The holiday season is almost upon us, and while Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with friends and family, it is also an occasion when a person’s “jolly spending” can create financial hardships for months to follow. Christmas spending is one of the biggest reasons people find themselves buried in credit card debt. People spend freely on gifts for friends, family or even themselves at the end of the year, and then are obligated to spend the next 12 months paying for all those gifts.
Bahamians, in common with persons throughout the world, typically disregard financial prudence and savings habits, abandoning all discipline in favour of impulse buying and the satisfaction of extensive wish lists.
One only needs visit the banks, malls, car lots and retail shopping districts, in and outside the country, to see Bahamians making their holiday moves. While consumer spending is necessary for economic vitality, everything must be done in moderation.
A brief conversation with a young banking executive this week revealed the truth about the excesses of Bahamians, who suffer temporary insanity for an entire month before slumping into complete and utter post- December depression for the entire first quarter of the following year.
This discourse thus offers five tips on responsible holiday buying and spending.
Amid the steady flow in consumer goods, it is wise for locals to begin their spending diet. The wise Bahamian has a healthy ‘rainy day’ fund that can be accessed only in dire situations. With Christmas bonuses, extra tips and gratuities flowing this season, Bahamians are encouraged to up their savings game.
‘Buy Bahamian’ has become so ‘cliché’ that many simply turn a deaf ear and book their tickets in search of great Florida buys. A secondary school lesson in economics provides sufficient evidence that supporting your local suppliers helps you in the long and short-term. We must guard against the ‘foreign is better’ mindset in our spending this season and always.
The cardinal sin this season is impulse buying. The best way to avoid such whimsical and irresponsible spending is to determine what you are going to spend, create a list of what you will purchase and stick to the plan. The marketing plans and gimmicks set up during this season are well-devised ploys to entice, ensnare and trap you in debt and despair. Buyer Beware.
Repeat this statement and make it your mantra. Spend only what you have. That means no loans, no credit, no stealing and no begging. If you do not have it, do not spend it. Be content this Christmas, and teach your children this valuable lesson. Our parents and generations before us lived with a lot less and they were the better for it.
This final encouragement is one which perhaps expresses the true meaning and spirit of the season. It is to focus your buying on ‘giving’. No one in our country has to look long, hard or far to find the unfortunate or disadvantaged among us. Without casting judgment or over-analysing the causes for their dilemma, give love in the form of something tangible this year.
• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com.
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