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Loud budgeting started as a TikTok trend – it means being vocal about your financial struggles and decisions not to spend. Being open and transparent about money is a refreshing change, helping to break down stigma and get more people talking about their finances. Here’s how it could help you and your peers.
What is loud budgeting?
TikTok trends are often a flash in the pan (remember so demure?) But ‘loud budgeting’ is one that we think, should stay.
Loud budgeting is when you openly tell others that you can’t afford to do something – either because you’re saving, or because of financial struggles.
This breaks the mould, challenging the white lies or ‘beating around the bush’ that we all often do when faced with a situation we can’t afford, or simply, that we don’t want to spend the money on.
The principles of loud budgeting
Loud budgeting is all about being completely honest and transparent about our financial situation.
Loud budgeting means:
- If you can’t afford to do something, you don’t do it AND you are open about your decision not to, rather than making excuses.
- You approach these decisions from a place of empowerment – rather than ‘I can’t afford that’, it’s ‘I’m choosing not to spend on that’.
This second point is key, as it begins to change the way we approach our finances and how we think of them – making a negative, like not having enough money, into a positive, I’m doing something for me.
What does it look like in practice?
Take this situation for example:
- Charlie, an old friend, invites you out for lunch for a catch-up.
- You really want to go because you haven’t seen Charlie for a few months.
- But the restaurant Charlie has chosen is a little pricey.
- You technically could afford to go, but it will throw off your budget for the month.
- You’re really trying to be strict on your budget, so you can cover your debt repayments and bills, plus have enough left over to put away for a holiday you and your partner really want to go on next month.
- You decide you shouldn’t go.
Now, someone (the old you) who isn’t practicing loud budgeting, might reply something like this:
‘‘I’d love to, but I’ve got my in-laws over that day… rain-check?’, or ‘I’m not feeling so well, maybe another time?’.
But someone who is practising loud budgeting would reply something like this:
‘I’d love to see you, but I’m trying to be strict with my budget and only spend on the essentials this month. Me and [partner] really need a holiday, so I’m also trying to save for that. How about a coffee at my place instead?’
Instead of brushing it under the carpet, perpetuating shame, you opened up the conversation and were vulnerable with a friend about your situation.
You never know, they may be in exactly the same boat.
Loud budging can also look like:
- Being open with friends or family about your ability to pay for gifts – for example, attending a wedding but explaining that this means you can’t bring a gift.
- Setting yourself a firm limit on your socialising budget, and not being embarrassed to tell people that you’re not coming to an event due to the cost, rather than making an excuse.
- Asking to pay for your portion of the dinner/drinks bill individually, rather than splitting it equally.
The benefits of loud budgeting
While, of course, a key benefit of loud budgeting is saving money, the benefits can extend way beyond this. Some include:
- Feeling more empowered, through intentional spending.
- Deeping connections with friends or family, through being vulnerable and having difficult conversations about finances.
- Helping to influence the decisions and behaviour of others.
- Forming new, more positive habits.
Breaking down the stigma of debt, together
What started as a throwaway TikTok video, hit a chord with many. This is because the sentiment at the heart of loud budgeting is one that we can all stand to learn from – we simply can’t afford to do everything.
And we should be more open about this. What if we could be transparent about these decisions and feelings, and in the process take ownership of them?
Speaking up about not being able to afford something should be the standard and not something which feels radical or shameful. Trends and methods such as loud budgeting can be a way to address this balance.
Often, the shame of debt can lead to stress and withdrawal from friends and family, and denial about the gravity of the situation. But loud budgeting is the opposite of this – you’re choosing to actively communicate about the choices you are making, and where you are at financially.
Having these conversations regularly about what you can afford, and what you’re choosing to prioritise, is something that we as a society need to see happening more regularly.
Though it may have started as a TikTok trend, it speaks to important elements of both how we approach debt as a society, and the changes we can make to have a more positive financial relationship individually.
