Budgeting and saving are always hot discussion topics, but as the cost of living has risen globally in recent years — reaching crisis levels in many countries — that topic seems to have heated up. So, what are people saying? We used our social listening and analytics solution to see what a year of budget and savings conversations can tell us about the top messaging trends around this crucial subject.
Dive into even more consumer finance data in our banking and financial services industry report.
Humor and relatability drive budget and saving conversations
From October 16, 2023, to October 15, 2024, there were more than 2.6 million social media mentions of keywords and phrases related to budgeting and saving. Those conversations touched on everything from discussions about financial restraints to sharing advice on managing budgets effectively.
Budgeting and saving mentions spiked highest on October 24, 2023 (17x higher than average) when a post on X joking about tight budgets went viral. Meanwhile, the second biggest day for budgeting and saving conversations was February 5, 2024, when mentions spiked 10x higher than average. That day another post on X joking about balancing saving money with enjoying life went viral, with one repost from an influencer reaching about 160,000 users that day alone.
This viral post from February has now been viewed about 9.7 million times.
Notably, the third-highest spike in conversation, 6x higher than average on July 23 this year, was driven by a Reddit post. The post in r/AskReddit asking “What’s your most money consuming hobby?” has generated about 19,000 replies from users revealing the sometimes surprising interests that break their budgets.
Responses to this Reddit post mention everything from watch collections to fancy cheeses to horse ownership.
While this post is not as straightforwardly funny as the other two that drove large spikes, it did include many funny responses. Rather, what seems to have driven the popularity of all three of these posts is relatability — almost all consumers can relate to living on a tight budget and giving in to the urge to spend money on something simply because it brings you joy. These posts are reassurance that other people are facing the same struggle.
Engagement with budget and saving content is seasonal
While the volume of conversation about budgeting and saving had several dramatic spikes throughout the year, spikes and growth in engagement with budgeting and saving content were much more isolated. First, engagement spiked significantly the day after Christmas and just before New Year’s Eve. Those days, several popular posts discussed personal finance and budgeting, including saving money and controlling expenses after the holidays. Some of the posts that generated the most engagement offered budget-friendly recipes and tips for saving money effectively.
After a dip in early June, engagement rose again from late July to early August. At this time, several posts mentioned budgeting for specific items, like wedding gifts and travel, likely reflecting the end-of-summer spending pressures many consumers face.
Finally, engagement has currently been rising since mid-September 2024, largely due to an increase in conversations about national budgets, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Overall, these trends suggest that transition periods — just after top spending occasions like holidays and vacation time, as well as elections and national budget talks — are when social media users are most concerned with budgeting and saving.
Takeaways for marketers
Money and personal finances can be sensitive topics, but humor and frankness get social media users buzzing about the topic. While funny posts give people catharsis from anxiety about their spending, posts about budget-friendly recipes and DIY hacks offer them some of the solutions they are hungry for. Still, social media users are looking for more detailed insight into how they can effectively save money.
The hunt for insight into how to get by in today’s economic landscape is part of why money-focused subreddits like r/personalfinance, r/Money, and others are so popular in this conversation.
Marketers, especially in the finance sector, have many untapped opportunities to bring consumers valuable budgeting and saving information. However, that information needs to draw attention with humor, creativity, relatability, and authentic insight into common financial pressures or risk being lost to the black hole of the internet.
