Minwoo Kim (29) and his wife, who live in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, recently started the "No Spending Challenge." While it is impossible to go without spending money every day, they are minimizing their expenses by eating lunch at work and preparing dinner with ingredients stocked in their refrigerator. The couple has set their monthly living expenses, excluding fixed costs and savings, at 300,000 won. Kim said, "If we succeed in not spending for three days, we sometimes treat ourselves to a simple meal out the next day," adding, "Prices have risen so much, and we feel we need to save as much as possible while we are still young."

Mr Minwoo Kim (29) and his wife, who live in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, recently started the 'No Spending Challenge.' Photo by Getty Image Bank

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As the economic downturn continues, with sluggish domestic demand and reduced consumption, savings activities such as the No Spending Challenge are spreading, especially among the MZ generation (Millennials and Generation Z).

On April 29, numerous posts certifying no-spending days were being shared on online personal finance communities and KakaoTalk open chat rooms. Lee, an office worker in her 30s who is about to get married, said, "There have already been 10 days in April when I didn't spend any money," adding, "Yesterday, I had lunch with a packed meal from home, and for dinner, I was able to eat for free after winning a review event at a local salad shop."

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App-tech (a combination of "app" and "finance technology"), which involves collecting points through mobile applications, is also gaining popularity. Consumers engaging in app-tech complete simple daily missions such as checking in or reaching a step count in the app to earn points.

Wonseo Choi (34), who lives in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, is hooked on "Bukchigi," a cash reward event on TikTok Lite. In Bukchigi, TikTok Lite users form teams, and the team that beats the drum more times wins points. Choi, who joined at a family member's suggestion, has even installed a macro app that automatically beats the drum. He said, "I can't do it all day, but I try to participate whenever I have time," adding, "The first prize is 4 million won, but that's impossible for me, so I'm satisfied with earning enough for some fried chicken."

TikTok Lite Cash Reward Event 'Bukchigi'. TikTok Homepage Screenshot

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As more people participate in Bukchigi, the monthly active users (MAU) of TikTok Lite surged from 986,336 in March last year to 4,706,660 in February this year.

The "deleting delivery apps" challenge is also trending. As ordering food delivery has become routine, the costs for food and delivery fees have become impossible to ignore. Participants are saving on delivery costs by deleting major delivery apps, certifying this to each other, or opting for takeout instead of delivery. One user wrote, "It's already been almost a month since I quit using delivery apps. It might be tough when the weather is hot or cold, but I'm going to stick with it as long as I can."

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On Samsung Financial Networks' Monimo app, the "Wake-Up Challenge" is popular. Users can earn "jelly" points simply by waking up and logging into the app at a designated time each morning. To avoid forgetting the challenge, users often form teams and post wake-up certification messages to each other.

Regarding this trend, Eunhee Lee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, said, "This shows just how financially difficult things are for the MZ generation," adding, "Comparing their lives to those of others on social networking services (SNS) may make them feel a stronger need to cut spending and save more money."

Professor Lee added, "In the case of app-tech, even though the money earned compared to the time invested is very small, many people still do it. For young people, since they are always on their phones anyway, they would rather try to save money through app-tech than just spend time on SNS without any purpose."