‘Deinfluencing’: The latest trend to beat overconsumption and save money

Influencers make their living by convincing people to buy products. Sometimes, those reviews are genuine and other times, they’re not.

Either way, viewers might feel pressured to spend money they don’t have. It’s an enticing cycle everyone falls into eventually, but deinfluencing is the latest trend to remove rose-coloured glasses when purchasing items.

Read on to learn what this new movement is and how it could improve your financial life — starting today.

What is deinfluencing?

Deinfluencing is a multi-platform social media trend that helps people stop purchasing products they don’t necessarily need.

Two in five people buy things through social media posts and one in three regret it. That number may be even higher for those encountering impulse purchasing encouragement through influencers on their social media feeds.

How does overconsumption affect consumers?

While brands and influencers profit from social media posts, consumers lose money. They buy an insulated cup or star projector they don’t need and weren’t thinking about before they saw the recommendation video slide across their feed.

The purchases add up quickly if they happen often, draining each follower’s bank accounts and causing more financial stress in their personal lives.

Best ways to save money by deinfluencing

Buying something an influencer recommends isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You might even end up loving the product.

But if you’re struggling to pay the bills, increase your savings or meet other financial goals, use these tips to join the deinfluencing movement:

1. Create a realistic budget

A reasonable budget covers your bills and recurring necessities, like groceries and petrol.

You should also include some spending money to make your plan realistic. You’ll overspend if you don’t leave wiggle room for fun purchases because sometimes it’s nice to get a coffee on the way to work or buy a new book that looks good.

As long as you stick within your set spending estimate, you won’t have to worry about influencers taking over your finances — even if you still buy a thing or two from them.

Set a lower limit for frivolous spending so it doesn’t significantly affect your budget. That way, you’ll never feel constrained.

2. Evaluate your most recent purchases

Consider what you bought with your most recent impulse purchases. Make a list of five to 10 items and see if there’s a trend. Do you always buy the same type of products? Are they all around the same price point?

The most crucial part is deciding if you need each item or not. You likely already had something useful or fun at home when you made the purchase. If you feel grateful for what you already have, you’ll free yourself of the desire trap that generates impulse spending on or offline.

3. Limit social media time

Your social media accounts are great places to establish a personal brand if you’re building a business or posting art, but spending tonnes of time online could fuel your impulse purchases. Set a daily limit, like 30 minutes on each platform between sunrise and sunset.

You could also unfollow influencers if you’ve directly followed them. Their content is likely primarily geared toward sponsored posts.

You can always follow others posting about the topics that interest you who don’t profit off sponsorships, like educators or industry professionals.

Improve your financial life without extra stress

Deinfluencing is a trend that could help you regain control of your finances. Consider how often you’ve impulsively bought something based on a post or video from someone with a large digital following.

It can happen pretty easily, but thankfully, there are ways to combat it. You’ll save money and reduce stress by spending more strategically with tips like these.