‘Friction Maxxing’ Is Going Viral—Here’s How It Could Transform Your Spending Habits

Does this sound like you? You’re sitting there, scrolling through Instagram at 11 p.m., and you see an ad for something tempting that you don’t need … then boom, you’ve purchased it in 30 seconds flat. Well, you’re not alone. According to a study by Liquid Web, 14% of shoppers have bought something within one minute of seeing an ad, and 85% regret an impulsive online purchase.

​One way to combat that split-second shopping problem is a trend called “friction maxxing,” which was defined by Kathryn Jezer-Morton in New York Magazine‘s The Cut this way:

Friction-maxxing is not simply a matter of reducing your screen time, or whatever. It’s the process of building up tolerance for “inconvenience” (which is usually not inconvenience at all but just the vagaries of being a person living with other people in spaces that are impossible to completely control) — and then reaching even toward enjoyment. And then, it’s modeling this tolerance, followed by enjoyment and humor, for our kids.

We can apply this idea to how we spend money: instead of buying blindly, you must wait. You must pause before purchasing. The whole idea is to make buying things just a little bit harder again.

Easy Checkouts Increase Spending

Companies have spent years removing every obstacle between you and the ‘buy now’ button. One-click checkout, saved credit cards, Face ID payments—it all works beautifully if you’re the retailer. For your bank account, though? Not so much.

​Cornell researchers found one-click checkouts increase consumer spending by 28.5%.

​A recent study published in Advances in Consumer Research tracked Gen Z consumers’ eye movements during checkout. People using digital wallets had “reduced focus” on the total when they were using digital wallets or UPI. “Frictionless payment systems erode natural emotional checkpoints that typically regulate spending,” the researchers wrote.

Then there’s Buy Now, Pay Later. One randomized controlled trial at a German online shop found that having the option to BNPL made people 17% more likely to buy something. Splitting payments into four smaller installments removes the sticker shock that might’ve made you think twice.

What Friction Maxxing Looks Like in Real Life

Nobody’s suggesting you ditch your smartphone and live off-grid. Friction maxxing is strategic, not extreme. Here are moves people are making:

• Delete saved cards from Amazon, DoorDash, and shopping apps
• Turn off Face ID or fingerprint unlock for payment apps
• Enforce a 24-hour wait on purchases over $50 or $100
• Freeze a credit card in ice (yes, people actually do this)
• Use cash for categories where you overspend
• Move a set amount into a separate checking account for discretionary spending

The goal is to add a speed bump that gives you the chance to catch up with your impulses, protecting yourself from spending that you’ll regret later.

Where It Works (and Where It Doesn’t)

Friction maxxing shines in impulse danger zones: food delivery, online fashion shopping, even Facebook Marketplace’s shipped listings. Inserting a delay here and there can save you real money.

But don’t friction yourself into misery. Adding barriers to grocery shopping or gas purchases will just annoy you—and it’ll be for no good reason, because those purchases aren’t impulse buys.

​So add friction to bad habits, and remove it from good ones. Auto-pay your savings account and retirement contributions, but make it harder to buy that popular TikTok gadget.