7 ways the lower middle class unintentionally give away their income level on social media – VegOut

Let me start with a confession: I’ve learned as much about money by watching how people post as I have by reading bank statements back when I was a financial analyst.

Social feeds are tiny stages. We all perform. And as Marshall McLuhan famously put it, “the medium is the message.” The platform itself nudges us to reveal more than we realize.

None of this is about shaming. It is about awareness. If you want your online presence to reflect the story you would choose, not one written by algorithmic nudges or momentary stress, these are seven subtle “tells” I see all the time, plus what to do instead.

Quick note: I know I’ve mentioned this book before. I have just finished Rudá Iandê’s new release, Laughing in the Face of Chaos: A Politically Incorrect Shamanic Guide for Modern Life, and his insights kept popping into my head while I wrote this.

The book inspired me to look at how we signal status, stress, and self-worth online, often without meaning to. He believes in authenticity over perfection, and this spirit runs through every tip below.

1. Posting money stress in real time

We have all been there: “Ugh, rent due and my car just died.” Or a late-night story about overdraft fees. It is human. It is honest. It also timestamps a cash-flow crunch for anyone to see and search later.

Why it signals more than you intend: repeated “I’m broke,” “payday can’t come fast enough,” or “anyone know a cheap…?” posts can train your audience, and potential employers or collaborators, to associate you with ongoing financial instability, even if you are just having a rough month.

What to do instead: share the lesson after the storm, not the panic during it. “Spent last week sorting a surprise car repair. Here’s what helped me negotiate the quote and save 15%.” You still get connection and credibility without pinning a stress badge to your profile.

One of Rudá’s themes is that emotions are messengers, not enemies. His insights helped me reframe those panic-post moments. Feel the fear, respect it, and give yourself a beat before you broadcast it.

2. Celebrating purchases by highlighting the financing, not the fit

“I finally got the new phone, $0 down with 24-month financing!” Or “BNPL for the win.” I get the excitement. When the payment plan takes center stage, the subtext is that cash flow is tight.

This is not about avoiding credit. It is about signaling. Thorstein Veblen once wrote that we do not just buy things, we broadcast what we want others to believe those things mean. Emphasizing the financing terms flips the spotlight from “I chose this” to “I stretched for this.”

What to do instead: post the use case, not the loan terms. “Switched to a phone with better low-light photos, night market pics are way clearer now.” If you love a smart financing move, keep the mechanics for a private money chat or a dedicated “how I budget” post where the context is clear.

3. Entering every giveaway and tagging half your contacts

I love a good freebie. I have absolutely tagged my cousin in a coffee giveaway. The tell happens when your grid becomes a running billboard of “tag 3 friends,” “share to your stories daily,” and “follow 12 accounts to enter.”

Why it signals more than you intend: to casual viewers, and to potential clients, it can read as “I am in constant hunt mode,” which can overshadow your actual skills, humor, or work.

What to do instead: corral deal-hunting into a container. Create a Highlight called “Giveaways & deals” so it is not your main feed. Cap entries you post publicly. One a week is plenty. Or make a separate account for your prize-hunting hobby.

If you are monetizing with affiliate links, be explicit: “Yes, it is an affiliate link; here is why I picked this product.” Clarity reads as confidence.

A grounding reminder from Rudá Iandê: meaning comes from within. When I catch myself chasing little external wins, his insights nudge me back to substance over spectacle.

4. Turning the “grind” into your identity

“No days off.” “Sleep when I am dead.” “Three jobs, ten coffees.” Hustle posts can be motivating, and they can also telegraph thin margins. The more you emphasize relentless grind without outcome or purpose, the more people infer you are working this hard to stay afloat, not because you love the craft.

When I coach clients, I ask whether they are sharing effort or evidence. Effort says, “I am busy.” Evidence says, “Here is the finished thing, the impact, the value.” Social comparison is hard to escape online because it is built into the experience. You do not have to feed it.

What to do instead: post the outcome. “After two months of late nights, I am proud of this client before and after.” Or show the boundary. “Logged off at 6 pm so I could actually taste dinner.” Ambition reads better with recovery.

5. Publicly wrangling small charges, tips, and refunds

Screenshots of customer service chats. A 15-slide story about a $12 fee. A comment war over tipping culture. I understand the principle because fees add up. Frequent public fights over small dollar amounts can signal tight cash and high stress.

What to do instead: take escalations private, then share the distilled lesson. “Here is the template I used to get a bogus fee reversed.” You get the moral victory and you position yourself as someone who solves problems, not someone who spirals in them.

Pro tip from my analyst years: keep a note on your phone with your refund script. Having language ready lowers the heat and raises your success rate.

6. Crowdfunding routine setbacks without context

Crowdfunding has saved lives. There is no shame in asking for help. There is also a difference between rallying a community around a crisis and publicly funding every recurring expense. Without context, repeated asks can accidentally brand you as perpetually underwater.

What to do instead: if you need community support, frame it around a clear, time-bound need and what you have already done. “I have covered 60% of the repair. Here is the estimate, and here is my plan to cover the rest.” When the emergency passes, share the update and the gratitude. If you can, set up a private circle, such as a close friends list, email, or a group chat, for sensitive financial asks. A smaller stage makes people more generous and it prevents you from broadcasting fragility to strangers.

A reframe from Rudá Iandê: “Being human means inevitably disappointing and hurting others, and the sooner you accept this reality, the easier it becomes to navigate life’s challenges.” Holding that truth lightly helped me ask for help more thoughtfully, without feeling obligated to overshare to earn it.

7. Announcing windfalls and side-hustle cash the moment they land

“Tax refund came in! Drinks on me.” “Finally got my freelance check, time to splurge.” I get the dopamine hit. The unintended message is volatility, since money news is news because it is rare.

What to do instead: wait a beat. Decide what story you want to tell, such as stability, progress, or generosity. Then post the planned outcome, not the impulse. “Automated 30% to debt, 10% to my emergency fund, treated myself to a new pair of trail shoes.” That reads as real and quietly aspirational.

Why this feels better and more powerful: as Rudá would say, reality is more flexible than you think. Your beliefs shape your behaviors, and your behaviors shape what is possible. When the book inspired me to choose a calmer story to tell about money, my actions started lining up with it.

Final thoughts, and a resource that helped

If a few of these stung, same here. I have done them all at one point or another. Social media compresses context and inflates emotion.

As Erving Goffman argued, we are always managing impressions, front stage and backstage. You do not have to pretend to be wealthy to avoid signaling scarcity. You only need to post with intention.

A simple framework I use:

• Ask why before you hit post. Am I seeking connection, validation, or a solution? If it is validation, can I get that from a person instead of a crowd?
• Share after the lesson, not during the spiral. You will get all the empathy without the digital footprint of panic.
• Lead with values, not prices. Why you chose something is more telling than what it cost.
• Make privacy a strength. Not everything needs to live on the grid to be real.
• Honor your body’s signals. Fatigue, tightness, and restlessness are data. Use them.

This is also where a fresh perspective helps. I took a lot from Rudá Iandê’s Laughing in the Face of Chaos: A Politically Incorrect Shamanic Guide for Modern Life. His insights will not pat you on the head.

They will challenge you to drop the performance and live from the inside out, online and off. The quote I shared earlier is not just a nice sentence. “Their happiness is their responsibility, not yours.” It is practical. It is an antidote to the signaling games that keep so many people stuck.

If you are ready to clean up the subtle signals on your feed and build a money story with less panic and more quiet power, grab the book. I found myself closing a chapter, opening my camera roll, and rewriting captions, not to impress strangers, but to align with who I actually am.

That shift changes everything people read between your lines.

A quick checklist to tighten your signals

• Audit your last 12 posts and stories. How many are about money stress, freebies, or grind? If more than a third, rebalance.
• Create one Highlight for deals, one for wins, and one for work. Clear lanes help.
• Draft two scripts: a refund or fee reversal message, and a crowdfunding update message. Use them when needed, not as default content.
• Decide on three brand adjectives you want your profile to signal, for example calm, resourceful, and generous. Repost with those in mind.
• Before you post, ask whether this reads as scarcity or as sovereignty.

I will leave you with this: social feeds do not just mirror life, they shape it.

Choose the shape that supports your goals. If you still want to post a late-night money rant sometimes, you are human.

Make sure the next post shows your resilience, not just the ricochet. If you want a nudge in that direction, start with Rudá Iandê’s Laughing in the Face of Chaos.

It may not make your life tidy, yet it can make it truer.