America went into 2025 with resolutions, routines, and good intentions. Then life happened – and the receipts got weird. 

Between comfort binges, glow-ups, and grocery-store “personal bests,” the spending told a story full of mixed messages. All together, it added up to 12 months of beautiful chaos. Here’s how America really spent

6. America powered down and got comfortable 

2025 was supposed to be about discipline and optimization – 10,000-step mornings, green juice, bullet journals, and kale salads.

We spent the year self-soothing. Ambition had a good run, but 2025 was the year of loungewear, comfort food, and weighted blankets. America hit snooze – and meant it.

5. Protein traded the gym bag for the pantry

Protein spent the year chasing sales PRs, and everyone thinks the gains come from shakes, powders, and bars. If it doesn’t taste like vanilla chalk, is it even working?

Your pantry is bulking up. Consumers are reaching for protein-enriched pantry staples, slipping power-ups into everyday meals instead of limiting it to workout fuel. Turns out the real gym rats live in the cereal aisle.

4. The Great American Declutter hit overdrive

2025’s chaos could have spilled over into the household, with messy closets, tangled chargers, and junk drawers groaning under the weight of it all. 

Self-care became shelf-care. Home organization staged a full-blown takeover, with cleaning supplies tagging along for the ride. By December, even the junk drawers had floor plans.

3. Endurance nutrition takes a victory lap

Energy chews and gels typically live in race-day belts and gym bags. You know – the domain of people who voluntarily wake up before sunrise. 

Chews and gels are putting in extra miles. Either we collectively took up endurance sports, or we’ve started treating the workday like a triathlon. Regardless, the carbo-loading’s getting out of hand.

2. America’s eating out, and sushi’s on a roll

Conventional wisdom says budget-tightening should mean fewer restaurant splurges and more home-cooked meals. Dining out is supposed to be the first luxury to go.

Raw fish ran laps around pizza. Dining out boomed in 2025, but sushi entered a league of its own. Nothing says financial responsibility like bluefin tuna. 

1. The meatless revolution has expired

Plant-based meat alternatives were sold as the future: veggie burgers on every grill, faux chicken nuggets in every freezer. Meat was meant to be the throwback on the plate. 

Meat is taking back the main course. Despite rising costs, meat is climbing year-over-year while substitutes slide. Meatless Mondays have officially lost to Taco Tuesdays. 

About Fetch Finds 

Fetch Finds is a consumer insights series from Fetch, America’s Rewards App. Our insights are powered by billions of verified receipts — real transactions, not projections or approximations. This report draws from a 24-month static panel, capturing two years of verified purchase behavior. FAST, Fetch’s AI-powered insights tool, makes those transactions instantly searchable in natural language, pulling out the stories hiding in the checkout line. Every chart, quip, and curveball you just read started with receipts on Fetch and came to life through FAST.