Fashionable Frugality
Wherever people gather and whatever is up for discussion, there comes a time when pretty much everything has been said but not everyone has said it. So, the meeting goes on . . . and on.
Chastened by this knowledge, I see no need for another review of the president’s State of the Union address or a Republican rebuttal so weirdly over the top it practically begged to be parodied.
I turn my attention instead to the trendiest of trends, something called “loud budgeting,” apparently quite a thing on TikTok. So far as I can tell, it’s part personal finance strategy, part lifestyle choice, part fashion statement. It’s said to be a reaction to the “quiet luxury” trend, itself a response to the conspicuous consumption of old.
To the uninitiated like me, loud budgeting comes across as frugality shouted from the rooftops. In his viral video, the TikToker who coined the term tells viewers how he’d turn down an invitation to go hang out with a friend with an explicit pronouncement that he’s on a tight budget and can’t afford to pay for gas to drive over to listen to him complain about his exes. He doesn’t say whether they’re still friends.
Being performative about pinching pennies might not be my style, but I’m cheered by this effort to make financial responsibility cool. I might question the wisdom of putting thrift ahead of fellowship, but I sympathize with loud budgeters’ need to adapt to daunting economic challenges.
I’m also impressed by young people taking this turn despite having been marinated in materialism from infancy. Kids view something like 40,000 advertisements annually, meaning they’re exposed to upwards of three quarters of a million advertisements during their childhood. Our country has 3% of the world’s children, but kids here have 40% of the world’s toys.
Plenty’s been said about the state of the union. Not nearly enough is said about how American culture can too easily be summed up in two words: commercial and transactional. It fills me with hope that these cultural norms are being challenged by up-and-comers determined to redefine success. Whether they espouse loud budgeting or minimalism or some other variation on the theme, they’ve got their eyes on the right prize.
Fads come and go, what’s trending today is tired tomorrow. Hopefully, when it’s no longer cool enough to blow up TikTok, the idea that there’s so much more to life than accumulating stuff will find permanent lodging in the hearts of many.