I’m shamed for ‘loud budgeting’ – trolls say I lie but I’m not embarrassed to eat whipped cream pasta & ‘pork butt’
A SAVVY mum has revealed her ‘loud budget’ life to help fans save money, but trolls say she just makes them feel broke.
American mum-of-two Emy has jumped on a TikTok trend called ‘loud budgeting’.
The viral concept, coined by Lukas Battle, describes people who shout about having money and the frugal things they do so they don’t have to spend it.
Emy, a self-confessed middle-class woman, has divided her followers after sharing how much she budgets for her family’s food.
In a recent video, she grinned in her spotless white kitchen before explaining her surprising daily spend.
“How much I spent today as a middle class mum on a budget,” she writes, waving at the camera.
She jumps into her top-of-the-range electric car, drops her son at the school gate, then makes her first ‘frugal’ purchase of the day.
“I went over to Starbucks and got my drink of the week. I also got a snack which will be my eating out for the week,” she shares, displaying a regular iced matcha green latte and two mini egg bites.
The coffee shop treats set Emy back just over £12 ($15.53), which raised eyebrows among her followers.
One user remarked: “How is that Starbucks order almost $16?!”
And a second agreed: “This was the only expense and I thought it was too much.”
Emy finished her drink as she wrote her shopping list, splitting foods into categories such as produce – fruit and vegetables – and meats including ‘pork butt’.
At US store Sam’s Club, she packs a supersized trolley full of food including salad, fruit, eggs and meat.
“This is my Sam’s Club haul. I got some stuff for dinners this week and then also just some things that we like to snack on throughout the week,” she says, revealing a total bill of £92.38 ($117.06).
Then she heads over to supermarket number two: HEB.
“We went over to HEB and this was my haul from there,” she says, filming another large trolley full of produce from tortilla chips to micro broccoli, granola and brussels sprouts, totalling £64.17 ($81.32).
“We are a family of four and this is what we’re going to be eating this week.”
Then Emy stops at her local Crocs store, where she snaps up a cute pair of baby-sized blue Crocs complete with shark, digger and letter ‘S’ accessories.
The birthday present cost £42.26 ($53.55).
Emy’s budget got a boost soon after, as she popped to US department store Marshalls to make a return worth £11 ($14).
“I returned the hangers that I bought a couple of days ago because I didn’t end up needing them,” she says.
For dinner, Emy made tortellini with sausage with frozen spinach and a marinara sauce, adding an unusual ingredient.
“This was whipped cream cheese because it’s all that we had,” she confessed.
Emy’s spend totalled $253.40, and while most of her followers were full of praise, others were totally appalled.
One stunned user wrote: “You are clearly not on a budget.”
A second said: “I would like to be middle class now. I didn’t realise how low in class I was until seeing this.”
A second commented: “The Starbucks would’ve been the end of my daily budget.”
A third replied: “‘On a budget’ looks a little different in my house. That budget does not include Starbucks and 60 dollars at the Croc store.”