How About Doing The Right Thing This Festive Season, Such As Not Getting More Into Debt?

R.F.Wilson reports from London: Here a piece of valuable advice for people who are already struggling to pay off their loans but are planning to get into more debt in the next couple of weeks: don’t do it. Don’t take out more loans, including high interest payday loans, and blow the money on junk that you don’t really need and on partying. Yes, sure, it sort of makes sense now when you think that during the festive season you and your family need to have a bit of fun. But guess what will happen in January? Yep, the fun will end and payback will start.

I know, I know, the shopping frenzy whipped up by advertisers and hacks is hard to resist. All those fancy TV ads showing folks gathering around the table and having all that fun and TV news bulletins reporting massive spending on the high street are getting to you. But these marketing men and hacks are doing it because they work especially hard for the retail trade this time of year. Why fall for their tricks? Why not tell yourself: look, I’m in debt already, why create more problems? This year I’ll take it easy and have a modest Christmas. (By the way, why is it that so many people think that celebrating Christmas is all about getting stuffed and drunk for several days? Or is it the image that is projected by advertisers?)

It’s all rubbish, of course, the supposed need to buy lots of useless presents for everyone and blow a fortune on food and booze. It’s what the retail trade wants you to do. It needs to move as much stuff as possible during the festive season. That is why some cunning admen and their buddies in the media are even hinting that buying junk helps the British economy. It helps the Chinese economy primarily, so that you know, and the retail trade that doesn’t create proper jobs and is plugging badly made junk for extortionate prices.

But payday loan companies are the worst culprits in this nasty game. They charge the poorest people, who take out loans out of sheer desperation, extortionate rates of interest that make even drug dealers look decent. In a civilised country they would have been long ago forced to lower their rates.  But as we live in a free market, you see, anyone now can set up a loan sharking operation and start making money on other people’s sorrow.

And what is exactly the point of buying all that Chinese made junk anyway? What has Christmas got to do with any shopping extravaganzas, especially when you don’t have the money for it? It’s absurd that some people borrow money to finance the Christmas and New Year celebrations and then pay it off for months and even years.

So here’s the deal: make this one an austerity Christmas. Especially as the real thing is not intended to be celebrated lavishly. Goes against the whole concept of the Man whose name the occasion carries. He was a modest Man and didn’t care for money. So why not follow his example for a change.

–End–

1 Comment

1. Jack Durish says:

   December 21, 2012 at 8:03 pm

   Whatever happened to Christmas Savings Clubs? They were a pretty good idea in their time. Put away a little each week and collect it with interest for Christmas shopping. I know that saving seems passe these days, what with interest rates being ridiculously low. Still, even without interest, its better than paying interest for Christmas shopping with credit cards that charge ridiculous rates and you only discover that you’re still paying for the last two or three Christmases when you go shopping for this one.