Social media has made it easier than ever to see how everyone else lives. Between hauls, vacation photo dumps, and get-ready-with-me videos, other people's luxuries are on display around the clock, and the pressure to keep up with the Joneses can feel relentless. At the same time, everyday life keeps getting more expensive, especially for Gen Z.

According to Numerator's Consumer Goods Price Index , Gen Zers are feeling inflation more than the average shopper : Prices on the things they buy have climbed 39 percent since January 2018, while prices overall are up about 34 percent. Still, the pressure to look the part hasn't gone anywhere, and paying for life's luxuries in installments has become common: Fortune reports that 44 percent of Gen Zers used buy-now-pay-later services in 2024.

Then there's luxury larping.…