Christmas bells could be debt calling
Festive seasons come with cheers, that is, when you have the expectation of receiving gifts from loved ones. Or, more so, when you know so well that the loans marketing companies would offer good deals to existing clients and prospective ones who would want more money to fill their gift baskets; so you wouldn’t have to worry about where to find the extra cash.
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Well, the activities of the loan supermarkets, as laudable as they may appear, should always be engaged with caution.
Christmas is an event that was supposed to be used to mark the occasion of the birth of a Man whose life deeds saved humanity. Celebrated mostly by Christians, it is to mark the life of Christ. But is that really the case these days? Not at all!
The excessive commercialisation of Christmas has relegated the real import of the event to the background, rather promoting a dangerous situation of ‘spending spree’. Even in a world where everything is reduced to commodity status, this cannot be excused.
There is always an issue with excessive spending, whether you are spending your own money or other people’s money.
These days too, there are loan sharks able and willing to lend you any amount of money that you need, just also to take advantage of the festive season to improve their own cash balances.
With this in mind, and given that this weekend is the last weekend before Christmas, l am going to do what l normally do at this time of the year by offering some useful tips on how you could save some money for yourself and the family during this festive period.
In actual fact, the advice is always meant to ensure that you start the New Year debt- free-hopefully.
First, avoid impulse buying. Christmas brings a mood that can lead you to get into an overdrive with your spending.
In fact, a lot of people indulge in impulse buying during this period to the extent that they end up in a lot of debts. Remember that there is only one result when you spend more than you earn, and that is bankruptcy.
As l said in my submission last year, most of the time, we spend on items that we cannot even use after the Christmas period.
Children, for example, are given toys that play Christmas songs only, therefore, when the season is over, we- parents- even get irritated listening to the toys play. The children even get more irritated listening to the Christmas songs and soon start demanding for new toys.
The way out of this quagmire is to spend wisely by identifying items that would take money out of our pocket alright, but would also help you to create something that will improve the future of the children.
If you are thinking of doing something for the kids for example, you can choose to spend less on the toys and ‘sow a seed’ in their lives by using part of the kids shopping budget to buy a child bond from one of the financial institutions around. That is also marketed through the money supermarkets!
The point is that there is some kind of psychological feeling about Christmas spending. As a parent, l cannot imagine how l will feel if l am not able to buy a present for my child during Christmas.
There is always some seal of contentment when there is that seal of approval from my children when they open their Christmas presents and love them.
So, I am not advocating ‘no spending’ at all here. It shouldn’t be an option but l do strongly believe that you would still be satisfied when you are able to buy a bond for your child at Christmas instead of all the huge and seasonal toys.
No matter what, you should resist the temptation of spending either all your bonus pay or savings for the year on Christmas items.
Just do it because you want to please others; that’s wrong. Those who love you dearly will always understand you when you let them know your true financial position.
If they don’t understand why you cannot meet their expectations, just ask them to pray for you so that you could do more next year! It is by being open with yourself that others would appreciate your worth.
To stay on track, consider drawing up a budget before you embark on any ‘spending spree’ and stay within budget! Budgeting is one thing that l fully believe in, not because l am a finance person, but because it really works.
Personally, a simple budget has always helped me to identify potential pitfalls, thereby changing tactic along the way.
You can do same this Christmas, and l would like to add that sticking to the budget is equally important. It just takes a few minutes to sit down with a pen and paper or a spreadsheet and work out what you can afford.
As l always say at this time of the year, to get the New Year better, start planning for it this Christmas period; a little bit of forward planning could leave you in a much better position next December.
Trim the size of your Christmas gifts, indeed, to keep your spending in shape, and remember that not all the jingle bells ringing are for good reasons as there could be debts calling too. Be mindful…..
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