What was the last purchase you made? Why did you buy it? Where did you find it — in a store, on social media or somewhere else? Did you actually use your purchase, or is it sitting untouched in your closet somewhere?
Overall, do you consider yourself a savvy spender? Or do you ever feel like your shopping habits have gotten out of control? Would you consider trying to quit shopping?
In “What Does It Take to Quit Shopping? Mute, Delete and Unsubscribe,” Jordyn Holman and Aimee Ortiz write about why some former compulsive shoppers are trying to stop, and how they’re doing it:
Cassandra Orakpo had enough.
Too much, in fact. Shopping on her phone had become so easy it had turned into a bad habit. She bought a cake decorating kit, thinking she’d make her own birthday cake, and never even took it out of the box. She has at least 80 bottles of perfume stored in her closet. And despite all the clothes she has purchased, she feels she has nothing to wear.
“Clearly my buying has gotten to a place where it’s bordering on hoarding,” Ms. Orakpo said.
So toward the end of last year, Ms. Orakpo, who is 31 and lives in Houston, pledged to tame her buying habits. The first step was to scrub her accounts: She unsubscribed from daily emails from Shein; she changed her TikTok settings to avoid personalized ads; she blocked Temu on X. She also opted out of texts from brands like Fashion Nova, her nail salon and even her local bubble tea shop.
And then she told her more than 2,500 followers on TikTok about it.
Ms. Orakpo joined a growing group of shoppers who are fed up with a constant barrage of marketing in their social feeds and phone alerts. Many have taken to TikTok — the site of much of their frustration — to declare that they are participating in “Low Buy 2025” or “No Buy 2025” and sharing the ways they are curbing their spending. Some “shop their closet,” and others pledge to make sure their containers of blush hit pan before being enticed into buying a new one. The videos have garnered millions of views since the start of the year.
Students, read the entire article and then tell us:
Do you feel like you face a “constant barrage of marketing” online these days? If so, what does that look like?
Could you quit shopping or, if not, perhaps do it less? Would you consider participating in a “No Buy” or “Low Buy” year? Why or why not? What would be difficult about that challenge? What could be rewarding?
Can you tell when you’re being advertised to online? What clues do you look for? Do you agree with the article’s claim that it is becoming harder to distinguish between ads and other content these days?
Do you enjoy shopping? If not, how does it make you feel? Do you ever feel like your spending has become more of a harmful habit than a fun one? How would you know if it had?
“It’s a whole ecosystem, and it’s hard to avoid. But it is feeling predatory, it is feeling like manipulation,” Ms. Orakpo said about advertising today. “It is getting heavy.” Do you relate to that feeling? Why or why not?
If you think that you are shopping too much, what tips from the “Low Buy” influencers in the article — such as unsubscribing from emails and texts, scrolling past ads on social media or “shopping your closet” — might help you stop overspending?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.
