Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia \u2014 The trend of \u201clifestyle downgrading\u201d, or\nlowering one\u2019s standard of living, has become a talking point on social\nmedia. More people are discussing ways to reduce their expenses, from\ngoing out less often and choosing cheaper goods to postponing purchases\nthey consider non-essential.<\/p>\n
For some, this change is a way to maintain their financial stability.\nFor others, it is necessary to bring spending into line with income and\nrising living costs.<\/p>\n
Lifestyle downgrading describes a shift towards a simpler or more\naffordable way of living. Someone who usually buys coffee at a caf\u00e9, for\nexample, might switch to a cheaper option. Others may opt for a more\neconomical vehicle, take fewer holidays or delay buying a new mobile\nphone because their current one is still usable.<\/p>\n
The trend was also discussed in an opinion article published on the\nMinistry of Finance\u2019s website on 12 October 2026. It said lifestyle\ndowngrading had grown more popular on social media, alongside accounts\nfrom people adjusting their lifestyles to match their financial\nmeans.<\/p>\n
One useful illustration can be found in the Mandiri Spending Index\n(MSI), published by Bank Mandiri\u2019s Office of the Chief Economist.<\/p>\n
The report, based on data up to 13 September 2026, shows that\nconsumer spending is still growing, but has begun to slow. At the same\ntime, the shares of spending allocated to several needs have\nshifted.<\/p>\n
Consumer spending is still growing, but slowing<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the Mandiri report, the consumer spending index stood at\n123.5 in the second week of September 2026, slightly down from 123.6 the\nprevious week.<\/p>\n The index fell by 0.05% week on week, extending its decline to four\nconsecutive weeks.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, consumer spending was still higher than a year earlier.\nIt grew by 6.3% year on year (YoY) in the second week of September, a\nslight slowdown from 6.4% the previous week.<\/p>\n Across the year to date, average spending growth in the third quarter\nof 2026 through the second week of September was 6.1%.<\/p>\n That matched the second quarter\u2019s growth of 6.1%, but was below the\nfirst quarter\u2019s 6.4%.<\/p>\n Despite the slight slowdown, third-quarter spending growth remained\nabove the 5.4% recorded in the same period last year.<\/p>\n Alongside this trend, another point of interest is how people are\nallocating their spending.<\/p>\n The Mandiri report indicates that consumers are becoming more\nselective. Some categories are taking a larger share of spending, while\nothers are accounting for less.<\/p>\n Consumers are becoming more selective<\/strong><\/p>\n One notable change was a recovery in spending at restaurants and\nsupermarkets in September 2026.<\/p>\n According to the MSI, restaurants accounted for 19.6% of total\nrecorded spending in September, up from 19.0% in August.<\/p>\n The increase was greater for supermarkets: their share rose from\n16.3% in August to 17.4% in September.<\/p>\n Together, the two categories made up 37.0% of the total spending\nrecorded in the Mandiri report, up from 35.3% the previous month.<\/p>\n Their combined share therefore increased by 1.7 percentage points in\na month.<\/p>\n This suggests that spending on everyday needs and eating out is\nrecovering, although the combined share remained slightly below\nSeptember 2025\u2019s 37.9%.<\/p>\n Annual growth in spending value also showed a positive trend.<\/p>\n Restaurant spending rose by 5.1% YoY in September 2026, while\nsupermarket spending increased by 4.5% YoY\u2014a marked improvement on the\nsame period a year earlier, when it recorded no growth.<\/p>\n The findings show that consumers are still spending on everyday needs\nand eating out, even as overall spending growth eases.<\/p>\n They also suggest that lifestyle changes do not necessarily lead to\ncuts across all categories at once.<\/p>\n People may spend less on some items while continuing to pay for other\nneeds they consider more important or affordable.<\/p>\n This pattern is consistent with what Mandiri describes as \u201cselective\nspending\u201d, in which consumers are increasingly discerning about their\npriorities.<\/p>\n However, the larger shares for restaurants and supermarkets do not\nnecessarily mean that everyone is spending more than before.<\/p>\n The figures show how spending is distributed as a proportion of total\nexpenditure; they do not directly measure changes in the quantity of\ngoods or services purchased.<\/p>\n Mobile phones and fashion account for smaller\nshares<\/strong><\/p>\n As the shares allocated to restaurants and supermarkets increased,\nseveral other spending categories saw their shares fall.<\/p>\n One of the largest declines was in mobile phone spending.<\/p>\n In August 2026, mobile phones accounted for 17.6% of total consumer\nspending. That share fell to 16.3% in September.<\/p>\n A similar change was seen in household spending, whose share dropped\nfrom 8.9% to 7.9%.<\/p>\n Fashion\u2019s share also declined, from 7.0% in August to 6.5% in\nSeptember.<\/p>\n These changes are noteworthy in light of the widely discussed trend\ntowards lifestyle downgrading.<\/p>\n One way people adjust their lifestyles is by reducing purchases of\nitems they do not urgently need or delaying the replacement of goods\nthat remain usable.<\/p>\n Other categories, however, gained a larger share of spending.<\/p>\n Electronics rose from 5.9% to 6.1%, while health spending increased\nfrom 5.5% to 5.8%.<\/p>\n The differences show that changes in consumer spending are not\nuniform. Some needs account for a greater share, while others receive\nless than in the previous month.<\/p>\n Entertainment and air travel remain under\npressure<\/strong><\/p>\n Changes in spending on entertainment and travel are also worth\nexamining.<\/p>\n For some people, paid entertainment, hobbies and holidays are easier\nexpenses to cut or postpone when trying to save.<\/p>\n The Mandiri report shows mixed trends in these categories.<\/p>\n Leisure spending rose by 0.27% week on week in the second week of\nSeptember.<\/p>\n The increase was mainly driven by hobbies and entertainment, up\n0.48%, and jewellery, up 0.22%.<\/p>\n However, compared with the same period a year earlier, spending on\nhobbies and entertainment was still down by 2.7%.<\/p>\n Air ticket spending also fell, declining by 4.8% year on year.<\/p>\n This contrasts with spending on day-to-day mobility, which continued\nto grow.<\/p>\n Fuel spending rose by 6.6% YoY, while automotive spending grew by\n6.3%. Transport spending was also up 10.7% year on year.<\/p>\n The divergence shows that spending on travel and mobility is not\nmoving in one direction.<\/p>\n Air ticket spending remains down, while expenditure on fuel and\ntransport continues to grow.<\/p>\n This suggests that needs linked to everyday activity remain an\nimportant part of household spending.<\/p>\n Overall, lifestyle downgrading and changes in consumer spending are\ntwo developments worth considering together.<\/p>\n The growing discussion about lowering one\u2019s standard of living\nsuggests that some people are rethinking how they use their money.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Mandiri\u2019s data shows that overall spending is still\ngrowing, but consumers are becoming more selective in how they allocate\nit.<\/p>\n The share spent on restaurants and supermarkets has increased, while\nmobile phones, fashion and several other categories account for\nless.<\/p>\n Although the MSI does not directly measure lifestyle downgrading,\nchanges in the composition of spending show that consumer habits are\nshifting.<\/p>\n People are not necessarily stopping spending; rather, they are\nbecoming more selective about which needs to prioritise.<\/p>",
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