A 33-year-old Chicagoan we’ll call Lana is wading through the security line at O’Hare, toting potato chips to avoid shelling out for an airport dinner. In eight hours, she’ll arrive at a resort in Mexico for her best friend’s wedding, and she’s pondering how much to contribute to the honeymoon fund. As a part-time yoga teacher one semester into grad school, she has $612.37 in her savings account, owes her sister $4,000 for help with rent, and is $56,000 deep in student loans. This trip alone costs $1,500.
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Every year, her New Year’s resolution is to get hotter, and she’s never failed. “I love making goals I can succeed at,” she says.
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Though 52% of millennials are now homeowners, another 24% believe they’ll never be able to save enough for a down payment. However, on average, they spend more money on cosmetics and aesthetic procedures than any other age bracket — $2,670 in 2023 compared with $2,048 for Gen Z and $1,517 among Gen Xers — as well as more on fitness.
Why Millennials Are Investing In Their Looks Like No Generation Before
For some it actually seems to have a positive ROI (suspect this is not common though)
Since the procedure, she has switched jobs twice, nearly doubling her income, to $270,000.
That’s fine how they choose to spend their money – it’s not fine to then make endless social media posts and TikTok videos about how you can’t afford anything. Economics is about making choices. Choose widely and don’t whine about your cash flow if you choose poorly.
Gen Z and Millennial females spend 10x to 20x more, per year, on cosmetics, hair care and fitness than did Boomers in 1970. In fact, the fitness/gym industry mostly didn’t exist in 1970 and did not get underway and expand until sometime in the 1980s.
