Your Budget

• Buy now, pay later schemes. These are traps because the no interest term sounds good value and the no payment required for maybe up to 2yrs feels great at the time but if you don’t pay off the item in that initial free interest period and wait until the date that first payments required – sometimes up to 18 months from buying it – the interest soon piles up making this ‘great buy’ very expensive in the long run. As well, the items have often started to seem really old and used by the time you even start paying for them.
• Mobile shopping trucks – they will give easy credit and come to your door, the convenience and instant relief is often welcomed. But again it is a trap as the goods are often far more expensive than what is available in the main stores. As well, the interest charged on the debt will become overwhelming.
• Read the fine print before signing anything – better yet get some help to read it and interpret the jargon. Everyone needs help with this. Community law groups will provide this service for you free. You have a right to understand what you are signing.
• Sometimes you buy or commit to something on impulse, then get home and realise that it was the wrong decision but feel stuck.

Work out your household budget