The story below is a preview from our May/June 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
What is underconsumption? And can you still have a beautiful home if you aren’t buying new stuff?
Have you heard about No Buy 2025?
Fatigued by rising grocery prices and the overwhelming amount of content featuring conspicuous consumption (think Sephora haul or product unboxing videos on social media), a growing no buy movement has been gaining traction online.
The rules are simple: Make a list of non-essential items and pledge not to purchase them for a period of time.
With marketing strategies invading our inboxes, text messages and all the content we consume, it feels like an inevitability that at some point all of the ads and notifications begin to feel like junk. How much stuff do we really need, anyway?
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I love stuff. Homes without books or collections don’t make sense to me. As pretty as a Scandinavian-inspired room with white furniture and a single potted Monstera can be, I am never going to feel comfortable lounging on the couch. If I sit on that couch at all — I might require a full hospital-grade surgical gown and those little paper booties to make sure I don’t mess anything up. I have a kindergartner and several pets; you just never know.
For me, a house only feels homey when there are things around, especially the kinds of things that tell me about the person who lives there. Cozy blankets and too many throw pillows; photos or artwork that invites me to step in and look closer; a half-drunk cup of coffee and a plate from breakfast with some jam on the edge. If kids or pets live there, I’m expecting there to be toys and food dishes, even a few stains or a small rip in one of the couch cushions that has a story behind it. All of these things are signs of a home that is loved and actually lived-in — essential to a space that could be described as warm, welcoming and safe.
At the same time, I have gone on my fair share of decluttering rampages in my house.
Unable to set my glass of water down because every surface has Legos or mail or books lying open on top, or tripping over one too many dog chews and nearly stepping on the cat, I’ve been known to pick up a half-unpacked Chewy box still sitting by the front door and, dumping the contents on the floor, announce that if there’s anything anyone wants to save, they better come get it now. Furiously stomping through the house, I’ll proceed to sweep whatever’s on every countertop into the box, then let the momentum carry me through each room until I’ve accumulated everything from clean laundry that’s been sitting unfolded for too long at the end of our bed to my tangled laptop charger and my kid’s entire stuffed animal collection into the excess reusable bags I’ve been collecting for the past decade. “It’s all got to go!” I shout to my family, who know me well enough by now not to take any of this too seriously.
How did we end up with so much stuff? I always want to know. “Do you really want me to answer that question?” my husband responds.
After the initial wave of social media consumption videos hits its peak, the inevitable backlash of “underconsumption” videos started cropping up. In the same way influencing inspired the “deinfluencing” trend a few years back, creators who’d grown weary of the endless onslaught of social marketing started making content to push back on the pressure to consume. While “deinfluencing” ended up being more about giving negative reviews for viral products, underconsumption has its roots more in sustainability, asking us to reconsider single-use products or replacing perfectly good items we already own for aesthetic reasons.
Underconsumption, essentially, asks us to think more critically about our lifestyles through the lens of waste. It isn’t necessarily about not buying anything at all, but about resisting trends, valuing function over style and ultimately deciding that who we are doesn’t have to be expressed through the endless accumulation of stuff.
I recently saw a post that hit a little too close to home:
“My wife’s toxic trait is she wants to declutter the house, but also wants to keep every sentimental item and she’d like a minimalist home, but lots of personality, but she needs less stimulation and also the house has to feel cozy and lived in…”
The original poster, Shannon Leyko, is host of The Paring Down Podcast and author of the book “You’re Completely Normal: Trading Where You Think You Should Be For Where You Want To Go.” Though she’s recently known for her decluttering content on social media, she says that the end goal isn’t a minimalist, perfectly tidy home. Instead, Leyko aims to shift the emphasis off of the stuff so that we can focus more intentionally on what truly gives our lives meaning.
Want to learn more about how the No Buy 2025 movement challenges consumer culture while finding balance between cozy clutter and mindful minimalism? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our May/June 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!