Doom Spending: Why You Do It and How to Stop (2026)

Thu Aug 06 2026

Key Takeaways

• 27% of Americans doom spend to cope with stress, and 40% say they do it more now than a year ago (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024).
• 63% of Americans say the state of the world gives them financial anxiety, and 59% say it changes how they spend (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024).
• 37% of Gen Z and 39% of millennials say they doom spend to cope, the highest rates in the data (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024).
• The average consumer spent $254 a month, $3,045 a year, on impulse purchases in 2025 (Capital One Shopping, 2026).
• 58% of consumers are more prone to impulse buying when stressed (WebTribunal, 2026).

Twenty-seven percent of Americans say they doom spend to cope with stress, and 40% say they do it more now than a year ago (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). Doom spending is the habit of buying things to feel in control when the news feels overwhelming. It shows up as a new gadget after a bad headline, a takeout order after a grim forecast, or a cart full of comfort items you did not plan to buy.

The good news is that the pattern is learnable. This guide explains what doom spending is, why your brain reaches for it, and how to stop with a five-step plan grounded in 2024 and 2025 survey data. No guilt trips, no shame, just a clear path back to intentional spending. Each step has a micro-outcome and a checkpoint, so you can measure progress as you work through the plan and learn how it compares to mindful spending.

What Is Doom Spending?

Sixty-three percent of Americans say the current state of the world and economy gives them anxiety about their finances, and that anxiety changes how 59% spend money (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). Doom spending is the coping pattern behind that shift: buying things to soothe worry about the news, the economy, and the future.

The term entered everyday language in 2024 as anxious consumers described spending to cope with a constant stream of negative news. Sixty percent of Americans are now concerned with the current state of the world and economy, with cost of living at 55% and inflation at 43% as the top worries (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). The shopping response to that worry feels urgent, even when the purchase itself is small.

A key detail separates doom spending from a normal treat. The purchase is reactive: it happens right after anxiety spikes, not because you wanted the item for its own sake. Many people describe it as a way to reclaim control when headlines feel out of their hands. The relief is real in the moment, which is why the habit repeats.

Why Do People Doom Spend?

Half of Americans say the top reason they spend to cope with emotions is that it relieves their stress, which explains why shopping feels like relief in a stressful year (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). The trigger chain is simple: bad news arrives, anxiety rises, and a purchase promises a quick mood reset.

Bad news is the main trigger. Fifty-three percent of Gen Z and 49% of millennials say receiving bad news online or on social media drives them to stress spend, and men are twice as likely as women to report this (48% versus 23%) (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). The pattern is not about weak willpower. It is a stress response wired into the news feed.

Screen time feeds the loop. Seventy percent of Gen Z report being chronically online, and 53% of all Americans say they constantly receive bad news online (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). Doom scrolling and doom spending feed each other: each headline restarts the anxiety, and each shopping tab promises relief. Knowing this loop by name makes it easier to interrupt.

Uncertainty also blocks saving. Thirty-six percent of Americans say they cannot rationalize saving money because of uncertainty, a number that rises to 47% for Gen Z, and 19% of Americans have $0 in savings (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). When the future feels unknowable, a purchase today can feel more valuable than a balance tomorrow.

Who Is Most Likely to Doom Spend?

Gen Z and millennials lead the trend: 39% of millennials and 37% of Gen Z adults say they doom spend to cope with stress, above the 27% national average (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). Age tells part of the story, and so does how much bad news a person consumes online.

Younger adults feel the pull most, and the differences are sharp. The table below shows how the habit breaks down by generation, using the same October 2024 Qualtrics survey of 1,001 US adults conducted for Intuit Credit Karma. Doom spending is a young person’s pattern in the data, even though every age group feels economic pressure.

Two patterns stand out. Gen Z is the most chronically online group, at 70%, which means more exposure to the headlines that trigger stress spending (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). Millennials sit just above Gen Z on the habit itself, at 39%, possibly because more of them manage household budgets and feel inflation directly.

Age does not excuse the habit, but it explains the pressure. Younger adults entered the workforce during a stretch of high inflation, watched housing costs climb, and learned to treat a purchase as a small point of control. If you see yourself in these numbers, the stop plan below is built for your situation.

The Real Cost of Doom Spending

The average consumer spent $254 a month, or $3,045 a year, on impulse purchases in 2025, and it is impulse spending with an anxious trigger (Capital One Shopping, 2026). Small unplanned buys stack into a number most budgets do not expect.

The costs show up in monthly totals. Shoppers spend 144% more on average with credit cards than with cash, which makes the anxiety-driven purchase even more expensive (Capital One Shopping, 2026). When the goal is a mood reset, plastic is easier to hand over than bills, and the interest does the damage later.

The debt is already heavy. Americans carry $1.34 trillion in revolving credit card debt at an average APR of 20.94%, so a $100 doom purchase can quietly become a much larger bill (Federal Reserve, 2026). Stress buying also accelerates under pressure: 58% of consumers are more prone to impulse buying when stressed (WebTribunal, 2026).

The pattern compounds quietly. A single $50 impulse buy carried on a card costs more than its tag, month after month, once interest is added. Removing one unplanned purchase a week is a real financial move, not a token one.

How Do You Stop Doom Spending?

Thirty-four percent of Americans say they would spend less money if they cut back on screen time, which makes the news feed the first place to intervene (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). The five steps below turn that insight into a workable stop plan you can start today.

A stop plan works when it targets the trigger, not just the spending. The five steps below borrow from habit science and money psychology. They are ordered so each one builds on the last, and each ends with a checkpoint you can pass in real life.

Step 1: Separate the News Feed From the Shopping Tab

Micro-outcome: by the end of this step, you will have a clear rule for when you are allowed to shop. Set a one-hour buffer: no purchasing within an hour of reading news or scrolling social media. That single delay breaks the trigger-to-checkout chain. Checkpoint: you have gone three days without opening a shopping app inside that one-hour window.

Step 2: Name the Feeling Before You Check Out

Micro-outcome: by the end of this step, you will know the emotion behind most of your impulse buys. Pause at the cart and label what is driving the purchase: boredom, anger, fear, or exhaustion. Keep a one-word note in your phone. Checkpoint: you have named the trigger emotion on five separate purchase attempts, and at least three of those carts were closed without buying.

Step 3: Apply the 24-Hour Rule

Micro-outcome: by the end of this step, you will have a default waiting period for every nonessential buy. When the urge hits, move the item to a saved list and set a reminder for tomorrow. Most doom purchases lose their pull within a day. Checkpoint: one item has survived the full 24-hour wait and stayed in the saved list instead of your cart.

Step 4: Replace the Coping Behavior

Micro-outcome: by the end of this step, you will have at least one free stress outlet that is not shopping. Choose a replacement you can reach in seconds: a walk, a phone call, a playlist, or ten minutes of breathing. Link it to the same trigger. Checkpoint: you have used the replacement twice this week when a shopping urge appeared, and you can name the feeling that followed.

Step 5: Redirect the Money You Save

Micro-outcome: by the end of this step, you will have an automatic transfer that turns avoided purchases into savings. Pick a round number, like $25 a week, and schedule it for payday. Money you do not spend on doom purchases becomes a visible win. Checkpoint: one automatic transfer is live, and your savings balance moved at least once. If you need a fuller reset, our guide on how to stop overspending walks through the whole system.

How Is Doom Spending Different From Emotional Spending?

Fifty-eight percent of consumers are more prone to impulse buying when stressed, but doom spending and emotional spending are different habits (WebTribunal, 2026). Emotional spending reacts to a mood, while doom spending reacts to the news cycle and a sense of a shaky future.

Emotional spending is mood-driven and day to day: a hard Tuesday leads to takeout, a lonely evening leads to an online order. The news-driven version is future-focused: it responds to the economy, politics, and headlines about what comes next. The overlap is real, and many people experience both, but the trigger tells them apart.

The treatments differ too. Mood-driven buying responds to mood management, like the steps in how to stop emotional spending. News-driven buying needs an information diet and a delay habit. Not sure which pattern you have? Ask when the urge starts: after a feeling, or after a headline. For the mood-driven side, our explainer on is retail therapy real covers when shopping becomes a coping tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sixty percent of Americans are concerned with the current state of the world and economy, and the questions below answer the common doubts about the habit (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). Each answer is short, direct, and grounded in the same data used throughout this guide.

Is doom spending a real behavioral pattern?

Yes. Doom spending describes buying to cope with anxiety about the economy and the news, and researchers now track it as a distinct habit. In a 2024 survey of 1,001 US adults, 27% of Americans said they doom spend to cope with stress, so the pattern is common enough to measure and study.

How common is doom spending?

The habit is widespread and growing. Twenty-seven percent of Americans report doom spending to cope with stress, and 40% say they do it more now than a year ago (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024). Among younger adults the rate climbs higher: 37% for Gen Z and 39% for millennials.

Is doom spending the same as emotional spending?

Not exactly. Emotional spending responds to a mood, like sadness or boredom, while the news-driven version responds to anxiety about the economy and the future. The two habits overlap often, and 50% of Americans say stress relief is the top reason they spend to cope with emotions (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024).

Does doom spending actually relieve stress?

It feels like relief in the moment, which is why the habit repeats. Half of Americans who spend to cope say stress relief is their top reason, and 58% of consumers are more prone to impulse buying when stressed (Intuit Credit Karma, 2024; WebTribunal, 2026). The relief fades, but the receipt does not.

How long does it take to stop doom spending?

Most people notice a shift within two to three weeks of consistent practice. The five-step plan in this guide builds new habits in order, from separating news from shopping to redirecting the money you save. Start with one step and pass its checkpoint before you add the next.

Can tracking your spending help with doom spending?

Yes, because the habit hides in small purchases. A quick log of what you bought and how you felt at the moment makes the pattern visible, and visible patterns are easier to interrupt. If guilt shows up after the purchase, why you feel guilty after spending money explains how to work through it.

Break the Doom Spending Cycle Today

Americans now carry $1.34 trillion in revolving credit card debt at an average APR of 20.94%, so unplanned stress purchases cost more than their price tags (Federal Reserve, 2026). The fix is a small daily habit: noticing how you feel when you spend.

The most effective tool is awareness at the exact moment you reach for your wallet. Log what you bought and how you felt, and the pattern starts to lose its grip. You will see which moods, which days, and which headlines push you toward a cart. That record turns a vague habit into something you can manage, one small decision at a time. Start with one purchase today. Worth is a free mood-based expense journal that pairs every purchase with the feeling behind it. Download Worth on Google Play.

Sources

• Intuit Credit Karma. Economic concerns heighten as young Americans doom spend to cope with stress (Qualtrics survey, October 2024). Retrieved 2026-08-05. https://www.creditkarma.com/about/commentary/economic-concerns-heighten-as-young-americans-doom-spend-to-cope-with-stress
• Capital One Shopping Research. Impulse Buying Statistics (2026). Retrieved 2026-08-05. https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/impulse-buying-statistics/
• Capital One Shopping Research. Cash vs Credit Card Spending Statistics (2026). Retrieved 2026-08-05. https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/cash-vs-credit-card-spending-statistics/
• WebTribunal. 55+ Impulse Buying Statistics 2026. Retrieved 2026-08-05. https://webtribunal.net/blog/impulse-buying-statistics/
• Federal Reserve Board. Consumer Credit: G.19 Statistical Release (May 2026). Retrieved 2026-08-05. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current/