YOLO
You Only Live Once
The term above is popularly used among today’s youth. It promotes the value of how young people should spend their time like it’s the last; in other words, to live their best life.
Enjoying our lives is something that we deserve, which also often associated with more vacation and less (to none) work. Overwhelmed with information and contents that constantly ‘motivate’ us to live a YOLO life, we find ourselves filled with so much anxiety for not being able to fulfil the ‘dream life’ (or the life we think is supposed to be our dream).
Yet this ‘eternal vacation’ fantasy needs funding. Like it or not, the problem that keeps us from having a YOLO life comes down to money.
This doesn’t mean that it’s your fault for not having or earning enough money to live a YOLO life. There is nothing wrong with having a life where you can’t use your credit card carelessly and where you still have to face the bills every month. In fact, almost everyone else is having this kind of life and only a handful of people got a YOLO life.
The thing is, with the image of this cool, happy and dynamic life, the youth are inclined to imitate it as best they could. Unfortunately, it’s been costing them a fortune. Moreover, they start to ignore long term plans and emergency funds, as ‘long-term’ and ‘later’ is quite the opposite of YOLO’s core value.
The flow usually goes like this: young people get their allowance or payment at the end of the month. They use it to pay off the previous month’s debts and spend the rest on things that “makes them happy now” like… trying out new trampoline park in town, no-special-occasion fine dining, TGIFs. Then nearing the end of the month (or even mid-month), they struggle to even feed themselves. Running out of cash, they opt for debts; credit cards, get loans from friends. Then the cycle goes on.
Oversaving isn’t healthy either. You focus on saving so much that you don’t get to enjoy the present. However, there should be a balance between saving and spending: intentions.
It is okay to spend money on things that simply makes you happy, but there is a difference between impulsive and intentional spending. This goes to wise calculation over the worth of your spending and how you can still be financially secured (still having enough amount of emergency funds in your savings, no overdue debts and pay the bills in time) after the purchase.
Determine what makes you happy, then plan your finances to afford as much of it as possible. Surely falling into debts and not having emergency funds when you get an accident is not something that will make you happy. So put security in your “YOLO goals” as well.