4 Money Trends From 2025 That Are Still Draining Your Bank Account
Written by
Laura Beck
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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Some of 2025’s biggest money trends promised to help people save or build wealth. Instead, they quietly damaged finances in ways that are still being felt. Scary stuff, indeed.
These weren’t outright scams. They were popular movements that gained traction through social media and genuine enthusiasm. But the long-term consequences have the ability to hit wallets hard.
The ‘Dupe Culture’ Shopping Spiral
Dupe culture exploded in 2025, with influencers flooding feeds with cheaper alternatives to luxury products. The concept made sense: Why pay $300 for a designer bag when you can get a similar one for $30?
The problem was really the psychology it created. Research showed 71% of Gen Z and 67% of millennials regularly purchased dupes, but it’s easy to buy far more than intended.
Instead of saving for one quality item, people accumulated many cheaper alternatives that fell apart within months. A $300 bag could become 10 $30 dupes needing constant replacement. The thrill of finding deals becomes addictive, transforming shopping into entertainment rather than something you actually need.
Even worse, fast fashion driven by dupes contributes more to climate change than aviation and shipping combined. Consumers might be smarter shopping local and/or second-hand. Nothing beats an amazing vintage find, and thrift stores abound nationwide.
AI Financial Advice That Backfired
ChatGPT became a popular free financial advisor in 2025. People asked AI everything from budgeting tips to investment strategies, skipping paid human advisors.
The results were mixed. Research found that AI responded to 35% of financial queries incorrectly, with 1 in 3 answers being hallucinations. Even worse, over half of people who used AI for financial advice made a poor decision or mistake based on what it told them to do.
The mistakes ranged from minor to catastrophic. ChatGPT suggested requesting a Fresh Start rehabilitation before Sept. 30, 2025, for student loans, but that program had ended in fall 2024. People following this advice missed actual deadlines while chasing phantom solutions.
When tested on 100 financial questions, ChatGPT was only correct 65% of the time. The real danger came from AI’s appearance of authority — responses looked professional while containing dangerous errors people couldn’t spot.
Buy Now, Pay Later Debt Traps
BNPL services like Affirm and Klarna exploded in 2025. The pitch was simple: Split purchases into four interest-free payments with no credit check.
BNPL services don’t feel like debt and making them accessible and frictionless is what makes them dangerous. Paying $25 every two weeks felt manageable, even with four or five active loans running simultaneously.
More than three-fifths of BNPL borrowers held multiple simultaneous loans at some point during the year, with one-third having loans from multiple providers. This “loan stacking” became particularly bad during holiday shopping.
The demographics were also concerning. Among borrowers ages 18 to 24, BNPL purchases made up 28% of total unsecured consumer debt. Most BNPL loans weren’t reported to credit bureaus, creating “phantom debt” that didn’t show up when people applied for credit cards or mortgages.
Crypto FOMO Trading
Cryptocurrency had another volatile year in 2025, with prices swinging wildly and influencers promoting tokens that promised quick riches.
A lack of regulation combined with hype and FOMO played into criminals’ hands, with influencers and others launching tokens with questionable intent. Crypto crime losses in the first half of 2025 were nearly equal to the total losses from all of 2024.
The psychology was particularly destructive. People experience the feeling of loss much more acutely than the feeling of gains of the same magnitude. Seeing others post screenshots of massive gains created unbearable pressure to jump in.
Market surveillance found that 98.7% of tokens on launchpad Pump.fun exhibited characteristics of pump-and-dump schemes. Influencers promoted coins they secretly owned, dumped their holdings once followers bought in, then moved to the next scam. Of course, there are legitimate cryptocurrencies, but proceed with caution.
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