"Don't buy the new year" becomes the keyword of the New Year
It's not that you don't buy it, it's a high-quality "buy, buy, buy"
On the first day of 2022, Wang Fangyu, who works in Beijing, left a signature in the circle of friends - "In 2022, challenge 'don't buy a new year'".
At the beginning of the new year, many young people have written down their New Year's plans on social platforms. "Don't buy a new year" is one of the popular keywords.
"Don't buy a year" refers to restricting one's own consumption behavior within a certain period of time, not buying unnecessary things, and the duration varies from one week to one year.
Recently, China Youth Daily and Xiaohongshu released a survey report on the "Top Ten Trends in Life in 2022", showing that young people are tired of watching the carnival of big promotions, and their consumption patterns have changed from "hot-headed chopping hands" to "worldly sobriety." place an order".
The "2021 New Youth Fashion Consumption Trend Development Report" released by Beijing Normal University shows that nearly 70% of new youth fashion consumers first consider cost-effectiveness when shopping, and they tend to be more rational when shopping.
Different from "buy, buy, buy", many young people have already saved a lot of ineffective expenses by relying on the new planning and financial management method of "don't buy a new year".
"Don't buy a new year" is not about not buying, but a change in attitude towards life
"When I was cleaning the house, I found that I had a lot of unopened cosmetics, and some even forgot when I bought them." 23-year-old Wang Fangyu has not been working for a long time, and usually likes to browse online social platforms and shopping websites. Whenever I see the recommendations of beauty bloggers and outfit bloggers, I immediately go to the online shopping platform to search for the same item and place an order, "It seems that as long as I buy the same item, I can be as beautiful as the bloggers. But in the end I found that owning these items changed me very little.”
What troubles Wang Fangyu is not only being caught in the impulsive consumption cycle of "planting grass" and "buying, buying and buying", she also spends a lot of time and energy on calculating how to save money.
"Sometimes the price of the same item is very high, so I will go to various online shopping platforms to find cheap alternatives; sometimes there are big promotions on the shopping platform, and I will try my best to collect the 'full discount' amount, and even accurately Calculate the price per milligram of cosmetic products on different online shopping platforms".
The development of social media and online shopping platforms has made "planting grass" and "pulling grass" into the daily life of this young generation. The complex and contradictory behavior of "being willing to spend money while calculating and saving money" has gradually become the mainstream consumption trend of the post-95s generation.
The report "Insights into Consumption Trends of Post-95s Young People 2020" shows that post-95s like entertainment and socializing. Compared with users of other ages, they have a higher acceptance of items recommended by Internet celebrity bloggers, and have become live broadcast e-commerce and short videos. The main users of platforms such as Dahuo.
But what is interesting is that the post-95s generation is very careful when consuming. The report shows that they like to compare prices in many ways when purchasing products, and their participation in money-saving modes such as group shopping and social e-commerce is significantly higher than that of users of other age groups.
"Although I spent a lot of energy to figure out how to buy more affordable products, I was still stunned when I saw my bank statement." The "Double 11" shopping list made Chen Ke, a 25-year-old Hangzhou girl, determined to carry out " "Don't Buy New Year's Challenge", "Cosmetics, clothes, household items, etc., I take express delivery to the 'hand soft' every day, and the house is full. However, after analyzing the bill, I found that such consumption habits are very irrational, not only causing great harm Economic pressure and a lot of wasted time and energy.”
"I prefer to save the energy and money spent on watching things, choosing things, and buying things, and spend them on more meaningful things." After starting the "Don't Buy New Year" challenge, Chen Ke will be on social platforms every day. The frequency of recording expenses, browsing shopping platforms and short videos has also been greatly reduced.
After 3 months, she found that her spending on cosmetics, clothes, shoes and hats and other consumables decreased, and her spending on travel, books, fitness, etc. increased. "The challenge of 'no buying a year' is not not spending money, but a kind of The change in life attitude has changed from the simple consumption of 'beautifying' in the past to a healthier, more scientific, more knowledgeable and to see a bigger world."
How not to buy, young people have their own rules
"Participating in the 'Don't Buy Years' Challenge requires serious thinking, it is a scientific way to buy." On a social platform, a blogger who had undertaken the 'Don't Buy Years' Challenge for 3 years shared his experience," I will first sort out the existing items and divide them into 5 categories according to clothing, food, housing, transportation, and play. Each category is further divided into: necessities, reduced quantity items, non-essential items, etc., according to the daily purchase of items With consumption, update your own table".
Searching for "don't buy a new year" in Xiaohongshu, there are thousands of experience sharing content. A blogger summed up the buying principles in the "don't buy a new year" challenge: do you like it very much, whether you must buy it, whether it is suitable for you, Think about usage rate and rigid demand, and idle monopoly.
However, what not to buy depends on your actual situation. Most challengers will make a detailed list of their needs and summarize whether they need to buy by category.
Wang Fangyu divides her purchases into several categories: stress-free purchases, repurchases after use up, one in and one out, and resolutely not to buy. Among them, cosmetics and clothes, as the major items of previous consumption, were included in her "Resolutely Don't Buy". " under the category.
"Before, I only thought that I wanted to buy various styles of clothes, but after limiting the number of clothes I bought, I began to learn to rely on the original clothes to create new ideas, which invisibly improved my aesthetics." Wang Fangyu said.
"My principle of not buying is: don't make yourself feel uncomfortable and don't restrain yourself." Bilibili blogger Wang Dali is in the UK and usually likes to buy household items, but many are left unused in corners.
"My goal of challenging 'not buying a new year' is to be able to correctly examine my consumption habits and make myself more self-disciplined."
Before officially starting the challenge, Wang Dali gave herself a half-year test period. "The test period is just to reduce purchases consciously, and not to restrict myself too strictly, so that I can better adapt to it."
After that, Wang Dali posted her experience on the video platform, which attracted more and more attention from netizens, and unexpectedly became a blogger in the living area.
"At the beginning, I felt that the challenge was difficult, but I gradually filled my life with cooking and reading, and seeing so many people learning rational consumption with me, I have the motivation to persevere. Currently every 3 Compared with the same period last year, the monthly capital has saved more than 10,000 yuan, and life has also changed a lot." For Wang Dali, the challenge of "don't buy a new year" has allowed her to find a better way to relieve stress and get happiness, from reducing consumption. There was a lot of achievement in the process.
"'Don't buy the new year' is not about not buying, but high-quality 'buy, buy, buy'." Liang Yongan, a professor of Chinese Department of Fudan University, analyzed that behind the "don't buy the year" is not just a consumption problem, but the young people are facing When life is stressful, they reflect on their living conditions, lifestyles, and especially their mental states, "As the times develop, they need to re-evaluate their lives and discard some unnecessary items, in fact, to bring The joy of being transferred to the satisfaction of the spiritual world.”
Xu Ziwei, a trainee reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily