9 Signs You Have a YOLO Attitude Towards Money

Think you have good financial habits? Check to see if you have any of these YOLO attitudes towards money.

It’s true that from a certain perspective, we all only live once. We’re all for cherishing the fragile fleetness of life, but somehow, YOLO has turned into a justification for reckless spending.

We don’t know. Since you only live once, isn’t having enough money to live comfortably - now and in future - kind of the point?

Here are 9 signs YOLO is going to cost you your future.

1. You Keep Opening Bottle After Bottle

It’s Friday and you’re chilling with the gang, knocking back more than your fair share. You’re having such a good time that you don’t want to leave. So you open bottle after bottle, just to keep the party going.

The inevitable hangover may be easy to deal with. But not so the inflated credit card bill, and the compounding interest which you are now in danger of paying.

2. You Extend Your Holiday On A Whim

You’re on the last day of your holiday, but you’re just not yet ready to leave. The thought of that 4-hour marathon meeting you’ll have to attend the following day only makes it worse. You can’t even…

After a hurried email to your boss requesting emergency leave, you thumb open your Scoot app to change your flight. You’ll have to pay a change fee and the difference in fare, but c’mon, that’s a small price to pay for a few more days in paradise.

Oh, and so are the extra hotel charges and spending money you now need. Good thing your credit card allows cash advance, right?  

3. You Buy On Store Credit

You’re in love with the LG Signature InstaView 2-door refrigerator. Its burnished steel good looks and automatic doors are just the perfect fit for your new geek-chic kitchen.

But you’ve exhausted all your credit cards buying the rest of your furniture. You decide to buy the refrigerator on store credit. The interest is higher, but you’ll be paying in instalments, so you’ll hardly feel the pinch, right?

Anyway, you don’t really have a choice. You don’t have a credit card with a high enough limit to cover the S$10,000 price tag to begin with.

4. You Don’t Have Long-Term Servings

From Sunday Champagne brunches to the latest accessories and gadgets, there always seems to be another reason to spend your whole paycheck.

Yes, you should spend S$500 this month on that GoPro. How else are you gonna properly document your New Zealand whale-watching trip coming up next month.? Then the month after, you should definitely spend another S$500 for that dinner party, so you can host a screening of your life-changing expedition.

Or you could forego the GoPro and the screening, and get by with Instagram stories like the rest of us. You’ll be S$1,000 richer, but where’s the fun in that?

5. You Don’t Have Short-term Savings Either

At least you saved up for your whale-watching holiday, right?

Oh, you took a personal loan to pay for your once-in-a-lifetime holiday. And it’s ok because you swear you won’t miss a single instalment payment. And you don’t mind being in debt for the next 3 years.

Hmmm, if only there was another way you could have funded your trip…

6. You Go Shopping On Payday

When payday rolls around, you find yourself wandering the nearest shopping mall that very same evening. You don’t really need anything, but you’re making a circuit of all your favourite stores all the same.

Yes, you’ve worked hard for your salary so you totally deserve to buy yourself a treat. Go ahead and get that pair of purple sneakers; completing the rainbow on your shoe rack is surely more important than putting that S$250 into your emergency fund.  

7. You Change Your Mobile Phone Every Year

Hey, it’s August. The newest iPhone should be releasing soon. You’ve already made plans to get a new phone, even though the iPhone 7s you’re probably reading this on is still in perfect condition, inside and out.

You won’t need to pay more than S$500 for your new handset, because you’re subscribed on the most expensive mobile carrier plan? Well, that sounds like a good deal, if you put it that way. Surely, the joy of owning a slightly different looking phone is worth paying every month for talktime and SMSes you hardly use.

8. You Know Your Uber Or Grab Driver By Name

You’ve been using Uber or Grab so much that you now have a regular driver, which you know on a first-name basis.

It such a coincidence. Every time you need to go for your spin class in town, Chin Keong just happens to be starting his shift nearby. With your love of ride hailing, and his passion to drive people to their destinations, it was inevitable that you both would become fast friends.

Taking public transport to the gym is not ideal because you may sweat. Far better to spend money so you arrive for your workout in comfort and style.

9. You Go Out Because You Need To Spice Up Your Instagram

Yayoi Kusama is in town with her lovely installations. Everyone knows that art exhibitions are temporary, so you’d better go and take photos for your Instagram account.

And of course you’ll be dressing up to the nines - it’s an art gallery you’re visiting, not the hawker centre. Oh, better call an Uber or Grab, you don’t want to ruin your look in the tropical heat.

While you’re out and about, why not head over to that newly Michelin-starred restaurant for dinner after? Gotta keep your Instagram likes coming, yeah?

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By Alevin Chan

A Certified Financial Planner with a curiosity about what makes people tick, Alevin's mission is to help readers understand the psychology of money. He's also on an ongoing quest to optimise happiness and enjoyment in his life.