I kind of appreciate being a little late to the trend... seeing everyone upload their underconsumption core discussion videos a couple weeks ago overwhelmed me, but when i saw this today i was like "i'm ready to dive back into the discussion"
tbh as a formerly poor person i hate all those "oh but poor people don't have a choice don't romanticize it" No!!!! Romanticize it!!!!! I would've loved to see my room made of mismatched hand me downs and my wardrobe a good five or ten years behind the current fashion as as aspirational!!
like even now, i don't have the money to replace all my clothes and i can't begin to explain the joy of feeling sooo cottagecore or whatever while fixing my teared up pants
Most of the time, I definitely dislike how "poor stuff" gets commodified- but my complaint has always been about things like, people spend 100$ on a pair of jeans that look used, instead of just wearing affordable jeans until they naturally become worn. It's wasteful in a lot of ways. So in this case, as long as they're just... buying regular stuff and then genuinely using them until they "look cool", then it's fine.
The key is buying quality items I love and use/wear/admire over and over and over again. A good knife is more useful, and easier to clean and store, than a food processor.
that's why trends exist, no? A culture of x, then counter-culture that's the opposite of x, then the counter culture is just culture, and eventually they both exist, but not as a statement anymore
Regarding "how to actually use what you have" - learn maintenance and repair. Being able to repair an item, even if it's just good enough to keep using it, is a great skill to have. You don't need to re-roof your house yourself, but "make do and mend" is still valid. Same with maintenance. Treating your shoes with leather care products will make them last longer. Not washing your clothes on the hottest, longest setting will make them last longer. Treating your stuff with care will make them last longer.
To this point, people need to know cobblers still exist! If your shoes' soles are coming unstitched or unglued, take them to a cobbler; they'll fix them!
Yes, regarding clothes I'd say a great tip is to avoid using the dryer for anything that is at all delicate or prone to shrinking. I know that's not practical in some settings, but I agree we can usually use a colder wash setting. And the very basics of mending or altering clothing is a game changer. I'm no seamstress but we did learn some sewing skills at school that I still use to this day.
Yep, I got back into sewing again the last few years & I've already been able to increase the life-cycle of all my clothes & plushies just by repairing them
My teenage sister is very susceptible to tiktok trends and is constantly buying trendy things, but last week I ran out of my moisturizer and asked her if she wanted to come to ulta with me, and she said “no, I’m okay, I’m trying to be in my underconsumption core era.” I of course laughed to myself, but I actually think it’s great that this trend is (however temporarily) keeping her from mindless spending.
@@SamBaker-z9h"is she into the whole global warming thing" is a weird way to phrase "is she aware of the climate crisis that is already actively and visibly affecting the whole planet and will only get worse in the coming years". The climate catastrophe isn't some tiktok trend.
I see the underconsumption trend more as a way to show gen z and gen alpha that the overconsumption, that is pushed on them practically 24/7, is not the only way. Millennials and older generations remember the times when advertising was way less intrusive and not in your pocket all the time. Many of them probably don't have a comparison to that lifestyle. It's refreshing to see stuff that's not this polished, curated highlight reel and I think younger people need this as a counter weight to everything I've mentioned.
its probably less people jumping from one trend to another and more some people are making videos to push back on the overconsumption and people are just lumping all of tiktok as "the trend".
girlie I love your videos sm but please don’t feel any pressure to post at all during your maternity leave. take as much time as possible for yourself and your baby and your family, we will still be here when you get back (and I will be rewatching all your older videos) ❤
This! Enjoy the baby!!! Also just a reminder I give all my mum friends: if the baby is alive and growing, you are doing fine. Literally the only goals with a newborn. Be open-minded but don’t let opinions get to you. You are very likely doing just fine.
I’d also say, as a member of the younger generation, I’m so overwhelmed by the amount of advertisements and products that are constantly being pushed infront of my face. Obviously this is capitalism, but I’m so fatigued by it. I don’t want to buy more stuff!!! Instead of buying stuff that makes me look like I fit in a certain aesthetic, I’m just using stuff I have and making it my own!
Yeah, I feel you. I got into sewing because none of the pants I find in stores ever last more than a few years and I struggle so much to find those pants that once I do I want to keep them for life, not two or three years.
That’s nothing to do with being in the “younger” generation that’s just modern advertising, everyone is feeling it. If you remove yourself from social media you get rid of half of it tho, which helps.
@@leafhoff4321I started sewing for the same reason, plus I was so annoyed to not be able to purchase a certain style again (flared pants). I wanted to be able to sew my faves over and over. That was way before trends cycled on a monthly base. I had to wait 20 years for flared pants to come back 😅
I feel sorry for the younger generation. Most of us who live this lifestyle are raised in it. I know a few and we all are at least 3rd generation to live like this. It would be hard for those who didnt grow up like this to gain the self control they would need for it. Especially controlling that impulse to buy that thing on sale right now instead of thinking it through.
From my own experiences, poor people are never very minimalist because we HAVE TO hold on to everything. My partner's grandmother recently passed away and we raided her house for everything we could still use. His grandmother grew up post war and hoarded everything she could which helped us immensely because we needed cookware and cutlery and some decorations because I refuse to live in a bunker instead of a home. I grew up with a very "underconsumption" mother who would tell us to get rid of anything that we haven't used in the last 2 years. We could only keep sentimental stuff if it fit into one shoebox. Nowadays I don't do a big sorting out every 2 years anymore. I hold on to every bit of joy because I can't just buy more joy.
I agree with you. I've been in tight financial situations and later noticed my reluctance to throw away anything because I kept thinking I had to hold onto it, "just in case", even after I'd bought a replacement item. I now do my best to declutter items I'm not using and don't intend to use within a few years, though it's still a work in progress.
The 'get rid of what you don't use" sounds more like classic minimalism, tbh. Underconsuption, if not ~for aesthetic~ doesn't seem to focus on the decluttering too much?
Yes this! I donated very expensive clothes but then I got poor just a year after from a disability and I hate myself for donating my old clothes! I also lost weight so none of my clothes fit, I can’t buy new clothes and the old ones I donated would fit me now… 😢😢😢 I want to sew my clothes smaller but my body pain makes it hard…. 😢 living poor is hell
@@helenakri7282 I was thinking that poorer people tend to part with things more reluctantly, even if they don't use it right now. "Could be useful in the future" is enough reason to keep it when you can't afford to buy it new. Do I need the 5 million towels that I have? Probably not but getting rid of them feels like a waste because towels have a lifespan and I would rather not need to buy new towels someday.
The shoe thing was written about really beautifully by author Terry Pratchett in one of his books, to the point that it gets quoted in discussions about British economics: "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. ... But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet"
the poor tax… quality items that last, items bought in bulk in order to save money over a period of time-are unavailable for those who actually need the financial benefits they offer. the dollar store is the prime example of this. horrible quality items in small quantities, yet cheaper so a poor person is able to afford it when they need it, with what little money they have in the moment they do. it’s a constant cycle of money down the drain, spent on cheap goods that break or get used up quickly-because the goods that do not are inaccessible due to the short-term financial budgets poor people actually have. saving is impossible when you’re constantly trying to patch up another costly hole in your life, be it car payments or winter coats or or day-to-day necessities such as food in the fridge or rolls of toilet paper. it is so often MORE expensive to be poor, & the author you quoted put it perfectly.
Waaait isn't this from Mort? God that man's books are pure, absurdist gold. I distinctly remember this passage, also stood out to me. Ahh Terry, you are missed.
I know i moved into a cabin that the last person demolished w dog piss but they left a really cool motion activated nightlight in the bathroom and its so cool. They also left kitty litter everywhere, asin inside the cabinets, etc . As well as a fake dreadlock that scared the crap out of me when i furst found it because i thought it was a dead animal or something😂
@@autismenlightenment the previous tenants left a cot and xmas tree and sofa cushions in the attic, they are still there as i have no way of getting them out.
@@frentbow we are working on the loft now. I paid a neighbor to put in new flooring and deal w the furnature that was abandoned up there. He is super tall and super strong. I asked how he did it and he said he didnt know, lol. I told my daughter we need a lever pully system installed, or at least a rope tied to a basket.
I wish the idea of "appropriate to me core" would become a trend. I had a foster child with severe multiple disabilities (and lots of equipment) which changed how much furniture I had, where I placed things, and the things that I needed for the child. When the child moved into her own home with supportive care, my home needs changed. I acquired a roommate, a very social extroverted roommate. We got along very well and, introvert me needed a quieter room. So, just a bed in the bedroom became a bed, desk, chair, and bookcase. As time passed and I aged, my hands became less reliable and I replaced my original garage sale, thrifted heavy pots and dishware with lighter weight still solid, durable less painful-if-dropped-on-foot-pots and dish/glassware that doesn't break as easily. What I cook and the volume of what I cook has changed so I have a more "minimal" collection of cooking things. I routinely pass along the things that no longer suit my life.
they could never make me hate underconsumption core. we desperately need to UNnormalize the insane level of consumption going on rn and I think romanticization is a powerful tool. I've been thrifting 90% of my clothes for years and am a superuser of my neighborhood Buy Nothing group so I have the creds to back up this opinion!!!
same, I think the trend is so refreshing, especially seeing it on TikTok which is just awash with rampant consumerism. Seeing people 5 worn out items of makeup like mine or a second hand wardrobe is like a reset for the brain.
Agreed. If "core" is what needs to be added in order to motivate someone to make good choices, I am more than willing to cheer them on rather than roll my eyes.
@@Red_Lion2000I dont disagree. But stopping capitalism is hard and could take a long time. Romanticising anti-capitalist ideas could help bring about its downfall faster and let us enjoy some of the post-capitalist benefits now.
As someone who makes 30k a year and was miraculously able to buy a home (be it an older non aesthetic home) I love seeing people make content that doesn't promote living beyond their means. Under consumption core says to me not only do I not need to feel guilty or embarrassed for having old things but I am also not alone.
You hit on why i do actually like this trend- yes, it has very valid critiques, but i think the overall messaging of focusing on *using* what you already have versus minimalism that has this pressure to get rid of stuff, is a much easier step for folks to take that do overconsume. In this age of all this pressure to buy more, to buy new, to buy this, this feels a lot less toxic and harmful than all the other trends that encourage some form of consumption that actually isnt necessary
I think you have a point with the "not like other girls". After years and years of "look what I bought, look at my haul, look at my closet!"-videos, now it's time for the ones who are "not like those girls" to step forward. of course they do so in exactly the same way as the over-consumers, but at least actual "underconsumption core" or minimalism can help people feel better about their mismatched cutlery and the second-hand shoes they have, instead of trying to act as if making shein even richer is the way to go...
I agree. I think “representation matters” in all things and when all we’re seeing is huge 2k makeup hauls , restock TikTok etc it skews people’s perception of what is normal and make us think everyone is living this kind of life which is not great. It’s nice to have a palette cleanser or see people’s realistic collections or wardrobe or whatever
It's the classic culture-counterculture cycle. Eventually, counterculture gets coopted and the cycle begins again. There's a specific term for it in lefty theory but I don't remember what that is.
Those who show off their 'underconsumption' life style are just as bad as the over consumption ones. Those of us who actually live it don't need to brag about it. We just do our own thing not caring what other people think. I don't take pictures of my 7 yrs old hiking boots that's falling apart I'm still wearing for hikes or my 20yr old hoodie I got for free from a relative.
Agree with the criticisms but what I liked when I saw “underconsumption” on my fyp was seeing women my age who didn’t have the newest beauty items, everything matching, etc… it’s refreshing not to see the same influencer esque trendy creators. The “underconsumption” girlies feel ✨just like me✨ (yes the sparkles, sorry to be cringe lol)
Haha the whole video for me is just like, isn't this just the normal way to live if you're not an influencer? Like most people I know aren't out shopping and doing hauls every week, they shop on FB marketplace before new or thrift stores, wear things until they can't anymore. I'm happy to see this online as well.
I feel like my consumption went down a lot after I turned 25. Like idk if it was the frontal lobe finishing up or something but now I’m like on trend without buying shit haha.
Same, it was definitely because i learned more about environmental issues but also bc i've had so many years to collect stuff, i rarely actually *need* new stuff anymore
agreed. I see even the negative effects of a trend toward underconsumption to be positive. I don’t care the reason someone is changing their habits away from dangerous, environment-destroying industrial consumerism.
I need an analysis on the faux "lived in, curated, thrifted" influencers who live in custom built, million dollar homes with $10K kitchen appliances. But never having anything of any personal sentiment.
This! I love the lower consumption trend, but I’ve seen so much of what rings as false nostalgia lately. People are not better than millenial gray or whatever by putting up molding, painting things antique colors, and buying new gold fixtures.
@@mariahgeiger-williams9230 Yes! And they always use the same "add some character" line, lol. Mass applying the same type of character in different architectural homes is synthetic.
@@kombuchas4684 was your reply to me? In that case I’m talking specifically about influencers! Just like the person above. And as influencers they are very much making a statement and furthering a trend that is consumerist by demonizing the previous trends (eg minimalism) and often sharing what things to BUY to “add character” (eg follow a new trend).
@@mariahgeiger-williams9230 To this I would say though - influencers are advertisers. Their job is often to promote products. I think there isn't an inherent problem with influencers advertising trends as much as it is the lack of education about the fact that influencers are as relatable as a model in a perfume ad. It's curated, it's a photoshoot, it's styled - and buying the perfume won't make you get out of the sea in slow-motion the same way that buying into a trend won't turn your life into the permanent version of a highly-styled 30 secs video
"5 pairs of shoes in a year" gave me whiplash. For the first half of your sentence I was like "Hm, yes, probably 1 pair of shoes in a year to replace the pair you wore out over the last year, maybe two if you're getting flip flops for summer or your snow boots got a hole in them from overuse," and then "five????" Great video, I just thought this was a funny moment where our definitions of lower class spending differed
ive only been able to build my wardrobe now as an adult, and i assumed it was like. Buying shoes for the First time to complete ur closet and then stopping. not five every year!! hell, i still have heels i got in high school bc 1. i dont wear em often 2. my feet havent grown. the only reason i want to get new heels is bc i want taller ones.
When my mum worked in a deli, she needed new work shoes every year, but my brother who works in a kitchen,he goes through about three pairs a year! Shoes that protect against hot oil & knives need to be in good shape to do their job, on top of being supportive for your someone on their feet for half a day.
@@MZB80 that absolutely makes sense. workshoes that get used a lot in a tough environment and need to be safe should get replaced. i was thinking of fashion shoes and like, hiking boots which last me a long time. thanks for the input!
I feel like it was a reference to the Vimes boot theory from Discworld. Idk if it was an intentional reference or not, considering that quote floats around quite a lot. So maybe not literally 5 pairs of shoes a year, but the point is still "it's expensive to be poor"
confession - I bought a cast iron skillet when I was around 20 and I HATED it lol - I had been Influenced into believing this would be better than any other pan, but for my lifestyle and the way I cook, it was a NIGHTMARE - I'm disabled and this thing weighed like 100 pounds lol, plus I'm a germophobe and hate stuff being 'dirty' so the idea that I couldn't clean it with soap was horrible haha - I tried to laminate/season it but totally failed, everything in the universe stuck to it forever, and I'd ruined that thing within a few months. I ended up giving it to my grandma, who can actually use and care for it - next time I'm getting something I'll actually use forever, not something I'm TOLD I will use forever!
If you're still interested in a forever cooking implement, stainless steel might be a good option. You can wash it with soap and it's definitely lighter than cast iron. I have a stainless steel frypan and I love it. But you do want to get a good one and those aren't cheap. What I found from my research is that you want one that layers the aluminium and steel, not just on the base but up the sides because it gives more even heat distribution. Also, you can do the water drop test to make sure it's hot enough before you put oil and food into the pan to minimise sticking. I think it's also totally valid to get a non stick pan and just try to avoid too high a heat and metal utensils.
I second this. I’m very sensitive to a lot of sensory things and very particular about food hygiene. I always feel disgusting after touching a cast iron pan even though I’ve grown up with them being used and have been taught how to properly care for one. Personally cooking with one makes me feel physically sick 😅. I tend to use a copper pan in part bc it’s the only non-ancient Teflon coated pan in my kitchen and those are scratched to hell and back (pretty sure they’re an active health hazard). I grew up living with my grandparents most of the time (divorced parents) so I’ve never been bothered by having “older” or “out of style” stuff. My bed frame, dresser, and tv stand were my grandma’s when she was a child and I had a box tv with vhs tapes until like 2013.
i totally agree with the stainless steel pan. We got 1 second hand over 10 years ago and its still perfect as the day we got it after using it almost everyday. The hardest part is figuring out how to make it nonstick. I just use enough oil to prevent sticking. Which isn't that much, to be honest. It is legitimately my favourate pan and I'll use it until I die. @@ktm9292
I fell for it to, my friend. The best pan for you is... the one that you will actually use and like to cook in. If you cook 10x more often in a lighter stainless steal, ceramic coated, or teflon coated pan and you take good care of them... it is going to be better than buying the "forever" pan that you never use.
Big mood. Honestly if I can't put something in the dishwasher it is a complete waste for me to own it. I know my own energy levels and a cast iron pan would require more spoons than I use to do the entire task of cooking and starting my dish washer every night
I've been a silent subscriber for such a long time I cant believe how fast the time flies🤧I wish health and happiness for both you and your baby and your husband🎉🎀
My favorite part is when someone says they have clothes from a certain year and they consider those clothes old but I bought new clothes in that year and I still consider all my clothes new and think I shouldn't buy anything new 😂😂😂
To me basically whatever I bought when I finished high school and started working is “adult clothing” so basically new…nevermind that I graduated from high school in 2009 😂
I genuinely don't understand what people have against this trend. And yes, I've watched the videos about it. None of the reasons given make it any worse than the alternative. I get that some creators are hypocrites and only pretend to buy less stuff because it looks good on camera, but for a lot of us this trend really helps us see that we don't need to just buy buy buy all the time, making us even poorer in this horrible economy. And the "but people feel bad" excuse come on.. Maybe people should feel a little bad about buying new clothes every week made by a child in Cambodia. Most people don't need even half the crap they buy. I thought this was a breath of fresh air compared to the constant bombarding of microtrends and creators telling us we "need" to buy whatever they got for free in the mail that week. I think the hate this trend gets largely stems from people not wanting to face how much waste they're accumulating. And why not romanticize it? If that's the thing that gets people to buy less crap, why is it bad? I don't get it. I also haven't seen one ACTUAL poor person saying this is making them feel bad. It's just creators with a normal or above average income.
I completely agree. It is better than the alternative. The fact that there was a bunch "overconsumption core" videos made in response to the underconsumption core trending on tik tok shows that people really need to get a grip. We don't need to buy anything and everything just because we think we want/need it. Yes treating ourselves to something new is fine on special occasions but buying so much fast fashion and doing clothing hauls with a bunch of crap that will fall apart in just a few washes is ridiculous. I am glad underconsumption is trending because overconsumption has become so ridiculous and is damaging both in the environmental sense and human sense.
I agree... I think it's still a step in a good direction. The less people can use a trend to influence overconsumption, the better. I found some of the views a bit jaded.
Tbh a Lot of the criticisms do remind me of my aunt who is rich af but keeps buying unsustainable crap because its a "bargain". And when i say i try Not to buy fast Fashion because of the Shit quality and itchy fabrics, she tries to shame me because "poor people cannot afford fancy stuff". Yes, Siggi, you might be right but you have a fucking Holiday House in Spain. And I still hate Polyester, so whats the frigging Problem with me buying 2 expensive items that wont die after 3 washes and dont make m skin crawl?
I also think that the older 2010's minimalism seemed like a new form of consumption. Throw away the old, engraved end table and replace it with one that is sleek and modern. Underconsumption, doesn't care as much about aesthetics.
I agree! The minimalist culture had an aesthetic for sure, new clean and cold. Also the clothes were more polished, not like hand me down or thrifted items.
I think part of the problem was that there were two strains of minimalism - japanese mattress-on-the-floor type, and scandi minimal-colour-pallette type. So many people think that to be minimalist they not only need to declutter, but then also go out and buy a bunch of beige decor items to replace the colourful items they discarded. Whereas if minimalism is about conscious consumption (popularised by people like Josh Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus), then you wouldn't go buy beige decor items unless you actually needed that item, and you could infact paint every wall in your house a different rainbow colour and still count as a minimalist because it's about lowering the amount of stuff in your house not lowering the amount of colour in your house.
I personally chose to downsize because I was having some bad breakdowns with all the clutter around my room between my various hobbies. I think clutter can have a serious impact on your mental health because you start to feel mentally cluttered too, and I knew I had to consciously choose to underconsume for my wellbeing
The thing that sucks is that cost doesn’t equal quality or length of use. My $70 nikes got busted in a couple of months, my $11 Walmart shoes are going strong after that same amount of time. I see people buy more expensive and quality items but then they get tired of them or lose them in the same amount of time a cheaper item would have naturally worn out. Like you said, it takes a lot of time and research to really make good purchases.
Right? When we first got married, I bought my husband a really nice lighter. He lost it. I bought him another one. He lost that too. Same with sunglasses, hats, you name it. I have the same problem with jewelry for myself. I stopped buying certain high quality items because I knew I was going to have to replace them anyway.
I also find I get stuck in the mindset on not wanting to put wear and tear on my expensive stuff. My grandmother gifted me some really well-made flannel shirts for work ...that I never wear for work because I don't want them to get beat up and the $5 thrifted button ups are still intact enough to do the job.
I feel like the topic of “aesthetics” is crucial when comparing minimalism with the current underconsumption core trend. 2010 minimalism was very focused on curating a distinct aesthetic with as little items as possible. whereas today, the whole aesthetic/core shtick has been pushed to such an extreme, that people are just getting tired of it. so to me underconsumption core is of course about consuming less but it’s also about not giving a damn if things fit together aesthetically or not aka being independent from the illusion of having to live life within one set aesthetic. that’s where I think it differs most from minimalism.
Minimalism was always awful to me because it was definitely an aesthetic lifestyle that had so much of the trappings of materialism. As other people have mentioned, the ability to "throw away" all the things you "don't use" is a hallmark of people who haven't lived in poverty, as poor people never know when they *will* one day need a belonging of theirs even though they're not using it right now. The interior design element of it also turned me off, because it was simply people who had taste in Scandinavian/modern furniture styles and called it a movement. Yuck.
@@annaliseaudrey963 yes, exactly how I feel! it’s also such a static, unsustainable “lifestyle” that doesn’t take into account that people are always changing.
I love the restful feel of not having a bunch of clutter everywhere. But 2010 minimalism definitely relies on the ability to acquire things when you need them. That takes money. And with new items getting more expensive and lower quality, it’s less and less sustainable to get rid of old items.
@@annaliseaudrey963I agree with the needing a certain level of wealth to be a minimalist. And then this was made even worse when it transitioned from the japanese empty-room-with-mattress ideal of minimalism (not that most minimalists ever managed that degree of decluttering), to scandi go-out-and-buy-meaningless-beige-decor-items to fill gaps in your spaces (maybe people won't notice my consumption if I pick colours that are less bright/loud). At least the former ideal didn't necessarily require spending money until you realised you'd gotten rid of something you needed and now had to go rebuy it. Scandi "minimalism" arising was probably a response to realising that room-with-mattress-on-floor only looks good rather than depressing if everything is really high end, otherwise you might feel the need to actively add some pretty objects to counter the lacklustre.
The bit you mentioned about the cast iron instead of nonstick, there’s also accessibility to take into mind; one of my best friends literally cannot lift a cast iron pan, which means that people with mobility issues or older folk have troubles using them. Best middle ground is stainless steel and waiting for it to actually get to temperature (I’m bad at that too) to use and essentially become nonstick.
This is so weird for me because in my country we never consume that much and always reuse everything like I thought that was a normal thing in all the world ._.
I think for most people it is normal, but influencers always seem to be pushing this aspirational narrative of over consumption that is divorced from the reality of the average person.
no but same here! the moment i heard of this trend i was like ohhh, this is something incredibly american lmao i mean the idea itself i don’t think could ever become a trend where i live, because it’s simply the norm for most people, i feel like if someone tried to popularise it they would just get clowned on immediately
I always think about that- not sure where you are from, but I lived most of my life in Eastern Europe, and still save containers, etc- to use for salad dressings, picklings etc; there is just a better sense of being sensible about things. Also having nicer clothes and wearing them outside, and then the concept of changing to "home clothes" in the house....the US could really learn from this.
Right? I wore my one pair of sneakers until they were destroyed and I’m not poor.
2 місяці тому+11
I found it so touching how you included that clip of you in college, apart from being extremely relevant it also showed the foundation of everything you've built for yourself these past years. We only see the tidbits you have shared, but your honesty and willingness to show yourself honestly, to learn and grow along with us has always resonated with me, and to think of everything that has changed between that clip and now -- graduating, paying off debt, finding success in your niche, getting married, being days away from welcoming your baby girl... I'm overcome with joy for you. Tiff, my best wishes of good health and happiness to you, to baby, to your partner and to both of your families. 💖
Someone at work told me their wife is a minimalist and whenever they travel she leaves all the clothes she packed at the hotel they stayed at. Emphasizing that she only possesses only a certain amount of clothing at a time. Which only sounds like rampant over consumption to me lol if you’re going through and throwing away so much stuff so often.
I once found a video where someone was duct taping a laptop charger that had exposed wires and was one day away from catching on fire. She was promoting it as "underconsumption core" and framing that as a good thing. She demonized the idea of buying a replacement laptop charger because "it still works good despite how it looks." I agree with being critical of capitalism and overconsumption on social media, but I have seen people promote really dangerous stuff as "environmentally friendly."
point taken, but my laptop charger has had exposed wires for years (pet rats lol) without me ever even taping it and it really does work perfectly fine, not dangerous ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ maybe hers was a different design idk
as someone living in poverty, the internet's overconsumption, including glamorising overconsumption and influencing people to buy more shit off amazon they don't need, all grosses me out. i can't afford to buy new stuff before i wear my old stuff out, and with the shitification of products now, they wear out so quick. i've got shoes i bought six months ago that are bordering on unwearable. i have to buy shitty products from shein because i can't afford to buy 3 bralettes in my size for $60 each. it depresses me so much but there's no amount of budgeting and penny pinching i can do to spend less on the things i need without sacrificing things that keep me sane like yarn and fabric, which i use to make clothes to wear because i hate how shitty everything is now. things are just so expensive and for what.
Since you said you are sewing, I can recommend making the "little black bra" (free pattern by george and ginger) with old t shirts. They make awesome bralettes. I switched to them because I could not afford to buy a million bras for my fluctuating weight. Tip: the seam parts on the arms make great straps. Edit: Another tip is that I don't add closure elements, I sew everything shut and rely on the stretchiness of the fabric and rubber band.
I grew up poor and still struggle at times to throw out empty pasta jars or peanut jars or butter containers. I don't need them. They served their purpose. But they're still perfectly good.
Oh my god I have to fight so much with the "but I could pot some veggies into this" and "maybe I could use it to preserve some fruit" urge. I live in an apartment!… 🤦🏼♀️
@@oxigen85I totally get it! I've been able to hold onto a few glass jars by using them for storing scrap pieces/fluff/cut threads from sewing and knitting projects, so I can use it as stuffing for.... something, I haven't got an idea yet but when I do, I'll have the stuffing for it stored way in however many jars!
i think it depends....i mean, i save some of the nice glass ones to make salad dressings (easy bc you can shake them with a lid on) ; also use plastic ones as animal drinking bowels...can also hold paints for children....i mean, they can be reused...you don't have to save them forever but it can be nice to reuse them
@@jenifersarver761 for sure but it's not the jars in & of themselves. I meant the poverty shame that can creep up in the weirdest ways, like the shame of discarding something that's perfectly reusable that you just don't need.
would be interested if you have any consumption thoughts re: baby arrival? like ads targeting clothes, gadgets, toys, etc. etc. and convincing parents they have to buy EVERYTHING to be a good parent?
Babies don’t actually need that much, but taking advantage of parental anxiety about not knowing what to expect there’s so many options, and so many options prompting you to spend ‘just a little bit more’ & more to get extra features. Definitely a slippery slope of spending, and at the same time products are selling a romanticised life style, similar to weddings.
Hannah Alonzo does a little of this in her "sad beige moms" video as that trend definitely became hooked to overconsumption and she talks about that a bit.
Although I have always been into sustainability and conscious consumption (or "underconsumption"), I *hated* the 2010s minimalism movement because I found it so pretentious. I could get behind the contingent of minimalists who were doing it in pursuit of more ethical consumption practices (i.e. avoiding companies that bought from sweatshops, environmental conscious purchasing, etc.), but a lot of the pure minimalists seemed to just be doing it because they thought it made them better than everyone. I got sick of the videos of people sitting on bare floors telling people what they should or should not buy (as if it was a universal truth of some sort) and that if they lived exactly like them, they would be smarter, more enlightened, thinner, blah, blah and blah. Not to mention the cultural erasure that came with avoiding all colors, art, and decor.
it was simply a stylistic choice that was laced with that very specific millennial narcissistic self-righteousness. Incredibly vapid, half baked "movement" that was really just a fashion and lifestyle choice. It was also incredibly materialistic, through and through.
Agreed. I don’t buy an excessive amount of stuff and I try to purge unused items every week. I will not, however, sacrifice my framed photos, books, and pretty artwork. All this beige and gray depresses me.
While the sitting in an empty room ones were annoying, the ones that actually annoyed me were the ones who went out and bought a whole lot of meaningless beige decor items and then claimed their lives were now minimal. Minimalism was supposed to be about reevaluating how many things you have (what colour those things were was the least of the problem), not just changing the entire colour palette of your home by rebuying decor objects in neutral tones instead. At least the former idea didn't involve spending money until you realised you'd decluttered something you needed, whereas the latter required decluttering (and even getting rid of items you did use and like because they weren't neutral toned enough) and then a shopping trip to buy objects that enforced a beige colour scheme. And I hadnt even thought about the cultural erasure, good point.
As an environmental-science focused person, I love this. Buying sustainably is important, but it's also a balance, and it's about recognizing that everyone has different needs. I appreciated this video as a first time viewer.
As a millenial (i have no idea what kind, elder or younger, i was born in '93) i dont get why everything now needs to have a name ascribed to it, like '[insert noun here]-core'. I also don't have TikTok, so maybe im missing something; do people use the whole core thing as an identifier? Like its part of who you are? Commenters, please share your thoughts Great video Tiffany x
I'm an older millennial (apparently, although these terms have no purpose except to divide us), and I don't understand the '-core' thing either. Can it not just be the thing without core being added? Maybe it is supposed is signifying that it's more than just a tree, it's a lifestyle and is at the very core of your being (for a couple of months until the next -core arrives!).
I think we did something similar since, forever. I was also born in the early 90s. When I was in high school we had names for styles. I was goth, but you also had hippies and preppies and punks, etc. if those styles would be botn now we would call them "goth core" and "hippie core". Another reason I think everything has a name now is a very practical one: the internet. If you're a kid growing up on the internet and you like a certain clothing style. You need a term you can type into a search bar to look up that style and find more people who also dress like that. So, everything needs a name!
I honestly think the obsession with naming everything has to do with the internet and looking stuff up. It’s easier to look something up if it has a term.
Honestly as a German all of this “underconsumption” is just a very normal thing and having 200 versions of the same thing just seems very “late stage capitalism” US-American lol like I know no one that buys a new water bottle just bc it’s trendy when they don’t need one
When I heard about the whole Stanley Cup ordeal, the sports passion came out of me thinking it was some replica trophy of the NHL’s Stanley Cup made in a drinking cup form.
4:15 yuck! I absolutely hate this version of underconsumption, uh uh, my mother-in-law is like this and it bothers the hell out of me, and she's constantly trying to pawn things like this off onto us, and I'm like it's not usable, it's just gonna be junk collecting in my place, like she's been using a dyson with broken filter and she didn't realise the suction was gone. I have no problem with the type of underconsumption where things still work even if they aren't your style, working is good, broken and taped up or falling apart is not good. Now, if you're using old broken stuff that's taped up because you literally can't afford to replace it, that's a completely different situation, but if you can replace it and you do this, it's weird.
props on the audio editing. it's so rare to see different clips in different environments sounding like they were recorded in the exact same place in a studio
lol I am sort of on the opposite journey right now. I have been so broke for so long that I hang on to clothes that barely fit me that I never wear because they are not comfortable/I don’t like them, but I keep them because “what if I need them”. So now I am going through my closet and donating those clothes because I am trying to break that mindset. I have hand me downs from >10 years ago that technically fit and it’s cluttered my closet to the point that I am stressed. Clothes I do like but no longer fit/have too many holes, I set aside to use in sewing projects. I sadly form too many emotional connections to clothes to just donate/trash those
That's great as well. 🧡 If you can get them to people who will use them, you'll get your space back, your mind healthier and they'll get used before breaking down. Marie Kondo's and some other systems has helped me a lot a few years back, when I was in a similar place. Now that I only have stuff that I wear, I know what I need and I won't feel guilty buying exactly that. I make better choices and shop almost all second hand due to financial reasons. I wish you luck in that journey 🧡
the sentimental aspect is so real! something i’ve found that helps is giving clothes to friends (and/or family)- as you switch out stuff that you don’t use anymore, both parties end up getting something “new” 😌 you’ll know the item is going to good use and it’s overall a fun way to engage with your community
Same thing with the hand me downs. I still live with my parents and my mom is still frustrated when I buy new clothes because "I have too many already" (I buy very few pieces per year, mostly second hand). The thing is I've worn these clothes for so long and they're still in good condition but they're not my favorite. I don't want to throw them away because I could need them in the future (or wear as pjs!!) and this has lead to having a closet full of "I could wear this" and not being able to fit the few "I want to wear this". Similar to you, growing up with a very tight budget has made me not wanting to get rid of clothes that I don't wear or like because I might not be able to buy more down the line. Overall a very complicated mindset and relationship with clothes but also other stuff, money etc. that only being poor can foster and it's very hard to overcome
I found Marie Kondo helped me with this. Yes in my case it meant that I was only left with maybe four dresses (while I think there's room to define her "sparks joy" criteria quite broadly, my borderline-autistic brain tends to take words way too literally), but that actually turned out to be a surprisingly good thing and had some unexpected benefits: A) it turned out I became really reluctant to buy new clothes unless I absolutely needed them because I loved how uncluttered my wardrobe looked with so few clothes in it and I didn't to risk it creeping back to what it was. So it saved me a lot of money :) And also a lot of time digging for and deciding on what to wear. B) I was forced to do laundry more often, but that meant the laundry pile never became overwhelming - even if I wore every item in my wardrobe until I ran out of clothes, it would still not take much more than a single load to get it all washed again. Oh, and the "sparks joy" criteria means I did keep some sentimental items despite not wearing them in decades - my senior formal dress, a shirt from an event, etc. But now those items are easily visible and therefore easily admirable in my wardrobe because they are not squashed in and overtaken by a mass of clothes that bring the opposite of joy.
I think what gets me about this trend is that most videos I've seen are from self-confessed overconsumers, so like. yeah you probably can do a no-buy year, you just admitted to buying everything you'll ever need. twice.
The shoes thing is straight from Sam Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socio-economic Unfairness: "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet." - Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
I read this morning that Prince Andrew rented a 30 room mansion in London from the Queen for two hundred pounds a week for twenty years. Students in share houses in slum areas of London probably pay about that. But to live that cheap your Mum had to be the Queen
This is true. We live on a small income. To live within our means, our choices in vehicles consist of “beaters.” They require regular repairs and maintenance due to their age and that does add up. They also require more gasoline as they aren’t as efficient as newer hybrids and electric cars. A richer person can buy a Tesla that doesn’t use gasoline and can be charged for free, plus is under warranty so repairs are covered.... An older house is also going to be less energy efficient so will cost more to heat and cool, not to mention needing more repairs and maintenance as systems are more likely to fail and appliances more likely to be older. A new house is less likely to need expensive repairs and will be more energy efficient and contain newer appliances.
Speaking specifically regarding the "repair" part of minimalism, if something seems broken and you're going to throw it away, anyway, just try looking it up on UA-cam and see if you can fix it! Unless it's something extreme, if another human can do it, so can you, often with only a bit of practice. Anything from repairing drywall to diagnosing why your refrigerator's ice-maker isn't working can be looked up. Also, it's worth noting that a lot of devices and appliances come with self-maintenance and cleaning features that people just don't remember to take advantage of. I had bought a replacement microwave oven after our old one died after like 20 years or something. It might have been older than I was lol. Anyway, I splurged for my family and got a fancy oven. Recently, like 7 years later, the replacement suddenly stopped working and my dad was about to throw the whole thing out. I'm like, homie, this thing cost us like 700 dollars or something. at least let me TRY to fix it. Did a quick youtube search, found out about internal fuses for appliances. Took the cover off, made sure deadly capacitor was discharged safely, removed and tested the fuse. Sure enough, it was blown. Tested every other component I had access to based on the youtube video. Went to home depot, bought a couple of replacement fuses of the same type for like 6 dollars, et voila! works just fine!
my dads been a techie since computers used punchcards and whenever i got frustrated or stuck, esp with my computer, his line was always "look it up". lately its harder and harder to find actual solutions (just 20 people going "i have this problem" and then thread closed, thanks company forum :/ ) but looking on youtube or reddit or something gives a lot of instructions for using and fixing a lot of stuff! like I grabbed my moms old steam iron and didnt know how to use it so i looked up the model and found wordless instructions and also a youtube vid :D it was great
@@gwennorthcutt421 Yeah, that's a good point. Sometimes the information is out there, but it's hard to get to. Reddit is great for that. So are other sights like stackoverflow.
@@gwennorthcutt421 Yeah google search engine optimization has really turned google into one big advertisement. Especially if you looking how to fix a particular device, google mostly shows where to buy a new one.
I literally just bought an electric tomato mill (expensive, not really multi-purpose, but I do a whole lot of food preservation and I will use it) specifically because I can get most of the components from the company if I need to replace 'em. The old hand-crank one that I had, I could not find a screen for at any price, and it was rusty. Sadly, built-in obsolescence is a thing with newer appliances, but I have high hopes for this tomato mill as it looks to be nearly all metal. I prefer to save my money by buying quality when I can, and repairing as needed. My brother found a whole 3d printer in the dumpster; he fixed it with a $6 part, and has used it practically every week since.
Tiffany idk if you’ve had your baby yet but don’t feel any need to post during maternity leave! Family comes first and we’ll still be here! I watch your videos on the Influencer lifestyle and how to find your style all the time😂
2:01 that video killed me a little. "I drive an older, paid-off car." My car is older than the Kia Soul as a product. The Kia Soul was introduced in 2008, and I drive a 2007. On a side note, Souls are nice little cars when the engine doesn't blow up.
the whole vibe of this trend reminds me of ppl who quote tweet ppl who list foods they'd like in their fridge, replying "economy so bad we have ppl tweeting their groceries now" like damn we romanticise mundane things to like.. idk.. keep going?? keep going with not thinking abt how the way we r told to consume things is atrocious?? + other stuff that is atrocious n we want to be diverted from thinking abt?? im not sure tbh i feel like this romanticisation of small things has really blown up into large proportions, on a worldwide scale, during + after the covid lockdowns in 2020, where we romanticised mundane things thru aesthetics/core movements, with dark academia being all abt loving books n studying, the small things abt this life, n with cottagecore leaning into escaping to another place/time where we can imagine ourselves being able to have a house in nature, as well as the time to do daily things well, like cooking a proper meal etc (the former being, in my mind, closer to what young ppl live thru, the situation of being a student, but embellished with a return of "older" eras stuck onto it with an emphasis on writing, not in a digital way, while the latter, i guess for young ppl like me, under 25 id say, is a an escape looking to a potential future, a situation we r not in, one where we will probably wont be bc owning a home + having the time/money to care for it, as well as live in it, is unrealistic, more of a fantasy) idk its fascinating to me
Growing inequality is a huge part of it but many people are only just feeling it the past few years. COVID kind of fast forwarded our experience of it. The fancy fridge stocking videos kind of reminds me of when Victorians would rent a pineapple to show off their wealth when they hosted a dinner.
Idk, if there’s any “aesthetic” that’s popular I’m not mad that underconsumption is trending! This is a good thing! That people will finally stop buying useless things and throwing them away! I don’t see anything wrong with this trend tbh
I'm old enough to remember when "underconsumption core" was just called being poor. Also, was that a reference to the Sam Vimes "boots" theory of socio-economic unfairness at around the 13 minute mark?
As a creator focused on imperfect environmentalism and mindful consumption, I was excited to see this trend enter the chat! It felt like a very necessary counter culture movement to fast fashion and wild over consumption. I get now that it may be a silly thing to make a “core”✨ as some people don’t really have the option. But I do think it’s worthwhile to have this opposing view in the spotlight, even if just for its 15 minutes
as someone who grew up shopping second hand, behind on trends, mismatched furniture, overused home items, very old busted car etc., it would've been great for it to be romanticized and popular when i was going thru it bc i would've felt less shame as a kid and teen. i guess i would add that it would be great if people like me were the ones doing it but i fear it may be rich or middle class people who dont struggle in that way trying to make it look like they do and that they relate to us. but at least it inspires other to maybe follow suit and have less shame about it
loved hearing your thoughts on this! I'm mostly just glad this is trending because for so long, the main message on tiktok seemed to just be consumption. It's refreshing seeing content that's pushing against that--even when its not all authentic.
underconsumption core was a fine enough trend to start to combat overconsumption influencing, but then it started hitting silly territory to the point where it felt like another version of the oppression olympics with items people clearly either weren't really using but maybe forgot to throw away or are dangerous to use if they're electrical.
Hey Tiffany, I think it would be really cool for you to do a video around the consumerist culture surrounding pregnancy and raising kids. I am preparing for my little one and stunned by this.
Honestly I wish fixing/repairing or how to take care of especially your clothing was a bigger part of underconsumption "core". I've had cheap clothes last me for years because I know how to patch and hem. I know which fabrics are fine to throw in the dryer vs line drying to preserve the weave. A huge amount of global emissions are due to specifically the fashion industry, and a huge amount of water consumption too. I know not everyone has the time, but it's always a good idea for your wallet and the environment to make things last.
Reminds me of when I told my dad that I would try to wear clothes until they have holes etc. And he said I'd be living like a retiree (he's retired and frugal) x). Nice wake up call dad ❤
@@isabele4365”Normal” people save up for big purchases they want to make all the time…? Also designer shoes go on sale a LOT lmao? What even is this comment 😭
under-consumption core isn't a thing, it's literally just normal consumption - living within your means and using what you have. It's about not having 80 stanley cups or 200 different blushers. It's not about 'living in poverty' it's just about rebelling against the hoarder lifestyle influencers are pushing and glamourising. It's definitely not about having less, but rather just having enough.
@@deltasaves doubt it, kids and teenagers these days seem less aware of advertising and advertising has gotten more pervasive due to influencers. The first step is to start calling influencers what they really are - paid advertisers.
Another point when buying the more expensive item now to save money later. Sometimes the poor person needs the item right away and your thrift store/fb marketplace might not have it today. Restaurant shoes are a great example of this.
I like that you added the throwback clip at the end talking about moving! I think more and more people being “forever renters” can make it a lot trickier to curate and really use the things we buy, like with some older (homeowner) generations. When you’re constantly moving, even if a lot of the furniture or other things you own have plenty of life in them, it might just not work where you’re moving to or be much more trouble (and $) than it’s worth to pack and move. I’m preparing to move across the country and kinda bummed about “starting over” with a lot of stuff-I.e sleeping on an air mattress until money allows for a mattress/bedframe. Moving kinda sucks in that regard.
I like the 'underconsumption' vidoes bc it's just nice to see everyday people share the random, old stuff they still use. So much of social media feels so out of touch so I found this trend quite refreshing. Hope you and baby will be safe and healthy!
The beginning of this year I started my "No Buy" for makeup because I was someone who fell for the "have to have it" time of beauty influencers in like 2016. I have so many eyeshadows I doubt I could finish in one lifetime and that really opened my eyes to how much money I was wasting on literally nothing. It has been nice seeing the change in my mentality and I am also not so strict on myself and just have rules. Basically if I run out of something I use every day I will let myself repurchase it like concealer! I have seen the biggest dent in my blushes and lip-glosses which is super exciting! Honestly when I finish one product and move to the next it feels like I just bought ut anyways so it appeases that side of it too!
If you do end up doing a Minimalism video I think it's important to note that Minimalism is such a broad term that applies to so many fields from Classical Music to Graphical User Interface design. I think a lot of the backlash back then stems from people conflating all the various types of minimalism. So one person could be talking about how meaningful Lifestyle Minimalism might be to their life while someone else was talking about how they hate the white Walls and empty spaces of Interior Design Minimalism. You can be an interior Design Maximalist and a lifestyle Minimalist. Oof, I see why this whole thing fell apart.
I enjoyed this trend bc we are so inundated with consumerism constantly. It’s refreshing to remember that most people don’t have all new stuff and live a lot like I do!
Gen X former minimalist here. I remember the 2010s minimalism and was kind of into it, so I would love a video! When I bought my first home I went very sleek and clean lines (lots of hidden storage). I liked it, but it felt somewhat boring. Than I got myself two cats - now my place is catlady core with toys and scratching boards everywhere, and that’s just fine with me. Moral: your home should serve everyone who lives there, not some esthetic ideal.
@@catleigh1540 Minimalism is not an absolute value. It is a relative value. Minimal to a new mom is different than that of a college student living in a dorm, or an artist. For minimalism to be effective, it must be appropriate to the life of the individual choosing that life.
What i find interesting is that since ive become a parent, I consume much more in so many areas of life. Not only the necessities but also things that make life with kids simply more convenient. I also feel this pull to get my kids things because i grew up in poverty and didn't really get that except after a tax return lol. It's a tough balance though because i do want to teach and model to my kids that overconsumption is not okay. But i also feel like I'm just surviving with young children (and working full time) so it's just a season of life.
There's a reason why "mommy bloggers" make bank on UA-cam, and it's partially because (mothers, as usual heads of houses) are massive consumers given they're buying for multiple people AND it's very easy to convince moms they need things due to guilt, and kids they need something because kids have pretty tight in groups and out groups.
I grew up in poverty (my mum was a single parent who was too sick and disabled to work) and I was actually bothered by how much my mum felt pressure to buy me material things that I hadn't even asked for, especially since I had some idea of how tight money was and figured if she was going to spend it on me I'd rather she keep it aside so that it would be there if I came across something I really wanted. I think you should at least feel free to wait to buy your kids things until they express interest in having some object in particular. I think out of the piles of toys there were probably three that were my favourites, so even though my room might have then looked sparse to some people, I could have probably been equally happy with only 20% of the amount. I don't blame my mum and I have no doubt the extra purchasing was done out of the best of loving intentions, but I do want to relieve any pressure that parents might feel to buy buy buy for their kids. Buying more or less for your kids does not mean that you love them any more or less, even though a lifetime of advertising has had the goal of subliminally implanting the opposite message very strongly, and while we might all rationally know the truth, thanks to that lifetime of advertising we will always feel a strong impulse to buy something extra just in case for our kids.
Hi Tiffany! Seeing the diaper pail in the background of this video killed me. Thanks for another thoughtful video. Congratulations on growing your family. 🎉
I haven’t forgotten the Sustainable Trend, where people were buying Bamboo toothbrushes and buying Reusable TP, Reusable Period products, and many more, it started with the end of plastic bags in convenience stores being replaced with fabric bags, and the Rise trend of the Canvas Tote! and just buying everything that was recycled and recycle-able, and the concept of not buying anything plastic and single use, and then the pandemic happened and it ended bc we needed plastic more then ever, and single use masks and test kits were a must in these times!
I think one of my favorite things that I saw a long time ago was this girl saying that she didn't need to go wear a cute thrifted outfit every time she went out, and instead this day she would wear this out of trend Princess Polly top that was white with puffy sleeves that she thought was out of style. I thought it looked beautiful on her, but for me it just highlighted the fact that like, not only are there different silly micro trends that different people follow, but for the people that don't follow trends, as long as you look good in something, it really doesn't matter. Like, bring back personal style and choice versus worrying about cringe. And I mean look good as in, you are radiating your personality and confidence. You're the one that knows if you look good. But that was my first sort of genuine step into this, without it being a hyper-produced trend. I really appreciated the mindfulness that I got from watching that video. If anyone else knows the one
Cheaper, often, but the quality of the new goods is usually a lot lower than the old ones, even the same thing from the same company. If the older used version of something regularly costs more than the new ones there is (usually) a good reason why.
I’ve had a leather jacket for almost 20 years. Bought it when I was 16. Its lasted this long without any damage over time. But the fit of the jacket has gotten better over time, with the leather shaping to my body, and the folds and wrinkles adding character that can’t be replaced. Has little to do with saving money, it’s just become my go to. I feel like underconsumption movement might also come from the feeling of your things being yours and yours alone. Like the car you’ve owned since you were a teenager. Or the hat you always wear no matter the outfit. Maybe it’s a need/want for items to transition into keepsakes. Every time I purchase something new, I hope that I get a lifetime of use out of it so that when I look back at it one day when I’m old, I’ll get a nostalgic feeling of an item well used. Like the old vintage camera you found in your grandparents attic that probably cost them nothing but has immense value for the history it represents. And then the core version of that would be “old stuff that has seeming been well used”
Just to put this out there: warby parker is a good spon to have! I have used them for years and found them organically because I have an extra wide head and they were the company I could find with the biggest selection of extra wide frames. I have ordered glasses all online with them, and also ordered in person. Both avenues are very helpful if the glasses do not fit or feel right; had to send a pair of sunglasses back 2 times in a row because the frames were too big where they hit my cheeks. They simply took them back and got me new frames AND they were prescription sunglasses.
I use makeup so infrequently that its literally too expensive to learn because of how fast they expire, even if you use things much longer than recommended. It would probably take me 5 years to use up a single lipstick.
Thank you for always producing highly informational videos, most « commentary » channel today are people jumping on just criticizing tiktok trend without head or tails because everyone loves dunking on tiktok to get the click but deliver no substance. So thank you for your work ethic Tiff its very appreciated ❤❤❤❤.
Thank you for raising the topic of class divides. Keeping the old jeans that are too threadbare to be patched, and cutting up the sections that are okay to become patches and sewing those on. Never wearing makeup because hey, makeup's expensive. Using the library and placing a hold on that soon-to-come-out book, which already has a many-months wait. Making a "quilt" of your fabric scraps and a quilt cover your mother in law gave you. It's not warm but warmer than nothing. Getting very good at making ramen with veg using cheap frozen veg. Darning socks. Who can afford new socks?
13:11 as someone was very low income for a while - I used to buy shoes from thrift stores, but since those shoes were pre-owned, they would break faster. I don’t know if it’s an issue of my local thrift stores or a global thing…
I dunno, I just ignore trends and live more or less the same way my parents, who went through the great depression lived. Their mantra was use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. I don't much care whether it's trendy or not, it's just being frugal.
hi !! yes I'm a bit late to this convo LMAO but there's still much to say... enjoy!!
im happy to be here ! :)
congratulations on your pregnancy!! wishing you a safe delivery and happy and healthy baby!! 🩷
I kind of appreciate being a little late to the trend... seeing everyone upload their underconsumption core discussion videos a couple weeks ago overwhelmed me, but when i saw this today i was like "i'm ready to dive back into the discussion"
@@Cinnamorollin980 same here!
Check hannah witton, she talked about matternity leave while being a youtuber, also made a hole financial review afterwards, hope it helps! :)
I'm drinking water right now, I'm so water-core. Super hydrated aesthetic
Go Girl, hydration looks so good on you! ❤
Hydration maxed, very demure, cutesy even
Water core is soooooo last year, Tiffany ready made a video about it 🙄🤭
It isn't water-core unless you dump all the syrups into it
This is just r/HydroHomies on Reddit
tbh as a formerly poor person i hate all those "oh but poor people don't have a choice don't romanticize it" No!!!! Romanticize it!!!!! I would've loved to see my room made of mismatched hand me downs and my wardrobe a good five or ten years behind the current fashion as as aspirational!!
like even now, i don't have the money to replace all my clothes and i can't begin to explain the joy of feeling sooo cottagecore or whatever while fixing my teared up pants
Most of the time, I definitely dislike how "poor stuff" gets commodified- but my complaint has always been about things like, people spend 100$ on a pair of jeans that look used, instead of just wearing affordable jeans until they naturally become worn. It's wasteful in a lot of ways. So in this case, as long as they're just... buying regular stuff and then genuinely using them until they "look cool", then it's fine.
Exactly this. Romantizing my life made me desire to live. Life is soo hard😖
This. The people speaking for poor people are so fucking annoying.
like yes !!! romanticize whatever you want as long as people arent buying dumb and wasteful shit
“Do you really care about cutting down on waste, or do you just want to look like a person that does?” - THIS! This is an important point. ❤
I feel like this about seeking an aesthetic as well
This this this
I actually do. Since I’m consuming less I have never been happier. Overconsumption just ruins everything.
Almost all bullshit internet trends are just performative nonsense.
The key is buying quality items I love and use/wear/admire over and over and over again. A good knife is more useful, and easier to clean and store, than a food processor.
To me it’s crazy seeing this trend because I remember the beginning of January seeing people fighting over Stanley cups now this
Trends go so fast we might be better not caring
that's why trends exist, no? A culture of x, then counter-culture that's the opposite of x, then the counter culture is just culture, and eventually they both exist, but not as a statement anymore
@@PaputszaI think OP is getting at the speed and also the very extremes nowadays
Truth be told, I honestly think the whole Stanley Pink Cup is what started the “under consumption “ trend 😮
This is what started the trend. This is in response to the excessive overconsumption being glorified on tiktok
Regarding "how to actually use what you have" - learn maintenance and repair. Being able to repair an item, even if it's just good enough to keep using it, is a great skill to have. You don't need to re-roof your house yourself, but "make do and mend" is still valid. Same with maintenance. Treating your shoes with leather care products will make them last longer. Not washing your clothes on the hottest, longest setting will make them last longer. Treating your stuff with care will make them last longer.
To this point, people need to know cobblers still exist! If your shoes' soles are coming unstitched or unglued, take them to a cobbler; they'll fix them!
Didn’t know hotter water wore down clothes more. I thought it was more cleanly and the only downside would be losing some dye.
Yes, regarding clothes I'd say a great tip is to avoid using the dryer for anything that is at all delicate or prone to shrinking. I know that's not practical in some settings, but I agree we can usually use a colder wash setting. And the very basics of mending or altering clothing is a game changer. I'm no seamstress but we did learn some sewing skills at school that I still use to this day.
Learning a ladder stitch would save HUNDREDS of clothes each month, imo.
Yep, I got back into sewing again the last few years & I've already been able to increase the life-cycle of all my clothes & plushies just by repairing them
My teenage sister is very susceptible to tiktok trends and is constantly buying trendy things, but last week I ran out of my moisturizer and asked her if she wanted to come to ulta with me, and she said “no, I’m okay, I’m trying to be in my underconsumption core era.” I of course laughed to myself, but I actually think it’s great that this trend is (however temporarily) keeping her from mindless spending.
IS your sis also into the whole global warming thing? if she is call her a hypocrite every time she purchases something she doesn't need.
@@SamBaker-z9hthis is a weirdly aggressive response to a harmless story??
@@SamBaker-z9h"is she into the whole global warming thing" is a weird way to phrase "is she aware of the climate crisis that is already actively and visibly affecting the whole planet and will only get worse in the coming years".
The climate catastrophe isn't some tiktok trend.
Nothing we can do about it. Just let me keep my Plastic straws and keep the Gasoline cheap.@@TimeturnerJ
@@calicoathena not really harmless as all these trends practically affect everyone involved in them negatively
I see the underconsumption trend more as a way to show gen z and gen alpha that the overconsumption, that is pushed on them practically 24/7, is not the only way. Millennials and older generations remember the times when advertising was way less intrusive and not in your pocket all the time. Many of them probably don't have a comparison to that lifestyle. It's refreshing to see stuff that's not this polished, curated highlight reel and I think younger people need this as a counter weight to everything I've mentioned.
Younger people simply need to be off their phones more often.
Totally agree with you
This used to be called common sense. Now its revolutionary. Telling how far back in the scales in basic common sense people are
@SewingandCaringLook at the so called parents. An apple doesn't fall from the tree
its probably less people jumping from one trend to another and more some people are making videos to push back on the overconsumption and people are just lumping all of tiktok as "the trend".
girlie I love your videos sm but please don’t feel any pressure to post at all during your maternity leave. take as much time as possible for yourself and your baby and your family, we will still be here when you get back (and I will be rewatching all your older videos) ❤
Appreciate you!! 💛💛
Seriously, take all the time you need
This! Enjoy the baby!!! Also just a reminder I give all my mum friends: if the baby is alive and growing, you are doing fine. Literally the only goals with a newborn. Be open-minded but don’t let opinions get to you. You are very likely doing just fine.
100% this ❤ I know I will be glad to return watching whenever at a later date! No pressure 😇
@@tiffanyfergyou’re my best friend I really like you Tiffany ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I’d also say, as a member of the younger generation, I’m so overwhelmed by the amount of advertisements and products that are constantly being pushed infront of my face. Obviously this is capitalism, but I’m so fatigued by it. I don’t want to buy more stuff!!! Instead of buying stuff that makes me look like I fit in a certain aesthetic, I’m just using stuff I have and making it my own!
Yeah, I feel you. I got into sewing because none of the pants I find in stores ever last more than a few years and I struggle so much to find those pants that once I do I want to keep them for life, not two or three years.
That’s nothing to do with being in the “younger” generation that’s just modern advertising, everyone is feeling it. If you remove yourself from social media you get rid of half of it tho, which helps.
you got the right idea love, stay strong as you try to keep your head above water in this sea of soul-sucking advertisements
@@leafhoff4321I started sewing for the same reason, plus I was so annoyed to not be able to purchase a certain style again (flared pants). I wanted to be able to sew my faves over and over. That was way before trends cycled on a monthly base. I had to wait 20 years for flared pants to come back 😅
I feel sorry for the younger generation. Most of us who live this lifestyle are raised in it. I know a few and we all are at least 3rd generation to live like this. It would be hard for those who didnt grow up like this to gain the self control they would need for it. Especially controlling that impulse to buy that thing on sale right now instead of thinking it through.
From my own experiences, poor people are never very minimalist because we HAVE TO hold on to everything. My partner's grandmother recently passed away and we raided her house for everything we could still use. His grandmother grew up post war and hoarded everything she could which helped us immensely because we needed cookware and cutlery and some decorations because I refuse to live in a bunker instead of a home.
I grew up with a very "underconsumption" mother who would tell us to get rid of anything that we haven't used in the last 2 years. We could only keep sentimental stuff if it fit into one shoebox. Nowadays I don't do a big sorting out every 2 years anymore. I hold on to every bit of joy because I can't just buy more joy.
I agree with you. I've been in tight financial situations and later noticed my reluctance to throw away anything because I kept thinking I had to hold onto it, "just in case", even after I'd bought a replacement item. I now do my best to declutter items I'm not using and don't intend to use within a few years, though it's still a work in progress.
The 'get rid of what you don't use" sounds more like classic minimalism, tbh. Underconsuption, if not ~for aesthetic~ doesn't seem to focus on the decluttering too much?
Yes this! I donated very expensive clothes but then I got poor just a year after from a disability and I hate myself for donating my old clothes! I also lost weight so none of my clothes fit, I can’t buy new clothes and the old ones I donated would fit me now… 😢😢😢 I want to sew my clothes smaller but my body pain makes it hard…. 😢 living poor is hell
@@helenakri7282 I was thinking that poorer people tend to part with things more reluctantly, even if they don't use it right now. "Could be useful in the future" is enough reason to keep it when you can't afford to buy it new. Do I need the 5 million towels that I have? Probably not but getting rid of them feels like a waste because towels have a lifespan and I would rather not need to buy new towels someday.
@@christineh86Don't feel bad. You can't predict the future.
The shoe thing was written about really beautifully by author Terry Pratchett in one of his books, to the point that it gets quoted in discussions about British economics: "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. ... But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet"
Except the good boots in the mind of the rich is £500 and £5000
@@BeautifulEarthJa True, bit his books take place in a medieval/Renaissance fantasy world.
Terry Pratchett understood humanity so well
the poor tax… quality items that last, items bought in bulk in order to save money over a period of time-are unavailable for those who actually need the financial benefits they offer. the dollar store is the prime example of this. horrible quality items in small quantities, yet cheaper so a poor person is able to afford it when they need it, with what little money they have in the moment they do. it’s a constant cycle of money down the drain, spent on cheap goods that break or get used up quickly-because the goods that do not are inaccessible due to the short-term financial budgets poor people actually have. saving is impossible when you’re constantly trying to patch up another costly hole in your life, be it car payments or winter coats or or day-to-day necessities such as food in the fridge or rolls of toilet paper. it is so often MORE expensive to be poor, & the author you quoted put it perfectly.
Waaait isn't this from Mort? God that man's books are pure, absurdist gold. I distinctly remember this passage, also stood out to me. Ahh Terry, you are missed.
"Maybe the real ✨underconsumption core✨ was the friends we made along the way" 😂 Cackling
The night light that the last tenants left is amazing, legendary, and can never leave that space.
I know i moved into a cabin that the last person demolished w dog piss but they left a really cool motion activated nightlight in the bathroom and its so cool. They also left kitty litter everywhere, asin inside the cabinets, etc . As well as a fake dreadlock that scared the crap out of me when i furst found it because i thought it was a dead animal or something😂
@@autismenlightenment the previous tenants left a cot and xmas tree and sofa cushions in the attic, they are still there as i have no way of getting them out.
We have a fishie one down by the washer/drier in the basement because the light switch to control it is upstairs two rooms away 😂😂😂😂
@@frentbow we are working on the loft now. I paid a neighbor to put in new flooring and deal w the furnature that was abandoned up there. He is super tall and super strong. I asked how he did it and he said he didnt know, lol. I told my daughter we need a lever pully system installed, or at least a rope tied to a basket.
I wish the idea of "appropriate to me core" would become a trend. I had a foster child with severe multiple disabilities (and lots of equipment) which changed how much furniture I had, where I placed things, and the things that I needed for the child. When the child moved into her own home with supportive care, my home needs changed. I acquired a roommate, a very social extroverted roommate. We got along very well and, introvert me needed a quieter room. So, just a bed in the bedroom became a bed, desk, chair, and bookcase. As time passed and I aged, my hands became less reliable and I replaced my original garage sale, thrifted heavy pots and dishware with lighter weight still solid, durable less painful-if-dropped-on-foot-pots and dish/glassware that doesn't break as easily. What I cook and the volume of what I cook has changed so I have a more "minimal" collection of cooking things. I routinely pass along the things that no longer suit my life.
they could never make me hate underconsumption core. we desperately need to UNnormalize the insane level of consumption going on rn and I think romanticization is a powerful tool. I've been thrifting 90% of my clothes for years and am a superuser of my neighborhood Buy Nothing group so I have the creds to back up this opinion!!!
same, I think the trend is so refreshing, especially seeing it on TikTok which is just awash with rampant consumerism. Seeing people 5 worn out items of makeup like mine or a second hand wardrobe is like a reset for the brain.
Stop capitalism, stop the problem.
Agreed. If "core" is what needs to be added in order to motivate someone to make good choices, I am more than willing to cheer them on rather than roll my eyes.
@@Red_Lion2000I dont disagree. But stopping capitalism is hard and could take a long time. Romanticising anti-capitalist ideas could help bring about its downfall faster and let us enjoy some of the post-capitalist benefits now.
@@Red_Lion2000 what is your preferred alternative?
As someone who makes 30k a year and was miraculously able to buy a home (be it an older non aesthetic home) I love seeing people make content that doesn't promote living beyond their means. Under consumption core says to me not only do I not need to feel guilty or embarrassed for having old things but I am also not alone.
Just wanted to say congratulations on your home! I hope you enjoy many happy years there and can feel proud of it :)
You hit on why i do actually like this trend- yes, it has very valid critiques, but i think the overall messaging of focusing on *using* what you already have versus minimalism that has this pressure to get rid of stuff, is a much easier step for folks to take that do overconsume. In this age of all this pressure to buy more, to buy new, to buy this, this feels a lot less toxic and harmful than all the other trends that encourage some form of consumption that actually isnt necessary
I think you have a point with the "not like other girls". After years and years of "look what I bought, look at my haul, look at my closet!"-videos, now it's time for the ones who are "not like those girls" to step forward. of course they do so in exactly the same way as the over-consumers, but at least actual "underconsumption core" or minimalism can help people feel better about their mismatched cutlery and the second-hand shoes they have, instead of trying to act as if making shein even richer is the way to go...
Totally missed the point…
I agree. I think “representation matters” in all things and when all we’re seeing is huge 2k makeup hauls
, restock TikTok etc it skews people’s perception of what is normal and make us think everyone is living this kind of life which is not great. It’s nice to have a palette cleanser or see people’s realistic collections or wardrobe or whatever
It's the classic culture-counterculture cycle. Eventually, counterculture gets coopted and the cycle begins again. There's a specific term for it in lefty theory but I don't remember what that is.
i like those, 'just keeping it real' cleaning vids where ppl have messy houses and cluttered counter tops
Those who show off their 'underconsumption' life style are just as bad as the over consumption ones. Those of us who actually live it don't need to brag about it. We just do our own thing not caring what other people think. I don't take pictures of my 7 yrs old hiking boots that's falling apart I'm still wearing for hikes or my 20yr old hoodie I got for free from a relative.
Agree with the criticisms but what I liked when I saw “underconsumption” on my fyp was seeing women my age who didn’t have the newest beauty items, everything matching, etc… it’s refreshing not to see the same influencer esque trendy creators. The “underconsumption” girlies feel ✨just like me✨ (yes the sparkles, sorry to be cringe lol)
Haha the whole video for me is just like, isn't this just the normal way to live if you're not an influencer? Like most people I know aren't out shopping and doing hauls every week, they shop on FB marketplace before new or thrift stores, wear things until they can't anymore. I'm happy to see this online as well.
I feel like my consumption went down a lot after I turned 25. Like idk if it was the frontal lobe finishing up or something but now I’m like on trend without buying shit haha.
"finishing up" 😂
This actually very common. Haha
Same, it was definitely because i learned more about environmental issues but also bc i've had so many years to collect stuff, i rarely actually *need* new stuff anymore
the frontal lobe thing is a myth btw - either way, good for you!
25 next year myself, and I contemplate pruchases for hours, maybe days, and eventually I just say.... "I don't need this now"
Underconsumption doesn't hurt, ans if people need to romanticize it to buy less things, it is a good thing.
agreed. I see even the negative effects of a trend toward underconsumption to be positive. I don’t care the reason someone is changing their habits away from dangerous, environment-destroying industrial consumerism.
I agree. I think it's more of a positive thing.
The planet can't take overconsumption. It's not possible. We have to start underconsuming because the environment can't take much more consumer waste.
I need an analysis on the faux "lived in, curated, thrifted" influencers who live in custom built, million dollar homes with $10K kitchen appliances. But never having anything of any personal sentiment.
This! I love the lower consumption trend, but I’ve seen so much of what rings as false nostalgia lately. People are not better than millenial gray or whatever by putting up molding, painting things antique colors, and buying new gold fixtures.
@@mariahgeiger-williams9230 Yes! And they always use the same "add some character" line, lol. Mass applying the same type of character in different architectural homes is synthetic.
I'm confused. Those don't oppose each other? They're styling their homes - not making a statement.
@@kombuchas4684 was your reply to me? In that case I’m talking specifically about influencers! Just like the person above. And as influencers they are very much making a statement and furthering a trend that is consumerist by demonizing the previous trends (eg minimalism) and often sharing what things to BUY to “add character” (eg follow a new trend).
@@mariahgeiger-williams9230 To this I would say though - influencers are advertisers. Their job is often to promote products. I think there isn't an inherent problem with influencers advertising trends as much as it is the lack of education about the fact that influencers are as relatable as a model in a perfume ad. It's curated, it's a photoshoot, it's styled - and buying the perfume won't make you get out of the sea in slow-motion the same way that buying into a trend won't turn your life into the permanent version of a highly-styled 30 secs video
"5 pairs of shoes in a year" gave me whiplash. For the first half of your sentence I was like "Hm, yes, probably 1 pair of shoes in a year to replace the pair you wore out over the last year, maybe two if you're getting flip flops for summer or your snow boots got a hole in them from overuse," and then "five????" Great video, I just thought this was a funny moment where our definitions of lower class spending differed
ive only been able to build my wardrobe now as an adult, and i assumed it was like. Buying shoes for the First time to complete ur closet and then stopping. not five every year!! hell, i still have heels i got in high school bc 1. i dont wear em often 2. my feet havent grown. the only reason i want to get new heels is bc i want taller ones.
When my mum worked in a deli, she needed new work shoes every year, but my brother who works in a kitchen,he goes through about three pairs a year! Shoes that protect against hot oil & knives need to be in good shape to do their job, on top of being supportive for your someone on their feet for half a day.
@@MZB80 that absolutely makes sense. workshoes that get used a lot in a tough environment and need to be safe should get replaced. i was thinking of fashion shoes and like, hiking boots which last me a long time. thanks for the input!
5 seems very much, but on the other hand, I don't know how fast cheap shoes break nowadays. I think they should at least last a season?
I feel like it was a reference to the Vimes boot theory from Discworld. Idk if it was an intentional reference or not, considering that quote floats around quite a lot. So maybe not literally 5 pairs of shoes a year, but the point is still "it's expensive to be poor"
confession - I bought a cast iron skillet when I was around 20 and I HATED it lol - I had been Influenced into believing this would be better than any other pan, but for my lifestyle and the way I cook, it was a NIGHTMARE - I'm disabled and this thing weighed like 100 pounds lol, plus I'm a germophobe and hate stuff being 'dirty' so the idea that I couldn't clean it with soap was horrible haha - I tried to laminate/season it but totally failed, everything in the universe stuck to it forever, and I'd ruined that thing within a few months. I ended up giving it to my grandma, who can actually use and care for it - next time I'm getting something I'll actually use forever, not something I'm TOLD I will use forever!
If you're still interested in a forever cooking implement, stainless steel might be a good option. You can wash it with soap and it's definitely lighter than cast iron. I have a stainless steel frypan and I love it. But you do want to get a good one and those aren't cheap. What I found from my research is that you want one that layers the aluminium and steel, not just on the base but up the sides because it gives more even heat distribution. Also, you can do the water drop test to make sure it's hot enough before you put oil and food into the pan to minimise sticking. I think it's also totally valid to get a non stick pan and just try to avoid too high a heat and metal utensils.
I second this. I’m very sensitive to a lot of sensory things and very particular about food hygiene. I always feel disgusting after touching a cast iron pan even though I’ve grown up with them being used and have been taught how to properly care for one. Personally cooking with one makes me feel physically sick 😅. I tend to use a copper pan in part bc it’s the only non-ancient Teflon coated pan in my kitchen and those are scratched to hell and back (pretty sure they’re an active health hazard). I grew up living with my grandparents most of the time (divorced parents) so I’ve never been bothered by having “older” or “out of style” stuff. My bed frame, dresser, and tv stand were my grandma’s when she was a child and I had a box tv with vhs tapes until like 2013.
i totally agree with the stainless steel pan. We got 1 second hand over 10 years ago and its still perfect as the day we got it after using it almost everyday. The hardest part is figuring out how to make it nonstick. I just use enough oil to prevent sticking. Which isn't that much, to be honest. It is legitimately my favourate pan and I'll use it until I die. @@ktm9292
I fell for it to, my friend. The best pan for you is... the one that you will actually use and like to cook in. If you cook 10x more often in a lighter stainless steal, ceramic coated, or teflon coated pan and you take good care of them... it is going to be better than buying the "forever" pan that you never use.
Big mood. Honestly if I can't put something in the dishwasher it is a complete waste for me to own it. I know my own energy levels and a cast iron pan would require more spoons than I use to do the entire task of cooking and starting my dish washer every night
I've been a silent subscriber for such a long time I cant believe how fast the time flies🤧I wish health and happiness for both you and your baby and your husband🎉🎀
So sweet!! Thank you 💖
My favorite part is when someone says they have clothes from a certain year and they consider those clothes old but I bought new clothes in that year and I still consider all my clothes new and think I shouldn't buy anything new 😂😂😂
I am always confused that 2014 is ten years ago... it was like yesterday!?!
To me basically whatever I bought when I finished high school and started working is “adult clothing” so basically new…nevermind that I graduated from high school in 2009 😂
I genuinely don't understand what people have against this trend. And yes, I've watched the videos about it. None of the reasons given make it any worse than the alternative. I get that some creators are hypocrites and only pretend to buy less stuff because it looks good on camera, but for a lot of us this trend really helps us see that we don't need to just buy buy buy all the time, making us even poorer in this horrible economy. And the "but people feel bad" excuse come on.. Maybe people should feel a little bad about buying new clothes every week made by a child in Cambodia. Most people don't need even half the crap they buy. I thought this was a breath of fresh air compared to the constant bombarding of microtrends and creators telling us we "need" to buy whatever they got for free in the mail that week. I think the hate this trend gets largely stems from people not wanting to face how much waste they're accumulating. And why not romanticize it? If that's the thing that gets people to buy less crap, why is it bad? I don't get it. I also haven't seen one ACTUAL poor person saying this is making them feel bad. It's just creators with a normal or above average income.
I completely agree. It is better than the alternative. The fact that there was a bunch "overconsumption core" videos made in response to the underconsumption core trending on tik tok shows that people really need to get a grip. We don't need to buy anything and everything just because we think we want/need it. Yes treating ourselves to something new is fine on special occasions but buying so much fast fashion and doing clothing hauls with a bunch of crap that will fall apart in just a few washes is ridiculous. I am glad underconsumption is trending because overconsumption has become so ridiculous and is damaging both in the environmental sense and human sense.
I agree... I think it's still a step in a good direction. The less people can use a trend to influence overconsumption, the better. I found some of the views a bit jaded.
Tbh a Lot of the criticisms do remind me of my aunt who is rich af but keeps buying unsustainable crap because its a "bargain". And when i say i try Not to buy fast Fashion because of the Shit quality and itchy fabrics, she tries to shame me because "poor people cannot afford fancy stuff".
Yes, Siggi, you might be right but you have a fucking Holiday House in Spain. And I still hate Polyester, so whats the frigging Problem with me buying 2 expensive items that wont die after 3 washes and dont make m skin crawl?
I also think that the older 2010's minimalism seemed like a new form of consumption. Throw away the old, engraved end table and replace it with one that is sleek and modern. Underconsumption, doesn't care as much about aesthetics.
I agree! The minimalist culture had an aesthetic for sure, new clean and cold. Also the clothes were more polished, not like hand me down or thrifted items.
I think part of the problem was that there were two strains of minimalism - japanese mattress-on-the-floor type, and scandi minimal-colour-pallette type. So many people think that to be minimalist they not only need to declutter, but then also go out and buy a bunch of beige decor items to replace the colourful items they discarded. Whereas if minimalism is about conscious consumption (popularised by people like Josh Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus), then you wouldn't go buy beige decor items unless you actually needed that item, and you could infact paint every wall in your house a different rainbow colour and still count as a minimalist because it's about lowering the amount of stuff in your house not lowering the amount of colour in your house.
I personally chose to downsize because I was having some bad breakdowns with all the clutter around my room between my various hobbies. I think clutter can have a serious impact on your mental health because you start to feel mentally cluttered too, and I knew I had to consciously choose to underconsume for my wellbeing
I agree
First of all, congrats on your little bump
😂
HAHA incredible
@@tiffanyferg Are you planning on publishing a survey about the topic of public housing in the US?
The thing that sucks is that cost doesn’t equal quality or length of use. My $70 nikes got busted in a couple of months, my $11 Walmart shoes are going strong after that same amount of time. I see people buy more expensive and quality items but then they get tired of them or lose them in the same amount of time a cheaper item would have naturally worn out. Like you said, it takes a lot of time and research to really make good purchases.
Right? When we first got married, I bought my husband a really nice lighter. He lost it. I bought him another one. He lost that too. Same with sunglasses, hats, you name it. I have the same problem with jewelry for myself. I stopped buying certain high quality items because I knew I was going to have to replace them anyway.
I also find I get stuck in the mindset on not wanting to put wear and tear on my expensive stuff. My grandmother gifted me some really well-made flannel shirts for work ...that I never wear for work because I don't want them to get beat up and the $5 thrifted button ups are still intact enough to do the job.
I feel like the topic of “aesthetics” is crucial when comparing minimalism with the current underconsumption core trend. 2010 minimalism was very focused on curating a distinct aesthetic with as little items as possible. whereas today, the whole aesthetic/core shtick has been pushed to such an extreme, that people are just getting tired of it. so to me underconsumption core is of course about consuming less but it’s also about not giving a damn if things fit together aesthetically or not aka being independent from the illusion of having to live life within one set aesthetic. that’s where I think it differs most from minimalism.
Minimalism was always awful to me because it was definitely an aesthetic lifestyle that had so much of the trappings of materialism. As other people have mentioned, the ability to "throw away" all the things you "don't use" is a hallmark of people who haven't lived in poverty, as poor people never know when they *will* one day need a belonging of theirs even though they're not using it right now. The interior design element of it also turned me off, because it was simply people who had taste in Scandinavian/modern furniture styles and called it a movement. Yuck.
@@annaliseaudrey963 yes, exactly how I feel! it’s also such a static, unsustainable “lifestyle” that doesn’t take into account that people are always changing.
I love the restful feel of not having a bunch of clutter everywhere. But 2010 minimalism definitely relies on the ability to acquire things when you need them. That takes money. And with new items getting more expensive and lower quality, it’s less and less sustainable to get rid of old items.
@@annaliseaudrey963I agree with the needing a certain level of wealth to be a minimalist. And then this was made even worse when it transitioned from the japanese empty-room-with-mattress ideal of minimalism (not that most minimalists ever managed that degree of decluttering), to scandi go-out-and-buy-meaningless-beige-decor-items to fill gaps in your spaces (maybe people won't notice my consumption if I pick colours that are less bright/loud).
At least the former ideal didn't necessarily require spending money until you realised you'd gotten rid of something you needed and now had to go rebuy it. Scandi "minimalism" arising was probably a response to realising that room-with-mattress-on-floor only looks good rather than depressing if everything is really high end, otherwise you might feel the need to actively add some pretty objects to counter the lacklustre.
The bit you mentioned about the cast iron instead of nonstick, there’s also accessibility to take into mind; one of my best friends literally cannot lift a cast iron pan, which means that people with mobility issues or older folk have troubles using them. Best middle ground is stainless steel and waiting for it to actually get to temperature (I’m bad at that too) to use and essentially become nonstick.
This 100%. In my home of two both of us are differently abled, and any pan that can't go in the dishwasher is functionally useless to us.
This is so weird for me because in my country we never consume that much and always reuse everything like I thought that was a normal thing in all the world ._.
I think for most people it is normal, but influencers always seem to be pushing this aspirational narrative of over consumption that is divorced from the reality of the average person.
no but same here! the moment i heard of this trend i was like ohhh, this is something incredibly american lmao
i mean the idea itself i don’t think could ever become a trend where i live, because it’s simply the norm for most people, i feel like if someone tried to popularise it they would just get clowned on immediately
Not in the US, many people here are way above their means
I always think about that- not sure where you are from, but I lived most of my life in Eastern Europe, and still save containers, etc- to use for salad dressings, picklings etc; there is just a better sense of being sensible about things. Also having nicer clothes and wearing them outside, and then the concept of changing to "home clothes" in the house....the US could really learn from this.
Right? I wore my one pair of sneakers until they were destroyed and I’m not poor.
I found it so touching how you included that clip of you in college, apart from being extremely relevant it also showed the foundation of everything you've built for yourself these past years. We only see the tidbits you have shared, but your honesty and willingness to show yourself honestly, to learn and grow along with us has always resonated with me, and to think of everything that has changed between that clip and now -- graduating, paying off debt, finding success in your niche, getting married, being days away from welcoming your baby girl... I'm overcome with joy for you.
Tiff, my best wishes of good health and happiness to you, to baby, to your partner and to both of your families. 💖
3:06 congratulations! Wishing you all the best 🎊
Someone at work told me their wife is a minimalist and whenever they travel she leaves all the clothes she packed at the hotel they stayed at. Emphasizing that she only possesses only a certain amount of clothing at a time. Which only sounds like rampant over consumption to me lol if you’re going through and throwing away so much stuff so often.
My aunt does this. It’s absolutely insane!
I once found a video where someone was duct taping a laptop charger that had exposed wires and was one day away from catching on fire. She was promoting it as "underconsumption core" and framing that as a good thing. She demonized the idea of buying a replacement laptop charger because "it still works good despite how it looks." I agree with being critical of capitalism and overconsumption on social media, but I have seen people promote really dangerous stuff as "environmentally friendly."
point taken, but my laptop charger has had exposed wires for years (pet rats lol) without me ever even taping it and it really does work perfectly fine, not dangerous ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ maybe hers was a different design idk
This is literally what electrical tape was invented for. She should use electrical tape, not duct tape. It is a fire risk, what she's doing.
Not the Mao Mao bible pfp😭
Tbf it may have been electrical tape, which would be fine!
@@171emilyrox I'm glad nothing has happened to you. But just because nothing has happened, doesn't mean it's not dangerous 😅
as someone living in poverty, the internet's overconsumption, including glamorising overconsumption and influencing people to buy more shit off amazon they don't need, all grosses me out. i can't afford to buy new stuff before i wear my old stuff out, and with the shitification of products now, they wear out so quick. i've got shoes i bought six months ago that are bordering on unwearable. i have to buy shitty products from shein because i can't afford to buy 3 bralettes in my size for $60 each. it depresses me so much but there's no amount of budgeting and penny pinching i can do to spend less on the things i need without sacrificing things that keep me sane like yarn and fabric, which i use to make clothes to wear because i hate how shitty everything is now. things are just so expensive and for what.
Since you said you are sewing, I can recommend making the "little black bra" (free pattern by george and ginger) with old t shirts. They make awesome bralettes. I switched to them because I could not afford to buy a million bras for my fluctuating weight. Tip: the seam parts on the arms make great straps. Edit: Another tip is that I don't add closure elements, I sew everything shut and rely on the stretchiness of the fabric and rubber band.
@@happytofu5 that is so cool! i'll definitely check it out. thank you so much!
yeah, I sew and crochet now. Keeps me sane. Also I alter old clothes to fit.
I grew up poor and still struggle at times to throw out empty pasta jars or peanut jars or butter containers. I don't need them. They served their purpose. But they're still perfectly good.
Oh my god I have to fight so much with the "but I could pot some veggies into this" and "maybe I could use it to preserve some fruit" urge. I live in an apartment!… 🤦🏼♀️
@@oxigen85 I'm the same! My husband hates it and is always telling me I don't need them 😅
@@oxigen85I totally get it! I've been able to hold onto a few glass jars by using them for storing scrap pieces/fluff/cut threads from sewing and knitting projects, so I can use it as stuffing for.... something, I haven't got an idea yet but when I do, I'll have the stuffing for it stored way in however many jars!
i think it depends....i mean, i save some of the nice glass ones to make salad dressings (easy bc you can shake them with a lid on) ; also use plastic ones as animal drinking bowels...can also hold paints for children....i mean, they can be reused...you don't have to save them forever but it can be nice to reuse them
@@jenifersarver761 for sure but it's not the jars in & of themselves. I meant the poverty shame that can creep up in the weirdest ways, like the shame of discarding something that's perfectly reusable that you just don't need.
The llama light is absolutely a highlight of the video 😅
hahaha yess I love it
would be interested if you have any consumption thoughts re: baby arrival? like ads targeting clothes, gadgets, toys, etc. etc. and convincing parents they have to buy EVERYTHING to be a good parent?
i was thinking the same thing!!!
Babies don’t actually need that much, but taking advantage of parental anxiety about not knowing what to expect there’s so many options, and so many options prompting you to spend ‘just a little bit more’ & more to get extra features. Definitely a slippery slope of spending, and at the same time products are selling a romanticised life style, similar to weddings.
Hannah Alonzo does a little of this in her "sad beige moms" video as that trend definitely became hooked to overconsumption and she talks about that a bit.
Oooh definitely! It’s been so hard to research and try to figure out what’s truly “essential”
Although I have always been into sustainability and conscious consumption (or "underconsumption"), I *hated* the 2010s minimalism movement because I found it so pretentious. I could get behind the contingent of minimalists who were doing it in pursuit of more ethical consumption practices (i.e. avoiding companies that bought from sweatshops, environmental conscious purchasing, etc.), but a lot of the pure minimalists seemed to just be doing it because they thought it made them better than everyone. I got sick of the videos of people sitting on bare floors telling people what they should or should not buy (as if it was a universal truth of some sort) and that if they lived exactly like them, they would be smarter, more enlightened, thinner, blah, blah and blah. Not to mention the cultural erasure that came with avoiding all colors, art, and decor.
it was simply a stylistic choice that was laced with that very specific millennial narcissistic self-righteousness. Incredibly vapid, half baked "movement" that was really just a fashion and lifestyle choice. It was also incredibly materialistic, through and through.
Yeah, what happened to people using the term "concious consumption"?
Agreed. I don’t buy an excessive amount of stuff and I try to purge unused items every week. I will not, however, sacrifice my framed photos, books, and pretty artwork. All this beige and gray depresses me.
While the sitting in an empty room ones were annoying, the ones that actually annoyed me were the ones who went out and bought a whole lot of meaningless beige decor items and then claimed their lives were now minimal. Minimalism was supposed to be about reevaluating how many things you have (what colour those things were was the least of the problem), not just changing the entire colour palette of your home by rebuying decor objects in neutral tones instead. At least the former idea didn't involve spending money until you realised you'd decluttered something you needed, whereas the latter required decluttering (and even getting rid of items you did use and like because they weren't neutral toned enough) and then a shopping trip to buy objects that enforced a beige colour scheme. And I hadnt even thought about the cultural erasure, good point.
"minimalism" was boring and pretentious. Everything had to look a certain way and all the muted colors.
As an environmental-science focused person, I love this. Buying sustainably is important, but it's also a balance, and it's about recognizing that everyone has different needs. I appreciated this video as a first time viewer.
As a millenial (i have no idea what kind, elder or younger, i was born in '93) i dont get why everything now needs to have a name ascribed to it, like '[insert noun here]-core'. I also don't have TikTok, so maybe im missing something; do people use the whole core thing as an identifier? Like its part of who you are? Commenters, please share your thoughts
Great video Tiffany x
Lol you're a younger if you're from the 90s. - a 1991er lol
88 and I feel the same way. It's exhausting.
I'm an older millennial (apparently, although these terms have no purpose except to divide us), and I don't understand the '-core' thing either. Can it not just be the thing without core being added? Maybe it is supposed is signifying that it's more than just a tree, it's a lifestyle and is at the very core of your being (for a couple of months until the next -core arrives!).
I think we did something similar since, forever. I was also born in the early 90s. When I was in high school we had names for styles. I was goth, but you also had hippies and preppies and punks, etc. if those styles would be botn now we would call them "goth core" and "hippie core".
Another reason I think everything has a name now is a very practical one: the internet. If you're a kid growing up on the internet and you like a certain clothing style. You need a term you can type into a search bar to look up that style and find more people who also dress like that. So, everything needs a name!
I honestly think the obsession with naming everything has to do with the internet and looking stuff up. It’s easier to look something up if it has a term.
Honestly as a German all of this “underconsumption” is just a very normal thing and having 200 versions of the same thing just seems very “late stage capitalism” US-American lol like I know no one that buys a new water bottle just bc it’s trendy when they don’t need one
When I heard about the whole Stanley Cup ordeal, the sports passion came out of me thinking it was some replica trophy of the NHL’s Stanley Cup made in a drinking cup form.
4:15 yuck! I absolutely hate this version of underconsumption, uh uh, my mother-in-law is like this and it bothers the hell out of me, and she's constantly trying to pawn things like this off onto us, and I'm like it's not usable, it's just gonna be junk collecting in my place, like she's been using a dyson with broken filter and she didn't realise the suction was gone. I have no problem with the type of underconsumption where things still work even if they aren't your style, working is good, broken and taped up or falling apart is not good. Now, if you're using old broken stuff that's taped up because you literally can't afford to replace it, that's a completely different situation, but if you can replace it and you do this, it's weird.
props on the audio editing. it's so rare to see different clips in different environments sounding like they were recorded in the exact same place in a studio
"It seems like every social media platform is advertising....here's some sunglasses" - we all gotta eat!! it's hungry times!
lol I am sort of on the opposite journey right now. I have been so broke for so long that I hang on to clothes that barely fit me that I never wear because they are not comfortable/I don’t like them, but I keep them because “what if I need them”. So now I am going through my closet and donating those clothes because I am trying to break that mindset. I have hand me downs from >10 years ago that technically fit and it’s cluttered my closet to the point that I am stressed.
Clothes I do like but no longer fit/have too many holes, I set aside to use in sewing projects. I sadly form too many emotional connections to clothes to just donate/trash those
That's great as well. 🧡 If you can get them to people who will use them, you'll get your space back, your mind healthier and they'll get used before breaking down. Marie Kondo's and some other systems has helped me a lot a few years back, when I was in a similar place. Now that I only have stuff that I wear, I know what I need and I won't feel guilty buying exactly that. I make better choices and shop almost all second hand due to financial reasons. I wish you luck in that journey 🧡
the sentimental aspect is so real! something i’ve found that helps is giving clothes to friends (and/or family)- as you switch out stuff that you don’t use anymore, both parties end up getting something “new” 😌 you’ll know the item is going to good use and it’s overall a fun way to engage with your community
Same thing with the hand me downs. I still live with my parents and my mom is still frustrated when I buy new clothes because "I have too many already" (I buy very few pieces per year, mostly second hand). The thing is I've worn these clothes for so long and they're still in good condition but they're not my favorite. I don't want to throw them away because I could need them in the future (or wear as pjs!!) and this has lead to having a closet full of "I could wear this" and not being able to fit the few "I want to wear this". Similar to you, growing up with a very tight budget has made me not wanting to get rid of clothes that I don't wear or like because I might not be able to buy more down the line. Overall a very complicated mindset and relationship with clothes but also other stuff, money etc. that only being poor can foster and it's very hard to overcome
I found Marie Kondo helped me with this. Yes in my case it meant that I was only left with maybe four dresses (while I think there's room to define her "sparks joy" criteria quite broadly, my borderline-autistic brain tends to take words way too literally), but that actually turned out to be a surprisingly good thing and had some unexpected benefits:
A) it turned out I became really reluctant to buy new clothes unless I absolutely needed them because I loved how uncluttered my wardrobe looked with so few clothes in it and I didn't to risk it creeping back to what it was. So it saved me a lot of money :) And also a lot of time digging for and deciding on what to wear.
B) I was forced to do laundry more often, but that meant the laundry pile never became overwhelming - even if I wore every item in my wardrobe until I ran out of clothes, it would still not take much more than a single load to get it all washed again.
Oh, and the "sparks joy" criteria means I did keep some sentimental items despite not wearing them in decades - my senior formal dress, a shirt from an event, etc. But now those items are easily visible and therefore easily admirable in my wardrobe because they are not squashed in and overtaken by a mass of clothes that bring the opposite of joy.
I understand. I'm making quilts with fabrics/pieces I like.
I think what gets me about this trend is that most videos I've seen are from self-confessed overconsumers, so like. yeah you probably can do a no-buy year, you just admitted to buying everything you'll ever need. twice.
I haven't bought myself clothes since before C o vid. But my daughter is no longer 9 but 13 years old. She needs some clothes.
The shoes thing is straight from Sam Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socio-economic Unfairness: "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."
- Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
I read this morning that Prince Andrew rented a 30 room mansion in London from the Queen for two hundred pounds a week for twenty years. Students in share houses in slum areas of London probably pay about that. But to live that cheap your Mum had to be the Queen
@@Kaha-ow1xtIt sure is expensive to be poor.
This is true. We live on a small income. To live within our means, our choices in vehicles consist of “beaters.” They require regular repairs and maintenance due to their age and that does add up. They also require more gasoline as they aren’t as efficient as newer hybrids and electric cars.
A richer person can buy a Tesla that doesn’t use gasoline and can be charged for free, plus is under warranty so repairs are covered....
An older house is also going to be less energy efficient so will cost more to heat and cool, not to mention needing more repairs and maintenance as systems are more likely to fail and appliances more likely to be older. A new house is less likely to need expensive repairs and will be more energy efficient and contain newer appliances.
Speaking specifically regarding the "repair" part of minimalism, if something seems broken and you're going to throw it away, anyway, just try looking it up on UA-cam and see if you can fix it!
Unless it's something extreme, if another human can do it, so can you, often with only a bit of practice. Anything from repairing drywall to diagnosing why your refrigerator's ice-maker isn't working can be looked up. Also, it's worth noting that a lot of devices and appliances come with self-maintenance and cleaning features that people just don't remember to take advantage of.
I had bought a replacement microwave oven after our old one died after like 20 years or something. It might have been older than I was lol. Anyway, I splurged for my family and got a fancy oven. Recently, like 7 years later, the replacement suddenly stopped working and my dad was about to throw the whole thing out. I'm like, homie, this thing cost us like 700 dollars or something. at least let me TRY to fix it. Did a quick youtube search, found out about internal fuses for appliances. Took the cover off, made sure deadly capacitor was discharged safely, removed and tested the fuse. Sure enough, it was blown. Tested every other component I had access to based on the youtube video. Went to home depot, bought a couple of replacement fuses of the same type for like 6 dollars, et voila! works just fine!
my dads been a techie since computers used punchcards and whenever i got frustrated or stuck, esp with my computer, his line was always "look it up". lately its harder and harder to find actual solutions (just 20 people going "i have this problem" and then thread closed, thanks company forum :/ ) but looking on youtube or reddit or something gives a lot of instructions for using and fixing a lot of stuff! like I grabbed my moms old steam iron and didnt know how to use it so i looked up the model and found wordless instructions and also a youtube vid :D it was great
@@gwennorthcutt421 Yeah, that's a good point. Sometimes the information is out there, but it's hard to get to. Reddit is great for that. So are other sights like stackoverflow.
Most people just never repair something because they're lazy.
Takes less effort to buy it new online and have it delivered the next day.
@@gwennorthcutt421 Yeah google search engine optimization has really turned google into one big advertisement.
Especially if you looking how to fix a particular device, google mostly shows where to buy a new one.
I literally just bought an electric tomato mill (expensive, not really multi-purpose, but I do a whole lot of food preservation and I will use it) specifically because I can get most of the components from the company if I need to replace 'em. The old hand-crank one that I had, I could not find a screen for at any price, and it was rusty. Sadly, built-in obsolescence is a thing with newer appliances, but I have high hopes for this tomato mill as it looks to be nearly all metal. I prefer to save my money by buying quality when I can, and repairing as needed.
My brother found a whole 3d printer in the dumpster; he fixed it with a $6 part, and has used it practically every week since.
Tiffany idk if you’ve had your baby yet but don’t feel any need to post during maternity leave! Family comes first and we’ll still be here! I watch your videos on the Influencer lifestyle and how to find your style all the time😂
2:01 that video killed me a little. "I drive an older, paid-off car." My car is older than the Kia Soul as a product. The Kia Soul was introduced in 2008, and I drive a 2007. On a side note, Souls are nice little cars when the engine doesn't blow up.
Just went back and watched again, IT'S A 2018! THAT'S NOT AN "OLDER" CAR. Fuck these people.
whatsinmy AI fixes this. "Underconsumption core" is nonsense.
19:47 my parents had a fridge they got in the 80’s and they never got a new one because it worked until maybe a few years ago
the whole vibe of this trend reminds me of ppl who quote tweet ppl who list foods they'd like in their fridge, replying "economy so bad we have ppl tweeting their groceries now"
like damn we romanticise mundane things to like.. idk.. keep going?? keep going with not thinking abt how the way we r told to consume things is atrocious?? + other stuff that is atrocious n we want to be diverted from thinking abt?? im not sure tbh
i feel like this romanticisation of small things has really blown up into large proportions, on a worldwide scale, during + after the covid lockdowns in 2020, where we romanticised mundane things thru aesthetics/core movements, with dark academia being all abt loving books n studying, the small things abt this life, n with cottagecore leaning into escaping to another place/time where we can imagine ourselves being able to have a house in nature, as well as the time to do daily things well, like cooking a proper meal etc
(the former being, in my mind, closer to what young ppl live thru, the situation of being a student, but embellished with a return of "older" eras stuck onto it with an emphasis on writing, not in a digital way, while the latter, i guess for young ppl like me, under 25 id say, is a an escape looking to a potential future, a situation we r not in, one where we will probably wont be bc owning a home + having the time/money to care for it, as well as live in it, is unrealistic, more of a fantasy)
idk its fascinating to me
Growing inequality is a huge part of it but many people are only just feeling it the past few years. COVID kind of fast forwarded our experience of it. The fancy fridge stocking videos kind of reminds me of when Victorians would rent a pineapple to show off their wealth when they hosted a dinner.
Idk, if there’s any “aesthetic” that’s popular I’m not mad that underconsumption is trending!
This is a good thing! That people will finally stop buying useless things and throwing them away! I don’t see anything wrong with this trend tbh
I'm old enough to remember when "underconsumption core" was just called being poor.
Also, was that a reference to the Sam Vimes "boots" theory of socio-economic unfairness at around the 13 minute mark?
I was just thinking this 😅 I'm not an underconsumer, I just have no money 🤷🏻
As a creator focused on imperfect environmentalism and mindful consumption, I was excited to see this trend enter the chat! It felt like a very necessary counter culture movement to fast fashion and wild over consumption. I get now that it may be a silly thing to make a “core”✨ as some people don’t really have the option. But I do think it’s worthwhile to have this opposing view in the spotlight, even if just for its 15 minutes
as someone who grew up shopping second hand, behind on trends, mismatched furniture, overused home items, very old busted car etc., it would've been great for it to be romanticized and popular when i was going thru it bc i would've felt less shame as a kid and teen. i guess i would add that it would be great if people like me were the ones doing it but i fear it may be rich or middle class people who dont struggle in that way trying to make it look like they do and that they relate to us. but at least it inspires other to maybe follow suit and have less shame about it
loved hearing your thoughts on this! I'm mostly just glad this is trending because for so long, the main message on tiktok seemed to just be consumption. It's refreshing seeing content that's pushing against that--even when its not all authentic.
underconsumption core was a fine enough trend to start to combat overconsumption influencing, but then it started hitting silly territory to the point where it felt like another version of the oppression olympics with items people clearly either weren't really using but maybe forgot to throw away or are dangerous to use if they're electrical.
i think underconsumption core is the natural follow up to how trendy thrifting is with gen z and the shift away from fast fashion
Hey Tiffany, I think it would be really cool for you to do a video around the consumerist culture surrounding pregnancy and raising kids. I am preparing for my little one and stunned by this.
12:37 is the Samuel Vimes Theory of Poverty.
I just noticed yesterday you hadn't uploaded in a month. Welcome back lol Time for you to accompany me to doing my laundry!
Honestly I wish fixing/repairing or how to take care of especially your clothing was a bigger part of underconsumption "core". I've had cheap clothes last me for years because I know how to patch and hem. I know which fabrics are fine to throw in the dryer vs line drying to preserve the weave. A huge amount of global emissions are due to specifically the fashion industry, and a huge amount of water consumption too. I know not everyone has the time, but it's always a good idea for your wallet and the environment to make things last.
Our grand parents also oversonsumed and horded (if thats a word) due to war. "Who knows if we will need this". This is common in Balkans.
Yeah, my European grandparents, who were born right at the end of WW1, has this mindset as well.
It's a word, but it's spelt, "hoarded"
Reminds me of when I told my dad that I would try to wear clothes until they have holes etc. And he said I'd be living like a retiree (he's retired and frugal) x). Nice wake up call dad ❤
Wishing you a safe and easy delivery, and a restful maternity leave with your little one!
not the girl showing off her louboutins and claiming its underconsumption 💀
Fr though, the entire point of a normal person getting them is that they're timeless and last quite a while
@@loremtoastumthe fact you think a "normal person" could ever afford 1k+ shoes is crazy
@@isabele4365the average person can definitely save up (if they have enough of an income for it)
@@isabele4365”Normal” people save up for big purchases they want to make all the time…? Also designer shoes go on sale a LOT lmao? What even is this comment 😭
@@isabele4365Maybe not multiple but it isn't hard to find them for cheaper than that
5:57 OMG! Don’t we all already operate like this LMAO like how is using whatever random grocery tote bag is a trend? It’s literally what people do.
under-consumption core isn't a thing, it's literally just normal consumption - living within your means and using what you have. It's about not having 80 stanley cups or 200 different blushers. It's not about 'living in poverty' it's just about rebelling against the hoarder lifestyle influencers are pushing and glamourising. It's definitely not about having less, but rather just having enough.
Maybe this is how we get the youth to budget?
@@deltasaves doubt it, kids and teenagers these days seem less aware of advertising and advertising has gotten more pervasive due to influencers. The first step is to start calling influencers what they really are - paid advertisers.
wishing you well tiffany!!! i hope you and baby are able to have a restful time away from work, we will be sure to support you 💗💗
Another point when buying the more expensive item now to save money later. Sometimes the poor person needs the item right away and your thrift store/fb marketplace might not have it today. Restaurant shoes are a great example of this.
I like that you added the throwback clip at the end talking about moving! I think more and more people being “forever renters” can make it a lot trickier to curate and really use the things we buy, like with some older (homeowner) generations. When you’re constantly moving, even if a lot of the furniture or other things you own have plenty of life in them, it might just not work where you’re moving to or be much more trouble (and $) than it’s worth to pack and move. I’m preparing to move across the country and kinda bummed about “starting over” with a lot of stuff-I.e sleeping on an air mattress until money allows for a mattress/bedframe. Moving kinda sucks in that regard.
I like the 'underconsumption' vidoes bc it's just nice to see everyday people share the random, old stuff they still use. So much of social media feels so out of touch so I found this trend quite refreshing.
Hope you and baby will be safe and healthy!
The beginning of this year I started my "No Buy" for makeup because I was someone who fell for the "have to have it" time of beauty influencers in like 2016. I have so many eyeshadows I doubt I could finish in one lifetime and that really opened my eyes to how much money I was wasting on literally nothing.
It has been nice seeing the change in my mentality and I am also not so strict on myself and just have rules. Basically if I run out of something I use every day I will let myself repurchase it like concealer! I have seen the biggest dent in my blushes and lip-glosses which is super exciting!
Honestly when I finish one product and move to the next it feels like I just bought ut anyways so it appeases that side of it too!
If you do end up doing a Minimalism video I think it's important to note that Minimalism is such a broad term that applies to so many fields from Classical Music to Graphical User Interface design. I think a lot of the backlash back then stems from people conflating all the various types of minimalism. So one person could be talking about how meaningful Lifestyle Minimalism might be to their life while someone else was talking about how they hate the white Walls and empty spaces of Interior Design Minimalism.
You can be an interior Design Maximalist and a lifestyle Minimalist. Oof, I see why this whole thing fell apart.
I enjoyed this trend bc we are so inundated with consumerism constantly. It’s refreshing to remember that most people don’t have all new stuff and live a lot like I do!
Gen X former minimalist here. I remember the 2010s minimalism and was kind of into it, so I would love a video! When I bought my first home I went very sleek and clean lines (lots of hidden storage). I liked it, but it felt somewhat boring. Than I got myself two cats - now my place is catlady core with toys and scratching boards everywhere, and that’s just fine with me. Moral: your home should serve everyone who lives there, not some esthetic ideal.
What a weird story that has nothing to do with minimalism
@@catleigh1540 Minimalism is not an absolute value. It is a relative value. Minimal to a new mom is different than that of a college student living in a dorm, or an artist. For minimalism to be effective, it must be appropriate to the life of the individual choosing that life.
@@Lyryn2214 yeah I don’t live on the internet thanks. I’m aware that’s the point 💀
@Lyryn2214 Yeah that's what it really is. I think people are conflating minimalist design with minimalism the lifestyle.
I gasped out loud when you said 9 months already. Congratulations to you both so happy for you!
What i find interesting is that since ive become a parent, I consume much more in so many areas of life. Not only the necessities but also things that make life with kids simply more convenient. I also feel this pull to get my kids things because i grew up in poverty and didn't really get that except after a tax return lol. It's a tough balance though because i do want to teach and model to my kids that overconsumption is not okay. But i also feel like I'm just surviving with young children (and working full time) so it's just a season of life.
There's a reason why "mommy bloggers" make bank on UA-cam, and it's partially because (mothers, as usual heads of houses) are massive consumers given they're buying for multiple people AND it's very easy to convince moms they need things due to guilt, and kids they need something because kids have pretty tight in groups and out groups.
I grew up in poverty (my mum was a single parent who was too sick and disabled to work) and I was actually bothered by how much my mum felt pressure to buy me material things that I hadn't even asked for, especially since I had some idea of how tight money was and figured if she was going to spend it on me I'd rather she keep it aside so that it would be there if I came across something I really wanted. I think you should at least feel free to wait to buy your kids things until they express interest in having some object in particular. I think out of the piles of toys there were probably three that were my favourites, so even though my room might have then looked sparse to some people, I could have probably been equally happy with only 20% of the amount.
I don't blame my mum and I have no doubt the extra purchasing was done out of the best of loving intentions, but I do want to relieve any pressure that parents might feel to buy buy buy for their kids. Buying more or less for your kids does not mean that you love them any more or less, even though a lifetime of advertising has had the goal of subliminally implanting the opposite message very strongly, and while we might all rationally know the truth, thanks to that lifetime of advertising we will always feel a strong impulse to buy something extra just in case for our kids.
i respect it but the warby parker ad in the underconsumption video - hilarious
Hi Tiffany! Seeing the diaper pail in the background of this video killed me. Thanks for another thoughtful video. Congratulations on growing your family. 🎉
Since this trend started, I have been waiting for you to drop a vid on it 🥳
I haven’t forgotten the Sustainable Trend,
where people were buying Bamboo toothbrushes and buying Reusable TP, Reusable Period products, and many more,
it started with the end of plastic bags in convenience stores being replaced with fabric bags,
and the Rise trend of the Canvas Tote!
and just buying everything that was recycled and recycle-able, and the concept of not buying anything plastic and single use,
and then the pandemic happened and it ended bc we needed plastic more then ever,
and single use masks and test kits were a must in these times!
I think about this all the time! It’s my Roman Empire
I think one of my favorite things that I saw a long time ago was this girl saying that she didn't need to go wear a cute thrifted outfit every time she went out, and instead this day she would wear this out of trend Princess Polly top that was white with puffy sleeves that she thought was out of style. I thought it looked beautiful on her, but for me it just highlighted the fact that like, not only are there different silly micro trends that different people follow, but for the people that don't follow trends, as long as you look good in something, it really doesn't matter. Like, bring back personal style and choice versus worrying about cringe. And I mean look good as in, you are radiating your personality and confidence. You're the one that knows if you look good. But that was my first sort of genuine step into this, without it being a hyper-produced trend. I really appreciated the mindfulness that I got from watching that video. If anyone else knows the one
i wouldn't worry about the algorithm not promoting your videos. you have a loyal audience and we tune in for every video! i have notifs turned ON
13:20 also have you seen how second hand prices have gone up? It's almost cheaper to buy new in some instances (may be a good idea for a video?)
Cheaper, often, but the quality of the new goods is usually a lot lower than the old ones, even the same thing from the same company. If the older used version of something regularly costs more than the new ones there is (usually) a good reason why.
I’ve had a leather jacket for almost 20 years. Bought it when I was 16. Its lasted this long without any damage over time. But the fit of the jacket has gotten better over time, with the leather shaping to my body, and the folds and wrinkles adding character that can’t be replaced. Has little to do with saving money, it’s just become my go to. I feel like underconsumption movement might also come from the feeling of your things being yours and yours alone. Like the car you’ve owned since you were a teenager. Or the hat you always wear no matter the outfit. Maybe it’s a need/want for items to transition into keepsakes.
Every time I purchase something new, I hope that I get a lifetime of use out of it so that when I look back at it one day when I’m old, I’ll get a nostalgic feeling of an item well used. Like the old vintage camera you found in your grandparents attic that probably cost them nothing but has immense value for the history it represents.
And then the core version of that would be “old stuff that has seeming been well used”
Just to put this out there: warby parker is a good spon to have!
I have used them for years and found them organically because I have an extra wide head and they were the company I could find with the biggest selection of extra wide frames. I have ordered glasses all online with them, and also ordered in person. Both avenues are very helpful if the glasses do not fit or feel right; had to send a pair of sunglasses back 2 times in a row because the frames were too big where they hit my cheeks. They simply took them back and got me new frames AND they were prescription sunglasses.
I use makeup so infrequently that its literally too expensive to learn because of how fast they expire, even if you use things much longer than recommended. It would probably take me 5 years to use up a single lipstick.
Thank you for always producing highly informational videos, most « commentary » channel today are people jumping on just criticizing tiktok trend without head or tails because everyone loves dunking on tiktok to get the click but deliver no substance. So thank you for your work ethic Tiff its very appreciated ❤❤❤❤.
Thank you for raising the topic of class divides.
Keeping the old jeans that are too threadbare to be patched, and cutting up the sections that are okay to become patches and sewing those on.
Never wearing makeup because hey, makeup's expensive.
Using the library and placing a hold on that soon-to-come-out book, which already has a many-months wait.
Making a "quilt" of your fabric scraps and a quilt cover your mother in law gave you. It's not warm but warmer than nothing.
Getting very good at making ramen with veg using cheap frozen veg.
Darning socks. Who can afford new socks?
13:11 as someone was very low income for a while - I used to buy shoes from thrift stores, but since those shoes were pre-owned, they would break faster. I don’t know if it’s an issue of my local thrift stores or a global thing…
I dunno, I just ignore trends and live more or less the same way my parents, who went through the great depression lived. Their mantra was use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. I don't much care whether it's trendy or not, it's just being frugal.