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Shanghai resident Chris Jia used to spend about 2,500 yuan ($514) — a third of her income — on "five to six dresses" each month, but now she shops less and saves money.
"I have replaced international holidays with domestic trips, and also replaced [flying] with high-speed railway [travel]," Ms Jia said.
The 29-year-old sales manager also buys cheaper cosmetics and has stopped getting takeaway food delivered to her door "every single day".
She said she did not want to spend more money if it meant working an extra day.
"If you keep spending money, you [will] be like a donkey driving a mill," she said.
Ms Jia has also decided not to buy a car or a house.
"I didn't want to take on the burden of having to pay the mortgage and the car loan. It feels too constricting and stressful," she said.
Ms Jia is one of many Chinese consumers who are changing their spending habits as the country's economy struggles to recover from strict COVID-zero policies that ended late last year.
While her main goal is to save enough money so she can retire early, other people in China are tightening their belts due to concerns over job and income security.
Weak consumer confidence in China has triggered a conversation on social media about how to buy less, with hashtags like #ConsumptionDowngrade becoming popular.
#ConsumptionDowngrade has been used in more than 60,000 posts on Chinese social media platform Red, and another hashtag, #NoConsumption, has been referenced in more than 4 million posts.
Ms Jia said her friends' spending habits had also changed dramatically since the pandemic measures ended.
"The impact that [the lockdowns] had on their lives was pretty obvious," Ms Jia said.
She said those who once thought "consumption downgrade" was unnecessary, now asked her for tips on how to save money.
"My friends are worried that they won't be able to continue making their mortgage repayments," she said.
"They also fear that if they're laid off, no other company will be able to offer them another well-paid position."
'Scared to spend'
Ms Yang, a 35-year-old Beijing resident who only wants to be known by her surname, said she now bought "cotton totes" instead of designer bags.
She said she had also drastically cut back on her skincare spending, after her husband lost his job in real estate last year.
In a post on social media, Ms Yang said she used to buy skincare products from high-end brands that cost up to 3,000 yuan ($622) per item, but she now purchases cheaper products that cost about 500 yuan.
"My husband and I always say [this] will pass, just hang in there a little longer and get through this darkest moment," she told the ABC.
"But none of us know how long this 'moment' will be."
Shi Heling, an associate professor in the Department of Economics at Monash University, said Chinese consumers were currently "scared to spend".
"There is a suspicion that something is going wrong with the country's economy," Dr Shi said.
"Firstly, people don't have a lot of cash in their hands now."
"Secondly, there doesn't seem to be much financial security in the future, so what can you do? You can only save money for yourself."
Experts say China at risk of consumer deflation
A reluctance to spend money, also reflected in official statistics, has led experts to warn that China is teetering on the edge of consumer deflation — a decrease in consumer item pricing.
China's consumer price index was flat year over year in June, the lowest CPI rate recorded since February 2021.
Dr Shi believes China is already experiencing deflation.
"Many high-end consumer goods are falling in price," he said.
Betty Wang, a senior China economist at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), also expressed concern about the possibility of deflation in China.
Ms Wang said China risked slipping into the same deflationary environment as in 2012 to 2016.
"That's why many market participants are calling for more aggressive supportive measures from policymakers," she said.
In a video uploaded on China's National Bureau of Statistics website, a spokesperson denied China was at risk of consumer deflation.
Since lifting COVID-19 restrictions last year, Beijing has implemented a series of measures to try to boost economic growth, such as offering food and entertainment vouchers and lowering interest rates on bank deposits.
But the results have been limited.
China's producer pricing index (PPI) dropped for the ninth consecutive month in June, the biggest drop since December 2015, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Monday showed.
There are also concerns about youth unemployment in China, which recently hit a record high of 20.8 per cent, according to NBS data.
Interest rates dropping, shops closing
Another issue in China's economy is the pressure on the real estate sector, which has been hit by multiple developer defaults brought on by China Evergrande Group's non-repayments since 2021.
New property building and home sales have both decreased this year, according to data from the Bank of China's research institute.
In response, Beijing on Monday extended its policies to revive the real estate market to the end of 2024.
Interest rates are also decreasing, which has prompted Shanghai resident David Li and his partner to pay off more of their mortgage.
The couple have increased their repayments from about 10,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan per month — three-quarters of their monthly combined income.
Mr Li said he decided to pay off more of his mortgage instead of buying a digital camera and a car.
And he's not alone — data shows retail sales of cars in China also fell in the first quarter of this year.
Mr Li, a 33-year-old real estate agent, has also been posting about his experiences on social media using the #ConsumptionDowngrade hashtag.
In a video posted on Red, Mr Li expressed concerns about China's economy, noting that some restaurants and cafes close to office buildings in Shanghai had been shuttered.
"There's actually a lot less variety of businesses on streets than there used to be," he said.
"Those who still have jobs are working harder and are afraid to spend money because they don't know if they are the ones leaving their jobs tomorrow."
ABC/Reuters