Every year it seems that the buyer’s frenzy of Black Friday and Christmas starts earlier, gets bigger and goes on for longer.
This year, it seems that we are using the excuse of not being able to celebrate the holidays last year as an excuse to start earlier and go bigger. This inevitably means that more money is spent and consumerism takes over.
But what happens when you have no disposable income to spend or you are already so far into the red? How do you ignore all the noise of Black Friday and avoid becoming embroiled in the spending excitement? How can you avoid consumer regret and stop yourself going further into the red come January?
We hope that these tips will help to avoid buyer’s remorse, especially as Which? has revealed that shoppers are rushed into making their Black Friday purchases and many live to regret it. This was based on a survey of 2000 members in September 2021. A high percentage also turn to credit or BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) schemes in order to pay for their purchases which is a red flag to whether they can really afford it.
BNPL is a form of credit whereby an agreement is set up between the consumer and the credit company for a purchase to be made but paid for at a later date. Terms of the schemes vary depending on who provides the credit. Some providers allow up to 30 days for repayment while others allow up to 12 months. Interest rates also vary across the board.
If you repay the purchase amount in full, within the required amount of time, then you will be subject to little or no interest. Those schemes that allow the repayments to be made over a longer period, could be subject to an interest rate.
As with all forms of credit, if repayments are missed then your credit score will be affected and interest will be added.
If you find yourself in a position where you are in debt and struggling to make your repayments, then contact us to see if we can provide a solution to help.