#YOPO – Don’t Buy Now, Pay Later! Give Yourself the Gift of a Financially Healthy Mindset with OpenMoney’s You Only Pay Once Campaign**

If I told you personal finance was one of my biggest passions in life you probably wouldn’t believe me – however, it’s true! We work so hard to earn money, and the ability to spend and invest it in the best way possible lights my flame. 

That’s why I’m pleased to announce a new section of Mr Thirty-Something aptly named ‘personal finance’! And not only that, this blog post is in collaboration with OpenMoney – a Manchester-based online financial advice service, committed to making financial advice, support and tools more accessible and affordable to everyone.

Now this year has been a toughie and saving may not be at the forefront of your mind around the festive period, and why should it be! After all, don’t we all deserve to splurge a little this Christmas? However, being in debt is not the Christmas gift you want to be bringing into a prosperous 2021, so OpenMoney has launched a new campaign aimed at the freedom and peace of mind that can come with only paying once… #YOPO (You Only Pay Once).

You may be aware of Buy Now, Pay Later schemes such as Klarna, ClearPay or Afterpay  – Something I’ve always been a little cautious of for a number of reasons. The first, the mentality that if you haven’t got it – don’t spend it! And the second, my credit score – especially taking into consideration aspirations to be accepted for a mortgage. Although it’s appealing to see the cost of an item separated over months, you don’t want that item to be gift wrapped in debt should you for some reason not be able to pay the money back. 

According to new research* by OpenMoney 51 per cent of under 25s have purchased items using Buy Now, Pay Later schemes such as Klarna, Clearpay, Laybuy and Afterpay, and more than a third of them (38 per cent) have struggled to pay them back. 

Avoiding Buy Now, Pay Later schemes and adapting the #YOPO attitude will ensure you go into 2021 with a financially healthy mindset and will avoid the dangers of debt to your mental wellbeing, the research* also revealed that two thirds (62 per cent) said being in debt negatively affected their mental health – causing anxiety and feelings of depression, and a massive 81 per cent are concerned their online spending could lead to long-term debt in the near future.

Lockdown has been a period where (myself included) we’ve shopped until our heart’s content, in fact, OpenMoney’s research* found a third (33 per cent) have tackled boredom in lockdown with purchases they cannot afford. 

So in order to recuperate any overspending and get ourselves back on track with saving, I want to share the benefits of the OpenMoney app. Now, if like me you (try) to put away a fraction of your salary each month – OpenMoney can actually connect your bank accounts to help you save, track your spending and share areas where you can cut costs.

OpenMoney combines technology and human advisers to make financial advice accessible and affordable to everyone – whatever your age, wealth or experience.

Discover more about the #YOPO campaign here 

Download the OpenMoney app here: Apple App Store , Google Play.

*Source: Buy Now Pay Later, OpenMoney and LM research. Total sample size was 2,000 UK adults.

**Please note this is a sponsored post between OpenMoney and Mr Thirty-Something.