"Getting By with Packed Lunches at Home"... MZ Generation Embraces the No Spending Challenge

Packing Lunches with Refrigerator Ingredients
The 'Delete Delivery Apps Challenge' Is Trending
Collecting Points through 'App-Tech' Activities

Minwoo Kim (29) and his wife, who live in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, recently started the 'No Spending Challenge'. While it is impossible to go without spending any money every day, they are minimizing their expenses by eating lunch at work and making dinner with ingredients stocked in their refrigerator. The couple has set their monthly living expenses, excluding fixed costs and savings, at 300,000 won. Kim said, "If we succeed in not spending for three days, we sometimes treat ourselves to a simple meal out the next day," adding, "Prices have gone up so much, and we feel we need to save as much as we can while we're still young."

Mr Minwoo Kim (29) and his wife, who live in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, recently started the 'No Spending Challenge'. Photo by Getty Image Bank

As the economic downturn continues with sluggish domestic demand and reduced consumption, frugality activities such as the No Spending Challenge are spreading, especially among the MZ generation (Millennials and Generation Z).

On April 29, numerous posts certifying no-spending days were being uploaded to online personal finance communities and KakaoTalk open chat rooms. Lee, an office worker in her 30s who is about to get married, said, "There were as many as 10 no-spending days in April," and added, "Yesterday, I had lunch with a packed meal from home, and for dinner, I was able to eat for free after winning a review event at a local salad shop."

App-based financial activities, known as 'app-tech' (app + finance), which involve collecting points through mobile applications, are also booming. Consumers participating in app-tech complete simple daily missions such as checking in or walking a set number of steps in the app and receive points in return.

Wonseo Choi (34), who lives in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, is hooked on 'Bukchigi', a cash reward event on TikTok Lite. Bukchigi is an event where TikTok Lite users form teams, and the team that beats the drum more times wins points. Choi joined at the suggestion of a family member and now even uses a macro app that automatically beats the drum. He said, "I can't beat the drum all day, but I try to do it whenever I have time," and added, "If you win first place, you get 4 million won, but that's impossible, so I'm satisfied with earning enough for some fried chicken."

As more people participate in Bukchigi, the monthly active users (MAU) of TikTok Lite surged from 986,336 in March last year to 4,706,660 in February this year.

The 'Delete Delivery Apps Challenge' is also trending. As ordering food delivery has become a daily routine, the cost of delivery food and delivery fees can no longer be ignored. Participants save on delivery expenses by deleting major delivery apps, certifying this to each other, or using only takeout instead of delivery. One user wrote, "It's already been almost a month since I quit delivery apps. It might be tough when the weather is hot or cold, but I'm going to try to stick with it as long as possible."

The 'Wake-Up Challenge' is popular on Monimo, an app by Samsung Financial Networks. Users receive 'Jelly' points just by logging into the app at a certain time every morning. To avoid forgetting the challenge, users form teams and post wake-up certification messages to each other.

Regarding these trends, Eunhee Lee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, said, "This shows just how economically difficult things are for the MZ generation," and added, "Comparing their own lives to those of others seen on social networking services (SNS) may have strengthened the resolve to cut spending and save more money."

Professor Lee also said, "In the case of app-tech, the amount of money you can earn compared to the time you invest is very small, but many people still do it," adding, "For young people who are always on their phones anyway, it's better to make money through app-tech than to waste time on SNS."