YOLO: Why Saving Money is for Boring People (Spoiler: I Was Wrong)
A Cautionary Tale from Your Friendly Neighborhood Financial Disaster
Listen up, friends! I'm here to tell you why saving money is absolutely, positively, definitely the WORST idea ever. Who needs financial security when you can have seventeen pairs of limited-edition sneakers that you'll wear exactly twice? Who needs a retirement fund when there's a new iPhone every year that's exactly 2% better than the last one?
You Only Live Once! That's right, just one singular, solitary life. And you know what that means? You should definitely spend every penny you earn on avocado toast, craft beer, and those impulse purchases at 2 AM when you're scrolling through Instagram ads. Future You? That person is a myth, a legend, basically a unicorn. They don't exist, so why would you save money for them?
I mean, look at me. Last year, I decided that budgeting was for people who hate fun. I threw caution to the wind like a financial frisbee. Every paycheck was a celebration! Sushi for breakfast? Why not! That expensive concert three cities away? Book it! A subscription box for artisanal cheese that costs more than my internet bill? Obviously essential.
"A penny saved is a penny that could have been spent on bubble tea with extra toppings." - Ancient Proverb I Just Made Up
The beauty of the YOLO lifestyle is its simplicity. See money in your account? Spend it. See something shiny? Buy it. See a friend posting about their vacation? Book an even more expensive one to assert dominance. It's basically the circle of life, except instead of a circle, it's a downward spiral, and instead of life, it's your credit score.
And let's talk about those people who save money. What a bunch of party poopers! They're probably at home right now, looking at their boring spreadsheets, tracking their expenses, planning for the future like absolute nerds. Meanwhile, I'm living my best life! Sure, I had instant ramen for dinner five nights in a row, but one of those nights, I added an egg. Fancy!
Retirement? That's literally decades away. By then, we'll probably have flying cars and robot butlers who work for free. Why would I need money in the future when technology will solve everything? Plus, I read somewhere that millennials invented not retiring. We're just going to work forever while also being too young to be taken seriously and too old to understand TikTok. The dream!
⚠️ Reality Check Incoming ⚠️
Okay, okay. I need to pause my stand-up comedy routine here because Past Me was an absolute disaster, and Present Me has learned some things. Mostly painful things. Expensive things.
Here's what nobody tells you about YOLO-ing your way through your twenties and thirties: Eventually, life YOLOs you back. And it doesn't play fair.
Remember that time I needed an emergency dental procedure and couldn't afford it because I'd spent my emergency fund on a "necessary" weekend trip to a music festival? My tooth remembers. My maxed-out credit card definitely remembers. The debt collector who called me while I was at work absolutely remembers.
Or that time my car broke down, and I had to choose between fixing it and paying rent? That was a fun month of taking three buses to work and arriving sweaty and defeated, all while my Instagram still showed pictures of the designer jacket I'd bought the week before. The irony was not lost on me, but the $800 repair bill certainly was.
The thing about living like there's no tomorrow is that tomorrow keeps showing up anyway. It's incredibly rude and persistent. And when tomorrow arrives wearing a bill collector's suit and carrying a clipboard of your bad decisions, you start to reconsider your life choices.
"You Only Live Once, but if you do it right, once is enough. And 'doing it right' includes not eating cat food in your seventies because you spent your entire youth on bottle service." - Probably Someone Wise
Here's what I wish someone had told me: Saving money isn't about denying yourself joy. It's about not denying Future You the ability to have basic necessities. It's about having options. It's about the incredible, underrated pleasure of looking at your bank account and not feeling your heart sink into your shoes.
You know what's actually fun? Not having a panic attack every time an unexpected expense comes up. Being able to say "yes" to opportunities because you have the financial freedom to do so. Sleeping at night without anxiety-dreaming about your student loans gaining sentience and hunting you down.
The real YOLO move? It's having your cake and eating it too. It's enjoying your life NOW while also setting yourself up for success later. Revolutionary concept, I know. It's called balance, and apparently, it's not just for yoga instructors and tightrope walkers.
Start small. Save 10% of your income. If that's too much, save 5%. If that's too much, save literally anything. Even putting away $20 a week adds up to over $1,000 a year. That's an emergency fund! That's peace of mind! That's the difference between a minor inconvenience and a full-blown crisis!
And here's the kicker: You can still have fun. I know, shocking. But it turns out that budgeting doesn't mean you lock yourself in a cardboard box and subsist on rice and misery. It means you make intentional choices about what brings you actual joy versus what's just an impulse driven by clever marketing and FOMO.
That $200 concert ticket? Maybe it's worth it if that band is your absolute favorite. That $200 jacket you'll wear once? Probably not. That $50 dinner with friends you haven't seen in months? Absolutely. That $50 DoorDash order because you're too lazy to microwave leftovers? Future You is begging you to reconsider.
The Real YOLO Philosophy
Yes, you only live once. That's exactly why you should take care of yourself. That's exactly why you should plan ahead. That's exactly why you should save money. Because this one life you've got? It's going to have multiple chapters, and you want all of them to be good.
Future You isn't a different person. Future You is still you, just older, hopefully wiser, and definitely grateful that Past You got their act together. Be the Past You that Future You writes thank-you notes to.
You Only Live Once, so live smart. Save money. Make good choices. And maybe skip that fifth streaming subscription.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go meal prep and update my budget spreadsheet. Yes, I've become that person. And honestly? I've never been happier (or less broke).