You Only Live Once: The Roadmap to Financial Wellness and a Purposeful Life

by Jason Vitug

Get your finances in order with smart budgeting and money mindfulness You Only Live Once is the guide to achieving your best life through smart money moves. Before you even begin making a budget, you need to think about why. Where do you see yourself financially in ten years? Five years? This time next year? What does money do for you? Once you know your destination, you can begin charting your course. Step-by-step guidance walks you through the budgeting process, and shows you how to plan your financial path to point toward your goals. You'll learn how to prioritize spending, how to save efficiently, and how to take advantage of simple tools you didn't know you had. Next comes the most important taking control. You need to really look at how you perceive and use money day-to-day. Chances are, changing a few habits could give you some breathing room and help you reach your goals sooner. 

You work hard for your money, yet there never seems to be enough. You don't need to live like a pauper, but you need to be truly aware of just where your money is going, and why. Financial awareness is the key to a financially secure future, and this book unpacks it all to help you get where you want to go.

Accept past decisions and articulate your financial goals Align your lifestyle with your budget Explore your relationship with money Re-evaluate financial habits and behaviors You know you need a budget, but you never seem to get around to doing it. Or maybe you did, but you can never seem to stick to it. Smart planning is a major factor in financial security, and it involves just as much introspection as math. You Only Live Once is more than a budgeting guide—it's a guide to revamping your financial behaviors to achieve the life you want.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Finance, Personal Finance, Audiobook, Personal Development, Money

175 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 31, 2016

Reviews

[Seth Myhre · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first heard the title, I was a little skeptical. Usually when I read books, I highlight one or two of the most profound sentences. With this book, I found myself highlighting in the preface. I wish that I was required to read this in high school, because the lessons that this book teaches is lacking in public education. It mixes an intriguing story of the author, Jason Vitug, with practical information to reducing debt and saving money. This book pays for itself by the money you save from tips included in this book. If you have credit card debt, or a lack of awareness of how credit works, this book is a must. Most of the information is presented in an elementary fashion that is easy to truly grasp. Do yourself, your family, and your credit score a favor by reading this book about financial wellness.

[Jacob Filon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a personal finance book that reads like a self-help book. Vitug's main point is to show you how to live the way you want by deciding the lifestyle you want to live, then claiming control over your finances. Full of aphorisms and anecdotes, this book is filled with generally good advice although I found it to be rather repetitive and often difficult to relate to.

This could be a useful read for someone who is looking for inspiration to make changes to their lifestyle or current financial behaviors. However if you already have the inspiration and are looking for a better structured and more straightforward personal finance book, I'd recommend "Financial Freedom" by Grant Sabatier. It has much of the same advice and goes much more in depth into topics such as investing in the stock market and real estate to accumulate wealth.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be aware of your financial power with YOLO!
YOLO is a journey of our lives and money along our way. This book will make you thinking about your dreams, goals and the most important about money as a tool. You will find awareness and practical tools for actions. We can achieve a balance of our lives with the good pieces of advice and actions.
I am a newly immigrant in the US.And I am grateful that I've started my financial education from YOLO. It gave me a roadmap, knowing the main money habits and awareness of life without debt.
Recommend this book for everyone who dreams, searches, creates and make actions.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The library only had the audio book, & this was my first audiobook to listen to! I enjoyed his points about being mindful with our spending and understanding our dreams and vision as we outline our budgets. Sometimes I get so sick of all the consumerism around me and this book definitely felt therapeutic to listen to on early morning walks!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Only Live Once is one of the only finance books I would recommend to others.

Though geared to Millenials this approach to money can help everyone kick start better financial fitness for ourselves.

Vitug rightly asserts that we should link what we spend money on to what we value. This is a radical approach that no other "expert" who has written a financial book has ever stated. And I've read nearly all the top financial expert books out there.

I've installed it on my iPad.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book might be good for others; but I think I've read enough personal finance books in the past year, that I had trouble finding any new nuggets.

The book is geared toward the younger generations and gives somewhat detailed, but also somewhat vague information on how to do do things.

The key takeaway - don't spend more than you make and learn how to prioritize what is important to you.

[Mark Lawry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of meeting Jason at a finance conference and I know he lives what he writes. The real deal. As a personal financial counselor I liked it from page 1. All of us in finance will preach the key to success is spending less than you make (and investing the difference.) Vitug advises that we should shoot to "save more than we spend." One might note 'spend less than you make' and 'save more than you spend' are two entirely different statements. Yes, that would mean saving/investing more than half your pay. A solid goal to start out your life with, in my opinion.

A very short book but every page is of value. He sounds so much like my late dad that continually lectured me to 'Take a class! Take a class!' I could write a lot about his ideas but just one example of his thoughts: "Invest your time into learning a new skill or perhaps a new language. Use your time to write, paint, or create music...." Great stuff - every page.

[Beth Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars: There are so many things I loved about this book. A ton of practical advice and small mindset shifts that have already reaped benefits. This book was empowering. It also struck me as detached from reality in more than a few chapters. I realize it’s impossible to cover the nuanced life of every adult or the wild variance of living expenses in every region across the US but oftentimes it’s not quite as “easy” to reduce those expenses, redefine values, shift that mindset etc as this book would imply. Especially if you have kids. Ultimately, I found this book immensely helpful and would recommend - I just wish the author had recognized their own privilege or brought in a slightly more complex perspective.

[Siren Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful blending of values, purpose, and money. Vitug does more than tell you how to invest or save; he challenges you to think what you want in life, and then use your money towards that. For me, that’s been one of the most motivating aspects — it's not just accumulation, it’s direction.

What it lacks: For someone more seasoned, parts of the advice felt familiar or sometimes aspirational more than immediately actionable. Also, the balance between mindset and mechanics could be tilted more toward harder tools (budgeting, tax strategies, retirement planning). But overall, it’s a solid book that many younger readers will benefit from greatly.

[Elli · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a really lovely concept - You Only Live Once, so live the life you want to live. Not the life your neighbour's want (stop keeping up with the Joneses), not the life your parents want (stop trying to please people). There are also some beautiful analogies re finding your own roadmap vs following the preprogrammed GPS. However, this would probably be a better read if it were your first personal finance book. I've read some that are much more inspiring and much better written that make this come off a little.... underwhelming.

[Vandanin Tuonpal · Rating 4 out of 5]

You Only Live Once = YOLO

3,5 stars

Time is limit. So live wisely and exchange with experiences.

An uncommon GOOD book about personal finance and purposeful life, after finish this book you will learn about awareness of life & money.

[Kresimir Mudrovcic · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good overview of FIRE concepts but balanced in terms of enjoying life vs living frugally. It touches Coast FIRE as well. All in all, a good book, nothing spectacular, but an interesting read that gave me some additional ideas and perspectives.

[Kara Newcomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book. Gave a different perspective and was more about improving self and setting yourself to succeed with your finances and spending habits. Would recommend to others

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a personal finance book filled with writing and the author's personal experiences, minus the numbers.

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would definitely recommend to all High Schooler’s as a compulsory course to be taken every year.

[M Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't really understand why the book was called You Only Live Once but it made sense after the first few pages. I related to the story and realized how I was brought up has impacted how I treat money. This is the second book I've read on money and it got me thinking how much more I have to learn. It was a good read and I like how easy it was to read with the action items in the book.

It's broken down in a good way with an actual budget to create and some exercises at the end to keep me focused.