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 the troubling truth about middle-aged overdrafts, the blind optimism of young people, and the mistake we all make when we enter overseas shopping sites.

Efrat Nomberg Yunger, mako. Published: 10.06.26, 12:30 | Updated: 10.06.26, 19:40.

American influencers on Shein | Photo: Shein US, TikTok

If your Stories and TikTok feed keep refreshing non-stop, and every other video makes you want another dress or gadget you saw from influencers online, you are definitely not alone. It turns out this habit is costing you a lot of money. Paamonim's annual financial resilience report for 2026 reveals a startling figure about our new shopping habits: nearly one-third of Israelis bought a product or service in the past year solely because of a recommendation from social media influencers.

When you dig into the study's numbers, which are based on five years of broad monitoring, you find that social networks have become a financial trap. The situation is especially unusual among young people aged 21 to 34, where nearly half admit that they buy products because of influencers. The easy click on the purchase button leads to trouble in the bank account, since the overwhelming majority of these buyers make impulsive purchases that were not planned in advance, and more than a third even had 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 online stars say they are truly 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 "Paamonim Index," a score that weighs Israeli families' ability to make it through the month and cope with unexpected expenses. The national score for this year, 59.9 out of 100, shows that the downward economic trend of recent years has finally been halted, but Paamonim CEO Tzvika Goldberg makes clear that this pause is not yet a recovery.

"The Israeli economy has been operating under difficult measures such as the VAT increase, rising electricity and water prices, and high interest rates that are choking the account," he says. "In addition, the war is taking its toll and causing economic or employment damage for many Israelis. As a result, close to half the public is running in the red or under a negative balance, where expenses are simply higher than income."

Even young people are already having to give up medicine

The report also presents a major drama in the breakdown by age. Young people do show some improvement in their data compared with last year and even display great optimism about the future, but the reality on the ground is still worrying, with many spending more than they earn and even forced to forgo basic items such as food or medicine.

Who is really collapsing under the burden is the middle-aged group, ages 35 to 54, who make up the backbone of the country. They bear the burden of raising children and managing a household, and show the lowest resilience scores. Half of them admit they would financially collapse in the event of an unexpected large expense, and nearly half had to take out loans or increase their overdraft at the bank this year.

Northern residents are affected more than the rest of the country

The gaps are not limited to age, but also extend to geography, as the security situation in the north is causing especially painful economic harm. Residents of the Northern District record the lowest score in the resilience index, compared with Tel Aviv residents, who are at the top.

The gap is clearly felt in the wallet, since the share of northern residents who had to give up food or medicine is nearly twice as high as in Tel Aviv, and more than half of them are not managing to save money for the future at all. These findings are joined by the results of a special survey conducted following Operation "Roar of the Lion," which show that emotional stress and exhaustion led most of the public to make comfort purchases, mainly of food and sweets, alongside severe economic damage recorded among reserve soldiers.

In addition, the report shows that over the years Israelis have become less financially disciplined, comparing prices less, tracking expenses less, and rarely managing a structured budget. Experts explain that wars and crises have a psychological effect that makes us feel we have no control over the situation, so we give up good habits in advance.

But there is also a hopeful note: Paamonim's data proves that families that receive financial guidance are able to make a real turnaround in their bank accounts. To avoid falling into online traps, the experts' recommendation is simple: set a fixed budget for online shopping, do not save your credit card details automatically on websites, and when you see a product an influencer recommends, wait 24 hours before buying it. Chances are that by the next day, you will have already forgotten you even wanted it.

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