America’s “Chaotic” Spending Habits Detailed

2025 was a “work-hard, play-hard year” where even the best intentions to stick to a budget couldn’t keep some spending chaos from creeping into shopping carts both real and online. That’s the overall conclusion of the first ever full-year “Fetch Finds Report” compiled by the rewards app.

Unlike many other consumer surveys based on phone questionnaires, the Fetch data is drawn from more than $179 billion worth of transactions captured annually by the app—including 12 million receipts submitted every day—and analyzed through an AI-powered insights-to-activation tool.

The resulting numbers reveal “how Americans navigated the year’s mix of hustle and downtime,” the Fetch study summary said. “Consumers found balance, fueling busy days with energy chews and protein-packed everything, and powering down with sushi splurges and weighted blankets.”

Said Jacob Grocholski, Fetch’s VP of Analytics, “Fetch sees what others can’t: how people actually spend based on billions of purchases. This year, we saw a chaotic mix of discipline and indulgence that defined how people navigated 2025 — a snapshot of how Americans pushed through demanding days and made room for comfort wherever they could.”

Here are six top trends Fetch’s research uncovered:

• The “meatless revolution” is over, with fresh beef (+13%) and pork (+12%) sales rising, while refrigerated plant-based alternatives fell (-11%).
• Dining out surged despite budget-tightening elsewhere, with sushi leading the charge, up 45.6% in trip growth, far outpacing Mexican (+13.9%) and pizza (+6.7%).
• Endurance nutrition took a victory lap, with energy chews and gels jumping 27.4%.
• The “Great American declutter movement” went into overdrive, with self-care becoming shelf-care, as household storage bags (+55.8%), charging valets (+37%), and cleaning gloves (+13.4%) all saw strong growth.
• Protein moved from the gym into the pantry, with protein-labeled breakfast cereals (+69.8%), granola (+45.9%) and dry pasta (+35.4%) all up.
• America powered down and got comfortable, with loungewear soaring 218%, weighted blankets up 45% and candles up 20%.

Click here for more from the Fetch study.