Meanings
- informaluncommonuncountableThe act of excessively purchasing consumer goods to cope with financial stress.
The rise of mobile shopping has also made doom spending almost as easy as doomscrolling. Almost $5.3 billion in sales revenue this Black Friday came from mobile purchases.
2023 November 30, Lakshmi Varanasi, “Shoppers are worried about the economy so they're 'doom spending' to make themselves feel better”, in Business Insider, archived from the original on 30 Nov 20232 more examples
“People often engage in doom spending after going through a difficult experience as it can allow them to switch off for a moment and get instant gratification,” says Lysn psychologist Nancy Sokarno.
2022 March 7, Sangeeta Kocharekar, “Finding Yourself Shopping More Than Usual These Days? You Could Be Doom Spending”, in The Latch, archived from the original on 04 May 2024Retail therapy and consumerism in general has long been used for its instant gratification, especially when people are feeling blue. However, doom spending can take it to a whole new level, with people often going into debt or failing to have a minimum level of savings or retirement funds.
2024 March 11, Indrabati Lahiri, “Doom Spending: Why does it happen and how can you curb it?”, in Euronews, archived from the original on 04 May 2024
Cite this entry
doom spending. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doom%20spending
“doom spending.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doom%20spending. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doom spending,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doom%20spending.
Source: doom spending on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.