Almost every guru and influencer will agree that it’s best to learn how to live in the moment — to be truly present and enjoy every possible second of your life right now. But while this may well be excellent advice on many levels, it can cause carnage in your financial life.

The Hargreaves Lansdown Savings & Resilience Barometer shows that people who say they "live for today" have around half as much money left at the end of the month as those who don’t. Splashing the cash on having the time of their lives means fewer have enough money left before payday to be considered financially resilient — at around 61% compared to 71% of those who plan ahead.

The fact they’re short of cash by the end of the month means they don’t save as much for emergencies. They have around half as much in savings, and fewer than two-thirds of them have the minimum recommended by advisers — to cover three months’ worth of essential spending.

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Living for today can mean sacrificing security tomorrow.

Looking further ahead, the gulf between those who live for today and those who plan for tomorrow opens up, so that only a third who live by the Yolo mantra own their own home, compared to around two-thirds of those who plan.

They also have roughly half the pensions savings, and fewer than a third (30%) are on track for a reasonable income in retirement.

So, what's the solution?

The solution doesn’t mean resigning yourself to daily misery in the hope that when you’re old and grey you can finally start enjoying yourself. In any case, it’s not sustainable, because nobody wants to live in a constant state of self-denial.

As in all things, a reasonable balance is the most sensible approach.

It’s worth drawing up a budget to cover the essentials first. Then you can set aside money for key financial goals.

For some people, this will start with paying down expensive debts and covering the cost of vital insurances. For others it will mean setting up a direct debit to go into a savings account or cash ISA, to build your emergency savings net.

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You should also look at more long-term plans, including saving or investing for a property — through an ISA or a lifetime ISA — or paying into a pension.

Whatever your goals, it’s important to pay yourself first, so money is coming out of your account as close as possible to pay day, and into the corners of your finances you need to prioritise. It means you automatically do the right thing for the future before you have a chance to spend for today.

Once you’ve covered the basics, and provided some security for "future you", you can focus on the fun bit. There should be money in the budget to allocate to the nice-to-haves, so you don’t feel you’re missing out on anything in order to build for a future you can truly enjoy too.

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