you don't

I like this explanation of UTXO - https://armantheparman.com/utxo/

It's like coins I'm my pocket, and if I don't have the exact amount I should pay more to get changes back

A UTXO is like a single bill. In bitcoin the bills can be any size, in dollars they're only specific sizes.

The bitcoin network is like a bank teller. You can take 2x $5 bills to the bank and get back a $10. Or split a $10 into two $5s.

I can pay you $15 either by

In bitcoin the bills can be any size. $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, etc. but it works the exact same way.

They are like gold coins or bars..... 1/10th oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2oz, 1oz, 1lb, 1kg.... except because they are digital coins, they the size is customized by the Bitcoin network to give you 'exact change' after each transaction.

Like using a chocolate bar as a means of payment. You can break it up into smaller chunks to purchase, and you can get random chunks back when you sell, but once they are separated from the main bar, they don't just stick back to the entire bar. The only way to make them all one bar is to melt it back together with a Coinjoin chocolate bar maker. The excess will be scrapped off and can be Atomic Swapped for future use.

A utxo is like a cash money bill in your wallet, except it can be for any amount and when you use it to pay for something that is less than that amount it's more like coins that you melt down and get new ones of different sizes to use, but its not like you make the pizza bigger when you cut it into more slices so really what you need to know is that its like a postcard and when you spend it on something everybody else can see where it came from so you don't want to reuse the same return address. Its pretty much a link in a cryptographically verified chain of electronic global consensus for humanity.

Don't even get me started on what a lightning channel is.

Here it is! Although I'm thinking on reworking this one, too;

A transaction- UTXO’s, new output(s), input(s) and previous output(s).

A transaction locks value (bitcoin) to an address or a script, it does this by creating new output(s) (also referred to as (UTXO’s, Unspent Transaction Outputs), by creating input(s) onto the respective receiving address.

An address “locks” value (bitcoin) to be spent, say, a given address receives five deposits, consisting of : 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 BTC.

The address now holds a combined value of 1.5 BTC, consisting of the five individual deposits.

These individual deposits are UTXO’s, or new outputs, which means that the owner of the address in question now has five new outputs at his disposal.

New outputs are Bitcoin’s version of deposits available to be spent.

The owner of the address above now decides to deposit his bitcoin onto another address, thus creating a new output through an input onto the receiving address, but what is, or does, an input do?

An input refers to the process of creating a new output, that includes specifying which of the available UTXO’s are to be spent on new outputs, creating a chain-of-ownership, and authorizing the transaction with the owner’s digital signature, thus providing proof-of-ownership as well as signing the new output with the input’s specific script signature, ensuring that the new output can’t be changed on a later stage.

● Each transaction is signed by the owner through a digital signature, which is achieved by applying the private key to the transaction data, which produces a numerical signature, this numerical signature is referred to as a “digital signature”.

● UTXO’s are able to be poured into new UTXO’s with bigger or smaller values, i.e: two UTXO’s of 0.1 and 0.2 BTC respectively are poured together into one UTXO of 0.3 BTC.

● Each UTXO requires its own signature.

The UTXO’s spent in the above transaction are now referred to as previous outputs, since they don’t hold any spendable value anymore.

Transactions also receive an identification number, referred to as a TXID (Transaction ID), which is created through hashing a transaction’s transaction data (the respective inputs and outputs) twice through the SHA256-function.

I think it's too technical and essentially too big of an oomph for starters. There's way better, simpler explanations out there, but maybe it's of value to some.

I'm not even fully convinced myself if the above is 100% correct, although I've been told it is.

Because Bitcoin is such a new and innovative technology its pretty hard to find an easy analogy.

It needs a longer explanation and even knowledgeable bitcoiners are still learning about how to spend UTXO's and all their intricacies.

Its a check

It's a cash note

If you liken Bitcoin to gold, then a UTXO is a concrete piece of gold. The blockchain is an unambiguous record of:

The only thing you can do with a piece of bitcoin is to "spend" it, that is move it(*) to a different owner. In that process, you can freely "cut" it into more pieces of arbitrary size, and send each one wherever you want (including yourself, a.k.a. "change").

You can also combine multiple pieces into one (consolidation) or join other owners in a transaction where you "melt" your pieces together and create a bunch of different pieces (CoinJoin), somewhat obscuring the trail of money.

(*) Technically, pieces are not actually moved. When a transaction is recorded, all pieces ("inputs") contributing to it are considered to be "spent"/consumed/destroyed and as such cease to exist. A transaction then produces new pieces (the "outputs") whose total size is equal to the total size of inputs (minus miner fees).

Dollar bills :)

Hold on boy! Let me see where I got that summary of mine!

I have a hard enough time explaining it to myself.

Not sure what normies means however yesterday I had to explain it so here was my way (not perfect though):

It's like dollar bills