When you have a bad day, it’s important to get yourself a little treat: a fancy latte, a chocolate bar, or, in Gen Z’s case, a $2.5k designer handbag.

If you’re thinking one of those things is not like the others, good eye. Young Americans are reportedly spending generously on luxury items despite tumultuous economic conditions, per Bloomberg.

It’s not that they’re naive: According to a November Credit Karma survey, Americans are worried about inflation, cost of living increases, finding affordable housing, and — especially for younger generations — finding high-paying, secure jobs.

They’ve just found a unique, albeit pricey, way to cope: doom spending.

• Twenty-seven percent of Americans say they “doom spend” to deal with stress. The rates are higher for millennials (43%) and Gen Zers (35%).
• Thirty-two percent of Americans have taken on debt in the last six months, with 27% attributing it to increased spending.
• Forty-seven percent say the amount of money they’re saving has decreased, and 52% say they have less than $2k in savings.

As for all that spending, the proof is in the luxury pudding: The National Retail Federation’s 2023 census data shows that holiday sales rose 3.8% YoY to $964.4B.

Fatalistic shopping habits…

… are not new. Research from 2005 found that people who perceive luck to play an important role in their finances are more likely to realize they need to save money, but less likely to do so.

What is new is the fact that young people have the disposable income to afford this doom spending.

• Fifty-seven percent of American adults under the age of 25 live with a parent.
• Just 16% of adults ages 18-24 are entirely financially independent.

Plus, social media certainly perpetuates spending, with influencers flaunting designer hauls and big-ticket splurges.

But don’t worry — in the time it took you to read this, there’s already a new buzzword: loud budgeting.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and, apparently, a video call with an uber-successful entrepreneur is worth a thousand dollars.

Or, at least, that’s what Intro thinks. The company, founded in 2021 by entrepreneur Raad Mobrem, aims to connect people seeking advice with celebrities and industry experts.

Users can pay to video chat with their role models and use the time to talk about whatever they want.

But that time comes with hefty price tags:

• A 30-minute call with Tiny founder Andrew Wilkinson costs ~$5k.
• Chatting with fashion designer and CEO Rachel Zoe will run you $1k for a 15-minute video call.
• A 15-minute call with entrepreneur Nikita Bier starts at $1.4k.

And some experts are fully booked: There’s a waitlist to chat with Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit and founder of venture firm 776, who charges $776 per session (though he donates all the proceeds to charity).

Intro is now letting experts launch subscription plans through the platform and aims to book ~100k meetings in 2024.

Talk ain’t cheap

Experts set their own prices on the platform and Intro gets a cut — usually 10%-30% of the cost of a session.

The app can serve as the ultimate side hustle for experts willing to make the time. Nikita Bier posted on X that he’d set up a LinkedIn auto-responder to point people to his Intro page and had earned $122.3k from 95 bookings.

Other apps, like Cameo and MasterClass, also promise access to celebrities and experts. But Intro’s one-on-one structure seems to be something users are willing to pay a premium for.

P.S. If you pay $600 to chat with Sam Parr, The Hustle’s founder, do us a solid and say we’re doing a good job, OK?