With South African consumers loving to shop and the rising popularity of “Cyber Monday” deals, PwC notes that it is rapidly turning into “Black November” with their economics team saying:
“The Black Friday sales frenzy can trigger our deepest emotional and cognitive responses and can lead us down a path of unnecessary spending.”
There is certainly nothing wrong with shopping smartly and taking advantage of deals when they present themselves but stop for a minute and consider that data gathered by credit bureau Transunion shows that in the first quarter of 2019, the average South African was carrying R 16 481 in credit card debt.
Nearly 15% of these credit cards are more than 3 months in arrears as South African consumers try to make ends meet in a tough economy.
Does it REALLY make sense to take on a further R 1 654 in debt to “score” on a Black Friday sale?
The OUTvest team believes you can shop much smarter and here’s our challenge to you:
- If you save roughly R 140 per month for the next 12 months using a money market or low risk fund, you might save more or less R 1 654 by the time the next Black Friday deal rolls around
- If you were able to tuck away R175 per month in a money market or low risk fund, you’d have more or less R 2 100 available to you for shopping
The beauty of doing it this way is that you are taking a small amount and putting it away each month and giving yourself the ability to make a cash purchase, rather than taking out further credit and feeling the pinch of interest repayments as well.
Lastly, an important consideration is around knowing yourself and your consumer behaviors.
One of the reasons that Black Friday is so “successful” for retailers is that they make use of what is known as the “Halo Effect” whereby consumers are drawn in with some great deals and then as they begin their shopping journey, they start seeing “great” deals everywhere.
Instead of shopping for what they have their eye on, they start shopping for what they “need” – by limiting yourself to the money you have set aside, you can rest assured that you’re thinking more like an investor than a credit-hungry consumer.
If we have convinced you, start your savings journey now and see you at the tills – stress free - in 2020.