Photography credit: Nadia Vanderhall, Felicia Sneddon, Afolabi Mosuro.
If you're reexamining your monthly expenses in light of the market turmoil, personal finance influencers are ready to help.
President Donald Trump's new tariff policies have sent markets downward, resulting in a wave of uncertainty for business owners and everyday consumers.
So, what should you do? We asked top finance influencers to share their No. 1 pieces of advice in the current economic climate. Rather than act on impulse, the influencers said not to panic. A few of them mentioned the idea of creating a smart budget.
"Your budget is just a plan for how to pace your money for the month," said Nadia Vanderhall, a financial planner and LinkedIn influencer. "It's really about knowing what's coming in, what's going out."
Here are the key budgeting takeaways the influencers shared:
Avoid getting "caught with your pants down" by establishing a cushion in the event of a job loss, said Mal Baska, who has 31,000 followers on Instagram account Money Talk Mal.
"Ensure you have a solid cash cushion, or emergency fund, in a high-yield savings account," Baska said. "If not, budget to optimize this cushion and safety net."
YouTuber Sebastian Fung, whose AskSebby account has 312,000 subscribers, recommends having 6 to 12 months of expenses in savings, especially if you are concerned about layoffs.
"I would look into money market funds or high-yield savings accounts — that way, you're still earning interest while maintaining liquidity," he said.
If prices begin to go up, Vanderhall said to look at your last month's spending to see what expenses have increased and use that information to shape your budget for the next month.
Vanderhall said to start with real numbers: Look at your actual income and expenses by analyzing your bank and credit card statements from the last 30 to 60 days.
Break your budget down into categories such as bills, groceries, transportation, debt, savings, and "fun" money.
There are several ways to track a budget, but it's important to use a method that matches your lifestyle, Vanderhall said. That could be writing it down, using a spreadsheet, or using an app.
Tolani Eweje, who writes the Substack newsletter The Creator Success Club, said simple budgets stick.
She uses this framework:
If your income fluctuates month-to-month, base it on your last six months' average, she said.
Once you've evaluated your budget, go a step further by trying to lower your costs. Baska said you should start soon if you are worried about price increases.
"Negotiate your auto insurance, cellphone, medical bills, salary, etc.," Baska said. "Now is the time to lock in pricing before companies really get hit."
When it comes to salary, take the time to learn your state's salary history and transparency laws, said Hannah Williams, creator of Salary Transparent Street.
"Not knowing your market rate and legal protections leaves you vulnerable to being underpaid and taken advantage of by employers looking to save on their bottom line," Williams said.
If you're more of a spreadsheet person, you can build your own budget sheet using Google Sheets or Excel, said Bola Sokunbi, the creator of Clever Girl Finance with 356,000 followers on Instagram.
"But if you're more into apps, the best one is the one you'll actually use," Sokunbi said.
She recommends browsing the top-reviewed budgeting apps in your phone's app store and testing a few out until you find one that fits your lifestyle.
The finance influencers recommended several apps, including Lunch Money, Monarch Money, Copilot Money, Origin Financial, and tMoney.
"Setting realistic budget parameters and spending categories is key to success and sustainability," Baska said.
Instead of evaluating your finances at the end of each month, Fung recommends doing it weekly so that you can adjust as needed.
That way if you spent too much money eating out, you can plan to cook the following week, Fung said. That's especially true if prices are changing quickly, which could happen if tariffs have an impact.
But if you want to cut down on your going-out budget, figure out how to still have fun.
"Find other ways to keep yourself occupied," Sokunbi said. "All those subscriptions that we all pay for, it's time to use them. Use your Netflix, your Hulu, and your Apple TV subscriptions. Leverage your library app. There are so many things that you can use to occupy your time."
Earlier this week, when it seemed as though TikTokâs fate in the US would actually be decided by April 5th, everyone â from Amazon to the founder of OnlyFans â was coming out of the woodwork to buy it.
As it turns out, none of them had a chance. And now, thanks to President Donald Trumpâs tariff war, no one may get to buy TikTok.
People familiar with the matter tell me that, despite all of the bids for the app, the White House was only seriously considering an Oracle-led consortium, which included many of ByteDanceâs biggest investors who were set to roll their stakes into a new, US entity.
The proposal, which would have licensed the appâs algorithm from China and shuffled some shareholder money around to make TikTok look more independent from ByteDance, was set to be announced before President Trump went nuclear on tariffs. As others have reported and Iâve independently confirmed, his tariff announcement on Wednesday torched any immediate chance of the TikTok proposal being blessed by the Chinese government.
On Friday, less than an hour after Trump said he was pushing back the clock on banning TikTok by another 75 days to finish working out a deal, ByteDance …
First things first, some exciting news: The Vergecast has been nominated for a Webby Award! This one means a lot to us, especially because itâs an award you get to vote on. Weâd be so grateful if youâd go vote for us once, or 40 times, or however many times the site will allow. (Also, honestly, you should listen to some of the other nominees; all four are great shows. Just donât vote for them.)
Now, as for this episode. This is a seriously Vergecast-y week, actually, in the sense that two of the yearâs biggest news stories â the Nintendo Switch 2 and the Trump administrationâs disastrous economic policy â are both unfolding simultaneously, and stand to affect one another in unusually direct ways. So in this episode, thatâs what we talk about: the gadget weâre all eagerly awaiting, and the policy chaos that could change the way it works.
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First, we talk Switch. Nintendoâs Direct announcement this week brought a lot of new information about the companyâs new console, and a peek at some of its most anticipated games. Nilay, David, and The Vergeâs Richard Lawler dig into wha …
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Adtech company AppLovin has submitted a last-minute bid to acquire TikTok's operations outside China, joining a crowded list of suitors a day before a US TikTok ban is set to take effect.
AppLovin confirmed it submitted a preliminary "indication of interest" to President Donald Trump in a Thursday SEC filing.
The company, which helps developers market and advertise their apps, said in the filing that "there can be no assurance" that a transaction involving TikTok would proceed.
It's unclear exactly how AppLovin would finance or structure a deal, given TikTok's vast scale. TikTok's US operations are estimated to have a sale value of $40 billion to $50 billion.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has previously suggested TikTok's global valuation could exceed $100 billion, potentially reaching $200 billion if its algorithm is included in the calculation. AppLovin has a market capitalization of just over $89 billion.
The bid places AppLovin among a growing list of late-stage suitors vying for TikTok as US lawmakers push for the app's separation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
This week, Amazon put in a last-minute bid to buy TikTok, The New York Times reported. And on Wednesday, Reuters reported that a consortium led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely had submitted an intent to bid on TikTok.
They add to a flurry of other names that have been linked to buying TikTok.
Oracle has emerged as a leading contender, according to multiple reports, with a deal reportedly involving oversight of TikTok's US user data.
The YouTuber MrBeast said in January that he was part of a group making an all-cash offer for TikTok's US operations.
Other parties linked to a TikTok deal include Microsoft, Walmart, video-sharing platform Rumble, and AI startup Perplexity.
TikTok's future in the US has been uncertain since April 2024, when Congress mandated ByteDance divest TikTok's US business or face a nationwide ban. After taking office in January, Trump extended that deadline by 75 days.
The White House has been directly involved in deal talks as national security concerns remain central to negotiations.
On Wednesday, Trump introduced an effective 54% tariff rate on Chinese imports. The president told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday it gives the US "great power" to negotiate and a potential bargaining chip in a TikTok deal. On Friday, China announced a 34% tariff on all products imported from the US.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Donald Trump is once again waving a tariff reduction carrot at China to get it to cave on a TikTok deal.
Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One on Thursday, a day after imposing a baseline 10% tariff on imports from all countries and increasing China's tariff rate to 54%.
He said he would be open to cutting deals with countries over the tariffs, only if they're willing to give the US "something that's so phenomenal."
"For instance, with TikTok as an example, we have the situation with TikTok, where China will probably say, 'We'll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariff?'" Trump said.
"The tariffs give us great power to negotiate, always have," he added.
When another reporter asked if he was in talks with China to grant tariff relief in exchange for a deal on TikTok, Trump replied that he was not.
Trump has previously floated the possibility of using tariffs to negotiate a TikTok deal with China.
In a press conference on March 26, Trump said China will have to "play a role" in TikTok's sale, "possibly in the form of an approval."
"Maybe I'll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done, you know, because every point in tariffs is worth more money than TikTok," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
This comes as TikTok's divest-or-ban deadline, slated for April 5, edges closer. In April 2024, the Senate passed a law ordering TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell its stake in the social media platform or have it banned in the US.
When he entered office in January, Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban by 75 days, temporarily preventing it from going dark for US users.
In the last few months, several parties have indicated interest in acquiring TikTok, like Trump's former treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and YouTuber MrBeast.
There have also been reports of several eleventh-hour bids from Amazon and the owner of adult content site OnlyFans to buy the platform.
Vice President JD Vance said in a Thursday interview with Fox News that a TikTok deal would be reached before the April 5 deadline.
On Wednesday, Trump raised China's tariff rate from 20% to 54%, drawing criticism from the Chinese government.
Trump first imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods in February before doubling it to 20% in March. While on the campaign trail last year, Trump said he would impose tariffs of more than 60% tariffs on goods from China if elected.
China swiftly retaliated to both rounds of Trump's tariffs. In February, China imposed a 10% tariff on crude oil and agricultural equipment and a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas. In March, China placed a 10% tariff on soybeans, pork, and beef imports from the US, as well as a 15% tariff on chicken and cotton imports.
In response to Trump's increased tariffs on Wednesday, China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement it will "resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests."
"Trade wars have no winners, and protectionism has no way out. The Chinese side urges the US to immediately lift its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with trading partners through equal dialogue," it added.
As of press time, China has not announced any retaliatory measures.
Representatives for Trump did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
TikTok is shutting down Notes, its photos-sharing app that rivaled Instagram. In a notification to users, the TikTok Notes team says the app will stop working starting May 8th, and “all related features will no longer be available.”
TikTok first rolled out Notes in April of last year, which lets users share photos alongside a caption, as well as scroll through a “For You” feed with recommended content. The app was initially rolled out in limited testing to Australia and Canada.
The decision to close the app “was not made lightly,” according to TikTok’s message. It also suggests that users try out Lemon8, another social platform owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance.
Lemon8 lets users share both photos and videos, and has a focus on lifestyle topics, like beauty, food, fashion, travel, and pets. Though TikTok started nudging users toward the app in the days leading up to its brief shutdown in the US, Lemon8 was also taken offline by the ban.
“We’re excited to bring the feedback from TikTok Notes to Lemon8 as we continue building a dedicated space for our community to share and experience photo content, designed to complement and enhance the TikTok experience,” a TikTok spokesperson said to TechCrunch.
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