Gen Z can't afford love — most spend $0 on dates every month, new survey reveals
Gen Z is not wooing the objects of their affection with top-tier rendezvous nor top-shelf spoils. In fact, most 20-somethings, grownups born after 1997, aren't spending a dime on dates — and it's paying off big time, per Bank of America's new Better Money Habits study.
'The cost of adulting is high,' said Holly O'Neill, president of Consumer, Retail and Preferred Banking at Bank of America, in the report. 'But Gen Z is not giving up, they're getting savvy.'
4 More than half of Gen Z men and women are spending $0 per month on dates, according to a recent study.
Drobot Dean – stock.adobe.com
Savvy, stingy — either way you slice it, they're not breaking the bank for love.
Researchers determined that a staggering 53% of Gen Z gents and 54% of their lady counterparts spend $0 a month on dates. But a slightly less-tightfisted faction of Zoomers, 25% of men and 30% of women, keep their canoodling costs under $100 each month.
The newcomers to adulthood aren't shy about setting boundaries with pals and romantic partners when it comes to money.
A whopping 66% of Gen Zs claim they simply don't give in to 'pressure' from others to spend beyond their means. Within that faction, 42% say they're comfortable declining invitations to social (including romantic) opportunities they can't afford and 23% admit to bailing on hot plans in order to save a few extra coins.
4 Finance specialists found that 20-somethings are being especially frugal when it comes to social and romantic outings.
Bank of America
It's a cheapskate trend on the rise amid nationwide financial woes.
Although the US economy is doing its darnedest to avoid another recession, anxious Americans of all ages are busy changing their spending habits in preparation for the worst-case scenario.
Investigators from Affirm, a fin-tech company, recently found that 50% of folks are keeping stashes of cash on hand in fear of unexpected expenses or financial uncertainty, while 41% are managing their budgets with fixed, predictable payments, and 36% are thinking more long-term than ever about their finances.
Forward-thinking, rather than wining-and-dining, seems to be the name of the game for Gen Z.
4 Expensive dates at fancy restaurants are becoming a thing of the past thanks to budget-conscious Gen Zers.
Guillem de Balanzí³ – stock.adobe.com
A shocking 51% of the youngsters surveyed in Bank of America's poll identified the high cost of living as a barrier to financial success. Thirty-five percent admitted that their total monthly expenses — including groceries, rent, utilities and dining out — are higher than they'd imagined before becoming financially independent.
'Even though they're facing economic barriers and high everyday costs,' said O'Neill, 'they are working hard to become financially independent and take control of their money.'
Over the last year, 72% of the Zs have taken steps to improve their financial health, such as putting money toward savings (51%) or paying down debt (24%), according to the data.
4 Members of the Z-demographic are saving more money by making small, yet effective changes to their spending habits and money-management practices.
KMPZZZ – stock.adobe.com
An impressive 64% are doing away with their frivolous expenses, seeing 41% cut back on dining out — be it solo or with a sweetheart.
Skimping instead of splurging is a key reason Gen Zs are outpacing older generations in savings.
So, there may be some value in being young, dumb — but flush with funds.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Wire
28 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Varo Bank Named to Inc.'s 2025 Best in Business List in Financial Services For Fifth Year in a Row
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Varo Bank, the first nationally-chartered consumer techbank in the U.S., is proud to announce its inclusion on the Inc. 2025 Best in Business list in the Financial Services category. Inc.'s annual Best in Business Awards celebrate the exceptional achievements and contributions of companies that have made a profound impact on their industries and on society at large. It's an honor to be included on Inc.'s Best in Business list for the fifth year in a row. Inc.'s Best in Business list recognizes companies that, through exceptional execution, have achieved significant milestones and core business wins, like customer expansion, key product launches, increased market share, and industry-defining accomplishments. Companies from a wide range of industries – such as technology, health care, finance, and retail – have been recognized for their success and their positive influence on the business world. The full list can be found on and in the upcoming winter print edition of Inc. magazine. "It's an honor to be included on Inc.'s Best in Business list for the fifth year in a row," said CEO Gavin Michael. "Varo was created for everyday Americans. When more than 60% of households live paycheck to paycheck, and legacy banks charge hundreds in fees for basic banking services, Varo offers a better solution. From no-fee banking services and one of the highest savings APY's, to expanding credit access through Varo Advance, we are proud to provide the tools Americans need to spend easily, borrow wisely, save more, and build credit. Varo remains focused on delivering comprehensive, innovative and affordable digital banking for all." Inc.'s Best in Business Awards are open to companies of all sizes and types, in all industries and locations. Public, private, nonprofit, subsidiary, U.S.-based, and international companies are all encouraged to apply. Inc. editors and reporters hand-review every application and select Best in Business honorees that, in each of the award categories, have had an outstanding influence on their communities, their industries, the environment, or society as a whole. For more information or to see the complete list, please visit About Varo Bank Varo Bank is a new kind of bank - the first nationally chartered consumer tech bank in the U.S., built from the ground up with a focus on the needs of Americans striving to get ahead. From credit building to savings to faster payments, Varo has a complete solution to help everyday Americans make progress in their financial lives. Varo combines the capabilities and nimbleness of a technology company with the security and oversight of a regulated financial institution, enabling agile product design that provides technology-first solutions such as Varo Believe, a secured card to help build credit; Varo Advance, to help stretch hard-earned dollars between paychecks; and a high-yield savings account, offering one of the nation's highest APYs. Varo has been named as one of the Inc. 5000 2025 fastest growth companies in the U.S., CNBC's 2023-2025 list of the World's Top Fintech Companies, one of Forbes' World's Best Banks, and Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies. For more information on Varo Advance, Varo Believe, and other offerings such as Perks, visit like Varo Bank on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram and X @varobank. ©2025 Varo Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.
The Hill
28 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump BLS pick suggests suspending monthly jobs report over data concerns
President Trump's nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) suggested the agency should stop issuing monthly jobs reports, claiming that the data the agency uses to calculate them is not reliable. E.J. Antoni, whom Trump nominated Monday to lead BLS, said the agency should 'suspend issuing the monthly jobs reports, but keep publishing more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data.' 'Major decision-makers from Wall Street to D.C. rely on these numbers, and a lack of confidence in the data has far-reaching consequences,' the nominee told Fox Business. Trump nominated Antoni, the chief economist at the far-right Heritage Foundation think tank, to lead BLS after the president fired the agency's previous chief, Erika McEntarfer, after the release of the dismal July jobs report. The report showed not only showed meager job growth last month, but also included steep downward revisions to the May and June employment reports. On net, the report showed the U.S. adding roughly 100,000 jobs over the past three months — barely a third of what economists deem necessary to prevent unemployment from rising. Trump fired McEntarfer the same day, accusing her and the agency of manipulating jobs data to make Republicans look bad and hide Democratic mismanagement of the economy. The president has provided no evidence to support his claim, and BLS veterans from both parties have said that manipulating employment data for political purposes is nearly impossible based on the way the agency calculates it. BLS also frequently makes revisions to employment and inflation reports based on data compiled and received after the reports have already been released. While most economists attribute the scale of recent BLS revisions to post-COVID-19 pandemic issues with data collection and survey response times, Antoni is among a handful pro-Trump economists who've accused BLS of massaging data to protect Democrats and harm Republicans. 'For four years, the Biden administration and its sycophants in the media kept telling Americans that we had the strongest economy in history,' Antoni wrote in a May op-ed published by Townhall, claiming the Labor Department 'admitted' that thousands of jobs added during the prior administration, 'were fake.' 'The financial pain of families was ignored while misleading (and often inaccurate) statistics were paraded on the news to convince Americans not to believe their lying eyes or empty wallets,' he added at the time. Antoni, who contributed to Project 2025 blueprint for Trump's second term, is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate, where he'll only need a majority of votes from the GOP-controlled upper chamber. But his actions at BLS could cast a shadow over the agency's influential reports on employment and inflation — especially if he makes major changes to the frequency or compilation of those reports. Economists across the ideological spectrum have accused Antoni of making misleading and inaccurate claims about the economy to support Trump's policies and criticize Democrats. 'EJ Antoni's commentary on labor statistics has unfortunately been quite poor,' Alan Cole, a senior economist at the conservative Tax Foundation, wrote on social platform X. 'I do not think it's anywhere near the capability or knowledge of e.g. Keith Hall or William Beach, both excellent Republican appointees, the latter of whom was appointed by Trump in his first term.' Kyle Pomerleau, senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said on social media, 'There are a lot of competent conservative economists that could do this job. E.J. is not one of them.'
CNBC
29 minutes ago
- CNBC
30-year-old worth $700,000 shares 4 spending habits she avoided in her early 20s: 'I don't have any regrets'
Personal finance consultant Michela Allocca made some financial sacrifices in her 20s, and she has no regrets. At age 30, Allocca has a net worth of more than $700,000 according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. In her experience, you sometimes need to make temporary sacrifices to stay grounded financially, even when it feels like everyone else is spending, she says. "We act like not having these things in our early 20s means we're never going to have them," says Allocca, the Chicago-based author of "Own Your Money." But often, "they're status signal things," rather than things people "genuinely and sincerely care about," she tells CNBC Make It. Holding off on certain expenses early in her career helped her stay on track financially, Allocca wrote in a recent LinkedIn post that detailed four financial habits she avoided in her own early 20s. Here are those habits, and what she did instead: The social pressure to travel in your 20s can be strong, whether to become more worldly or simply because it seems like everyone else is doing it, says Allocca. Many young people take big trips right after college, often with little thought about whether it's affordable because they believe, "well, money will always come," she notes. Even a budget-conscious trip can cost $1,000 to $2,000, an expense that's particularly hard to justify early in your career when you're earning a low salary, says Allocca. A single trip can cost as much as an entire month's rent: Gen Z spends an average of $1,600 per month on rent, according to data published in January by credit firm Allocca was 22 and earning $60,000 per year in Boston, flights in particular felt expensive relative to her income, so she focused on taking affordable, domestic trips, she says. While she began taking bigger trips by her late 20s — including a recent visit to Japan — she says they were planned and budgeted for well in advance. While she now travels on her own terms, she says it's "both normal and OK" for people in their 20s to hold off until they can afford the expense. "If I am going to go on a vacation, it has to be something that I actually want to go on, not because I'm feeling pressured to go somewhere," she says. Whether it was sharing one bathroom with three other roommates or moving back in with her parents during the Covid-19 pandemic, Allocca chose not to live alone for most of her 20s. "I was able to continue to save, on average, about $1,000 a month because I wasn't dumping all my money into rent. And that actually really helped me get ahead" on investments, she says. Social media can create unrealistic expectations for what early-career earners can afford, says Allocca. In large cities like San Francisco or New York, residents need to earn more than $100,000 annually to keep rent below the commonly recommended 30% of their budget, according to a Zillow report published in May. "I feel bad for Gen Z, because their perception of what's normal at their age is so warped," she says. "There's all this [online] pressure for young people to live in a high-rise or live alone in these major cities, and it's just not reasonable." At age 27, Allocca finally decided to live alone in a nicer apartment with more space and amenities. She needed a home office, and by that point, knew her income could support a roughly $1,000-per-month rent increase without derailing her financial goals, she says. Allocca took a minimalist approach to her wardrobe in her early 20s, often buying the same pieces in different colors and sticking to a few signature shades so everything was easy to mix and match, she says. She shopped mostly at inexpensive stores like Primark and Old Navy, she adds. "When you have a general color scheme, you can match your clothes easier," says Allocca. "It also helps eliminate the paradox of choice." Her approach kept her clothing costs low. "I wasn't prioritizing shopping as part of my budget," Allocca says. "If I did need to buy something, I was going to those really inexpensive stores so I could get the least expensive version possible." Today, she uses the same principles for what she calls a capsule wardrobe of "elevated basics" — versatile pieces that work with most of what she already owns, she says. She's now more willing to spend money on better quality that she knows will last for years, she adds — like a roughly $450 cashmere sweater that's currently the most expensive item in her closet. In her 20s, Allocca avoided spending on things she could easily do herself. When her walk to work was about 30 minutes, she'd make the trip on foot rather than paying for a ride or public transit, she says. "I didn't take any unnecessary Ubers, I never ordered delivery," she wrote on LinkedIn. Many people justify convenience purchases by thinking "my time is so valuable." Allocca didn't see it that way, she says: "The time that I was saving, I wasn't doing anything valuable with it. So what difference does it make if I spend the 10 extra minutes to go walk and pick up my dinner?" She only ordered out from restaurants within walking distance, she notes. "If I'm not willing to go pick it up, then I'm not ordering it out, I'm cooking at home" she says. "To me, it's creating some parameters around, 'Is this reasonable?'" Even today, Allocca rarely allows herself to pay for convenience, and only in "extenuating circumstances," she says — like paying for delivered groceries after coming home from a long trip. By consistently avoiding most convenience costs, from rides to delivery fees, she says she's freed up around $200 per month. When paired with her low rent, that money "made a big difference" in her ability to save in her 20s, she says. And while she sacrificed some comfort in her 20s, "when I look back at all of these things, I don't have any regrets," she says.
