What is Loud Budgeting? Try This 2024 Money Trend
As Americans tighten their spending in 2024, the financial trend of loud budgeting is at the forefront.
A social media sensation, loud budgeting, helps people engage and improve their financial situation by allowing them to want less and save more.
Let’s look at this trend and how you can easily use it to improve your own financial security.
What is loud budgeting?
Loud budgeting involves being “loudly” open about your financial goals and sticking to them no matter what.
It consists of setting spending boundaries so you don’t overspend to meet long-term savings goals.
However, loud budgeting doesn’t mean you have to be a cheapskate or own only a collection of decor from the dollar store.
Loud budgeting is about discernment over your money, choosing to build wealth, and ditching the joyless clutter.
It also doesn’t mean you must explain what you are precisely saving for or spending your money on.
It’s about feeling comfortable declining a social invitation or not being influenced by the latest product because you want to meet substantial personal financial goals.
The transparency this type of proactive budgeting provides not only helps you mature financially but also allows others to hold you accountable.
Where did the loud budgeting trend come from?
Loud budgeting was popularized by TikTok user Lukas Battle (@lukasbattle).
The financial trend has been coined “the opposite of quiet luxury” and has become a favorite among younger generations who turn to social media for their financial education.
According to WallStreetZen, 76% of Gen Z learns about personal finance from TikTok and YouTube.
While millions have viewed Battle’s videos, it takes a strong will to implement his ideas.
Loud budgeting requires going against society’s grain, giving up impulse purchases in exchange for financial security.
Does loud budgeting work?
Loud budgeting can help you meet your financial goals by checking your spending.
Once you have a financial goal in place, you can use it to excuse yourself from financial burdens that can throw your budget off track, such as a last-minute vacation or luxury dinner out you can’t afford.
By denying yourself material and experience desires, you can stay in control of your money and meet long-term goals faster. Be satisfied with your money and use it to gain financial freedom.
Yes, you have to be vulnerable to tell your friends and family you can’t attend an event or go out for drinks.
That’s why loud budgeting is genius. You simply say I can’t get drinks with you because I am saving for ___________.
However, you don’t have to cancel all your social events. You can make creative cocktails at home instead of grabbing drinks at the bar.
Being honest and transparent can help you quit the comparison trap, deepen your close relationships, and return to financial basics.
Loud budgeting can help de-stigmatize the financial burdens that many Americans face every day. Using social media to declare your financial decisions can help inspire others to improve theirs.
Remember, like with most things, you must balance spending and saving. If you are always saving, you deny yourself of vital emotional and social interactions.
By spending every once in a while, you can maintain happiness and not live beyond your means.
To maintain control, it’s essential to organize your financial life.
By creating a budget and understanding where your money is going, you can ensure a balance between saving and smart spending.
How to get started
1. Create a personalized financial plan
Don’t worry about where you start. Whether you need to get out of debt or are overdue for a vacation, loud budgeting should be personalized to your lifestyle goals.
Track your income and expenses monthly. Calculate the figures using pen and paper or one of our favorite budgeting apps.
Choose financial goals that are easy to achieve and then continue to push yourself. Setting small goals from the start will ensure the success you need to keep moving forward.
2. Find financial accountability partners
Choose your financial accountability partners wisely.
Ideally, you will share your financial goals with close family and friends who support you and may be interested in hearing about their financial journeys.
If you are saving or spending your money positively, your accountability partners should cheer you on and understand when you decline their social invitations to meet your goals faster. Be secure in saying “no”.
If your support system is more robust on social media, consider documenting your loud budgeting journey.
You can give your followers real-time reports and empower them to make better financial decisions.
Give yourself some grace
Sharing personal finance goals (and fails!) probably won’t go smoothly 100% of the time.
You might feel pressured to give out more information than you are comfortable with or make an impulse purchase. Nobody is perfect, and stumbling when practicing loud budgeting is okay.
If you take a couple of steps backward, recalculate your income and expenses. See where you can make up for your mistake or how you can improve next month.
Your financial goals are always within reach if you are willing to work for them.
Get creative and pivot
Depending on the amount of money you would like to save, it could take months or even years to reach your goal.
You can’t suddenly become a hermit, especially if you are used to spending money on entertainment, travel, or daily lattes.
Instead of envying online influencers, consider de-influencing your life by focusing on the end goal.
Get creative by thinking of ways to still have fun with your friends and family and incorporate self-care throughout the saving process.
Simple ways to save money daily:
- Cancel streaming subscriptions you don’t use
- Pack your lunch instead of eating out at work
- Trim your grocery budget
- Create a coffee bar at home and ditch your daily caffeine drive-thru.
- Start a side hustle
- Delay large purchases
- Pick up a side hustle to earn money for fun times!
Start a side hustle to help your budget
If you’ve saved every penny you can while but still want to enjoy life, consider starting a side hustle.
Fun side hustle ideas:
- Write an ebook about a hobby or skill you have
- Start a virtual assistant business
- Bake and sell dog treats or start a dog walking business
- Start a blog about your favorite topics
- Create digital printables
- Start a print on demand shop
Be loud, be proud
Loud budgeting isn’t a revolutionary idea, but it is a good reminder that saving for long-term financial goals is possible and essential for financial freedom.
Changing the way you view your money can increase financial awareness. By sharing your journey publicly, you can engage others to achieve the same financial security you seek.
How will you be joining the loud budgeting movement this year?
