Spend any time on TikTok lately and you'll probably hear the words "underconsumption core."
Raisa Reyes is a TikTok influencer living in New York City. She knows all too well what it means to live on a budget. After moving with her husband from England, packing and space was at a premium.
"Before moving, I was like, I'm going to move with most of my belongings or all of my belongings. Let me purge," Reyes said.
The trend focuses on the principle that "less is more."
"I saw all these beautiful women filming these makeup tutorials. And I just kept on thinking to myself, like, they look so beautiful at the beginning of the video when they had super minimal makeup on," Reyes adds.
University at Buffalo Professor Charles Lindsey said the popularity of the trend is due to several factors: "One — consumer debt, inflation, the economy, and the level of consumer debt that we're seeing. Also, I think from an environmental standpoint, from a sustainability standpoint, as well as financial reasons."
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While TikTok is where you'll find most of the chatter about underconsumption, Lindsey said Facebook, Freecycle, and eBay are great places to take advantage of the movement. The platforms work both ways by unloading all of the clutter yet finding ways to spend less on items you feel are necessities in your life.
Reyes admitted she spends much less on multiple items and focuses on what she really needs. She also said the movement has helped shape her.
"My advice would be to first go through what you own right now. Like, you don't need to buy anything. So, I would start with, like, decluttering the objects in your space now, and keeping only what sparks joy or what you feel that, like the dream version of yourself would own the version that you're working towards."
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