TikTok Financial Advice: Real or Fake?

There is all sorts of financial information online, and that includes TikTok. However, it’s hard to tell if this information is legitimate or dishonest. Does any truth back up this information? Can ‘finance bros’ help you make informed financial decisions? Let’s do a deep dive.

Gabe Bult: How To Save $10K FAST (Money Saving Tips)

We came across Gabe Bult’s TikTok page after seeing a video explaining how he saved up $25,000 by the time he was 22 and while being under the median income. We decided to look into it and discovered his YouTube page, where this video, which is a more in-depth explanation of his budget plan.

He makes many excellent points and explains how he’s accomplished a goal that seems almost too good to be true nowadays. He promotes financial literacy, independence, and frugal living on social media. 

In the YouTube video, Bult explains the $27.40/Day rule. He follows this rule and saves money daily by using this method every month. It seems simple enough too.

He explains that the best way to increase income alongside a job is by saving and cutting out useless expenses wherever you can every month. Cut out a coffee run, stop buying clothes every month unless you desperately need to, bring a lunch to work, cancel an unused subscription, and eat out less. Another way to make more income outside of a job is side hustling. A side hustle can be anything from creating and monetizing a social media following, flipping products on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, or utilizing and monetizing a hobby. If you save $833 a month and stick by this method, you will have saved $10,000 in a year.

His Tiktok and content make sense, but living frugally isn’t for everyone. He also doesn’t like budgeting, yet he lives by a saving budget. Perhaps this behavior starts with a strict budget and then becomes a habit, but at the same time, saving this much money may be challenging for many people. The comments give some solace as people share their saving journey and how they’ve done with this method and have saved a lot in a year, meaning this could work for you.

Advice Grade: B-
 

Crypto Bros: Boom or Bust?

This isn't a critique of a specific content creator, mainly a critique of an entire section of the TikTok financial content sector. Both stock market and crypto advice can cause problems for many young investors, but our principal stickler is crypto enthusiasts.

Take a look at the market right now. Between FTX’s bankruptcy drama, the NFT market collapsing, and scams and rugpulls rampant, crypto is a volatile market with significant risk. Due to its unregulated nature, crypto is a double-edged sword; the unregulated blockchain is positive and negative. Because of this volatility factor, TikTok creators are shilling many coins as a glorified get-rich-quick scheme. 

Bottom line, don’t fall for fake news, analysis, or advice from social media, especially bogus claims that cryptocurrencies (or even stocks, for that matter) will blast off “to the moon.” If you want to dabble in crypto, consider your risks, look for verified info and news from sites like CoinDesk, and only invest money you can afford to lose. Because if you invest in a coin that is said to become gold, you may be left with nothing more than arcade tokens.

Advice Grade: F
 

Automatic Tools that help you Save

Creator AMoochLife, the developer of an app of the same name, creates budgeting spreadsheets that automatically help people get into a habit of health spending. This TikTok shows off an automatic spreadsheet that helps users figure out how much they can spend per day. I read the comments of someone who used the spreadsheet for half a month after getting their paycheck, and the reviews for the spreadsheet make it look convenient and helpful.

AMoochLife has other spreadsheets on their page, so definitely check it out!

Advice Grade: A+

Don’t just scroll around for financial advice. Learn with us! We recommend using financial literacy and education apps Banzai and Zogo, both of which are free. Check them out and get saving! Zogo is excellent to utilize every day, and you can even earn points to use for rewards. ALLIANCE and Banzai recently collaborated to bring financial education to 14 schools in Lubbock, Abernathy, Idalou, and Wolfforth, teaching students of all grade levels real-world economic scenarios.