universe allegedly handles logistics.

How it started:

• Took off in November 2020 when TikTok user King Soon posted a money mantra
• Resurges every year around big “portal dates” like 8/8, when numerology fans say wealth energy peaks
• Rides the same wave as celebrity manifestation talk from stars like Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa

Still around? Yes, it’s arguably the most durable trend on this list, resurfacing with new hashtags every year since 2020.

How it turned out: The positives about this trend are that it costs nothing and can nudge people toward a more optimistic, action-taking mindset. On the other hand, this isn’t an actual financial strategy. Wishing for more money isn’t a substitute for a well-thought out plan to better your situation.

Vibecession (2022)

What it is: The gap between what the economic data says and what everyday life feels like.

What it’s about: Financial educator Kyla Scanlon coined the term in a June 2022 newsletter, calling it “the vibes of a recession, but maybe not the economic reality of one.” Unemployment was near a 50-year low and GDP kept climbing, but consumer sentiment cratered anyway.

How it started:

• Coined by Scanlon while she was writing about Americans’ inflation and recession fears
• Became a mainstream economics term almost overnight, landing in the New York Times and Dictionary.com
• Basically the mood board every other trend on this list gets built from

Still around? The word itself has cooled off, but the mismatch it describes hasn’t, consumer prices are still running well ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

How it turned out: There’s no personal “outcome” here since it’s a mood, not a money move. However, it did give people language for something real they were feeling. Consumer prices are about 29% higher than they were in February 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Inflation Calculator, meaning $1,000 in pre-pandemic spending power now costs roughly $1,290.86.

The numbers behind the vibe: The Fed’s own data backs up the mismatch. Only 63% of US adults said they could cover a surprise $400 expense with cash, down from a high of 68% in 2021, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. Just 55% had three months of expenses set aside in a rainy-day fund, per the same report. And 68% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck as of August 2025, according to PYMNTS Intelligence.

Quiet luxury (2023)

What it is: The old money, logo-free aesthetic. Think unbranded cashmere and quiet tailoring that signals wealth by hiding it, instead of showing it off.

What it’s about: A reaction against loud, logo-heavy status symbols, fueled almost entirely by HBO’s “Succession” and a cost-of-living crisis that made flashy spending feel tone-deaf.

• Driven by HBO’s “Succession,” whose ultra-wealthy Roy family wore expensive, logo-less basics like an unbranded Loro Piana cashmere hat
• Google searches for “quiet luxury” jumped 614% over the course of the year
• Gwyneth Paltrow’s understated wardrobe during her 2023 ski-crash trial added fuel to the trend

Still around? Not as a headline trend, by early 2024, fashion critics and Paris Fashion Week had already called it outdated in favor of louder styles. However, the less flashy instinct carried straight into loud budgeting.

How it turned out: This trend nudged people toward investing in fewer, better-made basics instead of fast fashion. However, quiet luxury pieces were often just as expensive as logo-heavy ones, if not more so. It was a trend about the wealthy and not designed as a money-saving one for everyone else.

De-influencing (2023)

What it is: Creators telling followers what not to buy, flipping the usual haul or recommendation video on its head.

What it’s about: Pushing back on overhyped products, hidden sponsorships and the sheer volume of must-haves flooding social feeds.

How it started:

• Sparked in January 2023 after viewers accused beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira of wearing false lashes in a mascara ad, an incident nicknamed “mascaragate”
• The #deinfluencing hashtag hit roughly 208 million views by late February 2023 and grew to more than 1.3 billion views by January 2024
• Arrived directly on the heels of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, the impulse-buy hashtag it was reacting against

Still around? The specific hashtag has cooled, but the instinct evolved directly into underconsumption core and no-buy years.

How it turned out: A good mindset to help people gauge whether they really need something, and it gives you permission to ignore hype. It made “I don’t need that” content genuinely popular. On the other side, critics pointed out de-influencers often still recommended cheaper alternatives, meaning the trend redirected spending more than it actually reduced it.

Girl math (2023)

What it is: Deliberately illogical “math” used to justify spending, cash purchases don’t count, returns are “profit,” anything under $5 is free.

What it’s about: Pure comedy about a real habit: rationalizing purchases.

How it started:

• Started on a New Zealand radio show, “Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley,” in July 2023
• Went viral on TikTok in August 2023 after a user’s video nudged the internet from “girl dinner” to “girl math”
• Spun off “boy math” almost immediately as the internet’s response

Still around? As a meme, mostly retired, but the underlying habit of rationalizing spending never left.

How it turned out: This trend actually got people discussing those small money decisions they’d normally hide. However, some pointed out it leaned on old stereotypes about women being bad with money, and taken too literally, “girl math” logic is a fast way to blow a budget on purchases that only feel free.

Soft saving (2023)

What it is: A slower, gentler approach to saving that prioritizes today’s quality of life over maxing out a retirement account.

What it’s about: A rejection of hustle-culture, FIRE-style extreme frugality, in favor of “the soft life’s answer to finance.”

How it started:

• Popularized by Gen Z starting around 2023, per Intuit’s Prosperity Index Study
• Close to three in four Gen Zers say they’d rather have a better quality of life than extra money in the bank
• Tied to broader economic pessimism: many in this group doubted long-term financial goals were realistic at all

Still around? Yes, and it’s held up better than most, later surveys through 2025 and 2026 kept finding similar numbers.

How it turned out: A positive trend that could help prevent burnout and create more room for actual joy and flexibility in a budget. But, taken too far, it can mean under-saving for retirement or emergencies at exactly the age when compound interest matters most.

Cash stuffing (2023)

What it is: The envelope budgeting method, but aesthetic — cash divided into labeled envelopes or a decorative binder for each spending category.

What it’s about: Using physical cash and envelopes to see your progress and organize spending.

How it started:

• Not new at all, Dave Ramsey has taught a version of this for close to two decades
• #CashStuffing videos have racked up billions of combined views since 2021
• Popularity has even nudged real-world cash usage back up in places like the UK

Still around? Yes, and it’s one of the more sustainable trends here. It’s old-school budgeting with better branding.

How it turned out: This trend/budgeting method makes overspending hard, since you use the cash in the envelope, lets you see your progress and forces you to budget. It works especially well for impulse spenders. On the downside, cash at home doesn’t earn interest, and carrying or storing it comes with real theft and loss risk.

Loud budgeting (2024)

What it is: Saying out loud, without shame, that you don’t want to spend money instead of quietly pretending you can’t afford something.

What it’s about: The opposite of quiet luxury, the hushed old-money aesthetic that dominated 2023.

How it started:

• Coined by comedian and writer Lukas Battle in a TikTok posted December, 2023
• His go-to example: skip the $40 bar tab, tell your friend you don’t want to spend it and invite them over instead
• Framed as “I don’t want to spend,” not “I don’t have enough”

Still around? Yes, and financial commentators generally think it has staying power, since it’s financial boundary-setting with a catchy name.

How it turned out: Talking about money out loud tends to build accountability and can make saving feel less isolating. However, it can tip into performative frugality, and not everyone finds it comfortable to announce their budget to friends and family.

Money dysmorphia (2024)

What it is: A distorted view of your own finances that doesn’t match reality. For example, feeling broke despite a healthy income or feeling behind despite solid savings.

What it’s about: Comparing your financial life to a curated highlight reel of other people’s wealth on social media.

How it started:

• Named and popularized by a 2024 Intuit Credit Karma survey conducted with Qualtrics, widely covered starting in January 2024
• The survey found 29% of Americans experience it, rising to 43% of Gen Z and 41% of millennials
• Nearly 40% of people who reported money dysmorphia actually had more than $10,000 in savings, well above the US median

Still around? Yes, coverage through 2026 keeps finding similar or higher numbers, and the term has stuck as shorthand for financial anxiety that doesn’t match the actual numbers.

How it turned out: This trend gives the feeling a name and has helped some people separate perception from their real financial picture. But oddly, 95% of people who experience it say it actively hurts their finances by holding them back from saving and pushing them toward overspending.

Doom spending (2024)

What it is: Impulsive purchases, often items people don’t need or can’t afford, made to cope with anxiety about the economy or the news.

What it’s about: Chronic online exposure to bad news translating directly into bad spending habits.

How it started:

• The behavior itself isn’t new, Fortune traced a version of it back to “live for today” attitudes of the late 1960s, and reminiscent of YOLO from early 2010s
• 39% of millennials admits to doom spending according to Intuit Credit Karma study

Still around? Yes — it tends to spike around elections, tariff news and holiday shopping seasons.

How it turned out: Impulse spending can give you a short-term mood boost and a sense of control in an uncertain moment. But spending without a care can land you in more debt that offsets the emotional payoff. Total US household debt hit a record $18.8 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, and credit card balances climbed to $1.26 trillion, with 6.97% in serious delinquency (90+ days past due), a level not seen since the Great Recession.

Underconsumption core (2024)

What it is: Content that celebrates using what you already own. For example, the nearly empty lotion bottle or the years-old phone case instead of buying more.

What it’s about: A direct reaction to years of haul culture and viral product recommendations, wrapped in a cost-of-living crisis that made buying less feel both financially necessary and culturally cool.

How it started:

• Originated on TikTok in the summer of 2024
• Positioned as an evolution of de-influencing and old-school “normcore” minimalism
• Distinct from generic minimalism because it celebrates lived-in, used items rather than a curated empty aesthetic

Still around? Yes, and it’s aged well because it doesn’t require buying anything new to participate.

How it turned out: It’s one of the only viral trends here that’s genuinely free to try and tends to save people money without much downside. A few folks have noted a little irony in “aspirational” underconsumption videos still shot on expensive cameras, phones and curated homes.

Buy now, pay later boom (2024)

What it is: Installment payment BNPL services like Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm that split a purchase into interest-free payments at checkout.

What it’s about: Making bigger purchases, and increasingly everyday ones, feel smaller and easier to say yes to.

How it started:

• Usage exploded during the pandemic as more shopping moved online, then kept climbing every year after
• Shoppers spent $18.2 billion using BNPL during the 2024 holiday season alone, according to Adobe Analytics.
• Increasingly used for groceries and other everyday essentials, not just discretionary splurges, drawing scrutiny from regulators and financial advisors

Still around? Yes, and still growing.

How it turned out: Interest-free installments can genuinely help people manage cash flow for planned purchases, and delinquency rates have generally stayed below credit cards. But it’s not all great: about a third of BNPL users have a credit score below 620, a rejected credit application or a delinquent loan, and because most providers don’t report to credit bureaus, “phantom debt” can pile up across multiple apps without anyone tracking the full picture.

Revenge saving (2025)

What it is: Aggressively rebuilding savings, often as a direct reaction to years of revenge spending splurges on travel and experiences after the pandemic.

What it’s about: Fear of layoffs, tariffs and a recession that kept threatening to arrive.

How it started:

• The US personal savings rate climbed from 3.5% in December 2024 to 4.5% in May 2025
• Some Reddit users trace the term to Chinese social media, where it described a similar pandemic-recovery pattern

Still around? Yes, the underlying caution has stuck as job-market and tariff headlines keep rolling in.

How it turned out: Bigger emergency funds and a real sense of financial security for people who followed through. But taken to an extreme, it can mean skipping meaningful experiences or over-restricting spending out of fear rather than an actual plan.

No-buy year and low-buy challenge (2025)

What it is: A self-imposed rule to stop buying nonessential items for a set stretch of time.

What it’s about: Resetting an overconsumption habit and freeing up cash for savings, debt or basic needs.

How it started:

• Intuit Credit Karma found 44% of Americans had adopted a low-buy lifestyle and 42% had gone full no-buy
• More than half of Gen Z said they’d tried or considered one

Still around? Yes, and January “no-buy” resolutions have become an annual TikTok ritual.

How it turned out: Author Ashlee Piper, who ran her own version of the challenge, says she paid off $22,000 in debt and saved $36,000. However, strict no-buy rules are hard to sustain long-term, and some people rebound into a spending spree the moment the challenge ends.

Recession indicator memes (2025)

What it is: A joking catchphrase — “that’s a recession indicator” — slapped onto anything from flash mobs to a pop star’s new single as tongue-in-cheek proof the economy is tanking.

What it’s about: Turning real economic anxiety into a running internet bit, the same way people joke about doomscrolling.

How it started:

• Traces to an April 2024 tweet joking that a viral flash-mob trend felt “very 2008 Obama era,” comparing it to the Great Recession
• Exploded through 2025 on X and TikTok, tagging everything from a pop star’s music career to people wearing business casual to nightclubs
• Despite the meme’s intensity, economists tracking official recession indicators said the US wasn’t actually in one, based on standard metrics like GDP and unemployment

Still around? Yes, and it tends to flare up any time economic headlines get worse, functioning almost like a running economic mood ring for the internet.

How it turned out: Overall, it’s a low-stakes joke and way for people to process real economic anxiety together, and a form of collective coping. On the other hand, some economists have warned the joke could become a bit self-fulfilling, since enough public pessimism about spending can itself contribute to an actual slowdown.

Moneymaxxing (2026)

What it is: Moneymaxxing is optimizing every corner of your finances — high-yield savings, cashback stacking, bill negotiation, credit card points — to squeeze the most value out of every dollar.

What it’s about: The “-maxxing” suffix, borrowed from looksmaxxing and other self-optimization trends, applied to money instead.

How it started:

• Trending through 2026, with coverage from CNBC, Yahoo Finance and Good Morning America
• Related offshoot “pointsmaxxing” focuses specifically on credit card rewards and points
• Landing during a real affordability squeeze: 72% of Gen Zers and more than half of millennials still rely on their parents for financial support, and young adults now don’t expect full financial independence until age 37

Still around? It’s the newest trend here, so the jury’s still out, but multiple financial experts are calling it more durable than the usual trend cycle.

How it turned out (so far): Jack Howard, head of money wellness at Ally Bank, told CNBC it focuses on “creating everyday habits” rather than chasing quick fixes, and it works even without a raise. But treating every transaction like an optimization problem can get exhausting, and some critics note it risks turning money into a constant background stressor rather than something you occasionally just don’t think about.