Could you feed yourself on $70 a month? Chinese millennials are trying

Call it under consumption core. Call it frugality. In China, call it proudly stingy. Just as the cost of living is weighing on many Americans a...

Call it under-consumption core. Call it frugality. In China, call it "proudly stingy.”

Just as the cost of living is weighing on many Americans - and even helped propel Donald Trump back into the White House - so too are many Chinese worrying about making ends meet, even while Chinese food costs are a fraction of American ones.

As the world’s second largest economy slows and the job market dries up, tens of thousands of young Chinese are embarking on money-saving challenges and sharing their latest feats on social media. One trend that has taken off in recent months: spending no more than $70 a month, or 500 yuan in Chinese currency, on feeding themselves.

Participants upload photos of what they eat each day and detail the costs of each item on the popular platform Xiaohongshu, which has at least 300 million active users. Some who finish a month with money to spare go on to target an even a lower budget.

Some say their quality of life has not dropped substantially.