Resist lure to blow your bonus
IT IS known that the festive season is about fun and enjoying your hardearned money. Some are spending their bonuses, while others have to dip into savings.
But Bekithemba Mafulela, a business development manager at Allan Gray, this week pleaded with customers to think differently after receiving bonuses or unexpected income. He said people needed to be careful how they spent their money during the festive season.
He said people should try to reduce debt and save some money, before going on a spending spree.
“If you have worked hard and receive a bonus, or any other unexpected income, think differently about how you use your money. Use the opportunity to look at your finances overall. Are you directing enough towards your future, and is your debt under control?” he asked.
“Expecting things to just work themselves out is not a good strategy for approaching December. Plan how you will allocate the money before the bonus arrives,” he said.
He said people should watch out for the way retailers target customers. “Holiday season sales decorations seem to go up earlier and earlier each year, and are often the signal that starts the spending spree. The buzz, the crowd, the festive lights are part of a theatre that encourages us to open our wallets,” Mafulela said.
He advised people to be careful of traps from retailers:
Baskets at the door – a basket means more to fill. “We subconsciously aim to fill up our shopping baskets without thinking about it – a trolley doubly so. Don’t pick up a basket when you are looking for one or two things.
Stores are also designed to make you spend by being designed with roadblocks and labyrinths to nudge us to stop and buy. And lengthening the time it takes us to shop diminishes our self-control. By the time we get to the till, buying that “promotional item” you didn’t want or need seems to make sense.
Targeting you: With more of our spending happening online, retailers can personally target our desires with adverts for products we have shown interest in. Adverts built on our personal profiles have more of a chance of loosening our wallets.