Buy Now, Pay Later: How To Do It Right in Summer 2026

Splitting a music festival ticket into payments with buy-now-pay-latter apps isn’t necessarily reckless. It might be one of the smarter money moves we can make right now. 

Here’s how to do it right.

Why we’re choosing memories over milestones

Call it a different set of priorities than a few years ago, but the rise of buy now, pay later is real. 

And it turns out, breaking up payments for summer plans isn’t exactly a unique experience. According to a recent Credit Karma survey, more than a quarter of young adults have used BNPL to cover summer expenses this year.

And it’s not hard to see why.

More than half of Americans say it’s the most financially stressful summer they can remember, yet the desire to make memories hasn’t disappeared. Concert tickets still go on sale. Friends still plan trips. Weddings, festivals, and long weekends still fill the calendar. For many, BNPL has become a way to make those moments fit into a budget that feels tighter than ever. 

But the challenge isn’t just fitting a concert ticket into the budget. It’s fitting it into a budget that’s already being pulled in a dozen different directions. Because fun isn’t the only thing that’s gotten more expensive.

Housing prices keep climbing.

Student loans have resumed.

Retirement is one of those things we know we’re supposed to be thinking about, but often gets pushed behind more immediate priorities. 

For many of us, the milestones we grew up expecting to reach have started to feel a little farther away than they once did.

When the future keeps getting more expensive, it’s hard not to put a little more value on the things we can enjoy in the present. And the numbers reflect that shift: Nearly half of us say we’re making financial compromises to enjoy life now over long-term financial security, and 40% of those living at home say they do so specifically to free up money for experiences like travel, dining out, and festivals. 

That’s a recalibration of what’s worth spending on, and research backs up the logic behind it. Studies have found that people get more lasting happiness from experiences than from things. 

BNPL fits the way we actually earn

Part of what makes BNPL appealing is that many of us aren’t getting the same predictable paycheck every two weeks. Between freelance projects, side hustles, gig work, and part-time jobs, income can fluctuate from month to month.

Nearly half of workers under 30 participate in the gig economy, relying on independent work or side hustles as an additional source of income. This summer, 59% say they plan to take on extra work just to afford the season they want.

When money comes in at different times and in different amounts, spreading out a purchase can feel a lot more manageable than paying for it all at once.

For many of us, it’s less about spending more and more about planning better. A fixed payment schedule can be easier to budget for than a credit card balance you’re gradually paying down, which may help explain why over half of Gen Z say BNPL helps with managing finances.

That music festival may be $600, but if you break it into payments, it’s basically $50 a month.

How to make sure BNPL works for you

BNPL can be a real tool, but like any tool, we need to know how to use it. Here are a few ways to help make sure BNPL keeps working for you:

Go in with a payoff timeline. Before splitting up a purchase, ask yourself whether you’d buy it if you had to pay the full amount today. Not to guilt yourself out of it, but to make sure you’re actively choosing to spread the payments, rather than using the plan to avoid making the decision at all.

Keep active plans to one or two at a time. Stacking multiple BNPL plans with overlapping due dates can turn things messy fast. 

Keep an eye on your credit. FICO announced in 2025 that some BNPL payment behavior would be incorporated into its credit scoring model. It’s worth knowing before a missed payment shows up somewhere you didn’t expect. 

For lots of us, using BNPL is a solid response to a real squeeze, where life has gotten more expensive. But spending on what makes us feel good isn’t the problem. We should just make sure to spend in a way that doesn’t cost more than the memory was worth. 

If you’re also looking for ways to stretch your summer budget, this guide covers smart ways to save on goods, cars, and everything in between.