What Is The “Loud Budgeting” TikTok Trend And Can It Actually Work?

The onset of a new year can often mean adopting new behaviors or hacks to help reach your financial goals — and for some social media users, this year is all about “loud budgeting.”

The term went viral on TikTok at the beginning of 2024, with one video racking up over 1.4 million views as of Jan.16. Below, CNBC Select breaks down what you need to know about loud budgeting and how you might be able to use it to reach some of your financial goals.

Loud budgeting is a money-saving technique that involves declining social opportunities — such as grabbing dinner with a friend or going to that destination wedding — when it puts your financial goals in jeopardy, and telling people that’s the reason you aren’t going.

When it comes to maintaining our relationships, it can often be difficult to forego the catch-up brunch or the friend group vacation everyone says you’ll remember forever when you have money on your mind. So individuals often feel like they have no choice but to begrudgingly accept the invite — and the financial ramifications that may follow.

The idea with loud budgeting is to simply empower more people to be comfortable with speaking up about the financial goals that are most top of mind right now.

Regardless, loud budgeting can help you mentally reframe a missed opportunity into a positive action you’re taking to meet a long-term goal. “Prioritizing savings and doing it proudly seems like a great idea,” says Elizabeth Schwab, Program Chair of the Behavioral Economics and Business Psychology Divisions at The Chicago School. “It de-stigmatizes what many Americans are feeling and experiencing.”

However, Schwab does point out that you need to strike a balance between putting money toward your savings and doing activities that give your life joy. “Declining all of those social invites eventually takes its toll on us socially and emotionally,” she says.

Staying organized about your savings and tracking your goals will play a vital role in helping you achieve that balance. For instance, you might consider a savings account that lets you create different “buckets” for different goals. The Wealthfront Cash Account lets you do this by creating categories that represent your goals (like building an emergency fund or saving for a down payment) and then transferring money to each category.

And of course, budgeting apps can be useful tools to help you decide whether you have to decline that coffee invite to reach your goal. CNBC Select has picked Goodbudget as its favorite budging app for beginners, and You Need a Budget (YNAB) is a great choice for users who want more advanced options.

Loud budgeting may not be a new idea since it simply involves honesty about your financial goals, but it’s a reminder to stay committed to those goals. The social media trend can even have positive ripple effects by allowing you to inspire others to do the same. After all, there’s strength in numbers and working with someone with similar goals may even make things more fun.

At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Elizabeth Schwab, the Program Chair of the Behavioral Economics and Business Psychology Divisions at The Chicago School.

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