Cost of living crisis has seen young people cut spending. But not always where you’d expect

Ironically, one of the things I refused to cut was the sporting commitments: $500 for a soccer team registration, and more than $1000 across the year in social volleyball and netball team fees.

It perhaps speaks to the second trend noted by Commbank: a boom in discretionary spending, particularly on travelling (up 39 per cent), with honorary mentions for spending on eating out (up 8.5 per cent) and entertainment (up 10.8 per cent).

While all those sports teams might not be strictly necessary, they’ve helped me make connections in a new city. I could spend less on food by cooking at home, but it’s been important to spend time with people to strengthen professional and personal relationships.

And while I wouldn’t have died forgoing a flight to Krabi in Thailand last year, travelling can teach a young person a lot and open our minds, particularly after being prevented from travel during the lockdown years.

Like most young people, I lacked a sufficient savings buffer to increase my spending by more than the rate of inflation.

So to fund my “discretionary” activities, I cut back on what some would see as necessities: a trend noted by NAB, which found in its second quarter consumer sentiment survey that nearly half of younger people were skipping meals to save money (among other measures including cutting back on “micro treats” such as takeaway coffee and food delivery services).

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Not everyone is fortunate enough to have money left over after paying for bare necessities, or to get away with making spending cuts in areas such as healthcare.

However, the reluctance to cut down on some areas deemed “discretionary” such as travel and entertainment may be more than a bid by young people to get their dopamine hit in a period of financial stress.

Some of these things also serve an important purpose for those finding their place in the world.

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