One in Three Israelis Made This Mistake This Year. Are You One of Them?

Think you manage your money properly? The annual report from Paamonim reveals troubling truths about middle-aged overdrafts, the blind optimism of young people, and the mistake we all make when entering foreign shopping sites.

If your stories feed and TikTok keep updating nonstop, and every second video makes you want another dress or gadget you saw from influencers online, you are far from alone. It turns out that habit is costing you a lot of money. Paamonim's 2026 annual economic resilience report reveals a startling figure about our new shopping habits, nearly a third of Israelis bought a product or service in the past year solely because of a recommendation from a social media influencer.

When you delve into the study's numbers, which are based on five years of extensive monitoring, social networks emerge as a financial trap. The situation is especially severe among young people aged 21 to 34, where nearly half admit they buy products following influencers. The easy tap on the purchase button leads to trouble in the bank account, since the vast majority of these buyers make impulsive, unplanned purchases, and more than a third were even forced to take out a loan or deepen their overdraft because of this lifestyle. In the end, only a very small percentage of people influenced by social media stars report that they are actually satisfied with their financial situation.

And that is not all. Paamonim's annual survey, conducted at the end of 2025 by Geocartography among more than 1,000 respondents, presents the