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Embrace ‘JOMO’; it’s way cheaper than ‘FOMO’

Your friends are probably not having as much fun as their social media feeds might suggest. So don't give in to the FOMO their photos may create. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Suffering from FOMO (the fear of missing out)? Well you’re not alone, according to a RateHub.ca survey.

Over a quarter of the 800 Canadians surveyed admit to being afflicted by the condition.

Of those, nearly half are millennials (aged 25 to 34), 70 per cent of whom believe they’re spending too much and falling deeper into debt because of FOMO.

“They grow up expecting trips should happen, clothes should come, we should live in nice condos — but our budgets can’t always keep up,” said Alyssa Furtado, the founder of RateHub.

The first step is to admit you have a problem. And join all the people giving in to JOMO (the joy of missing out).

“It’s now all about revelling in singledom, jokes about therapy sessions, the terror of being an adult or putting it out there that hitting a club can actually be pretty hellish. And slumming it on the couch? Heaven,” Hanna Jane Parkinson wrote in The Guardian last month.

So the next time you feel lame for wanting to stay in on a Friday and binge on Netflix, “own that decision and be excited about it,” Furtado said.

Millennials could also cut back on dining out, which the survey found is one of the biggest causes of FOMO.

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“When you talk to parents about the trend of eating out, it was reserved for special occasions,” Furtado pointed out.

Now, some millennials surveyed said you’d have to pay them $1,500 to stop going out to eat for three months.

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You need to learn to say “no,” Furtado said. Just think of all the money you’ll save!

It’s a fact of life that some of your friends will have higher incomes and be able to afford certain luxuries that you’d be better off not indulging in. Like that concert of the band everyone’s going to see but you don’t really care for.Save yourself the $100, Furtado suggested, and find a better (i.e. less expensive) way to connect with friends. That’s usually what makes us happiest anyway, she said.WATCH: Professional brankruptcy trustee Craig Fryzuk on how “FOMO” can affect your financesUnfortunately, too many people let their social media feeds suck them into a FOMO-fueled financial black hole. Don’t let your friends’ Instagram and Facebook photos fool you, Furtado warned.“It’s important to take a step back and realize we’re not always seeing reality.”READ MORE: Viral video calls out users for fake social media status updates

Scroll through the smartphone infographic below for more survey highlights:


The Cost of #FOMO by RateHub.ca.
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