Using credit to pay for clothing

Let me be very clear in my first sentence, I am against it. 

I work in the financial industry for the last 13 years, dealing directly with people in financial difficulties. This is my day job and I see everyday the consequences of overspending and poor money management on peoples’ lives.

The only situation I would tolerate using credit to buy clothing and/or make-up, etc, would be possibly, for your own wedding. And still, I would be very reluctant to do it and would set up a strict budget. 

Let me also say this, using credit is not a bad thing, it is a very good tool when used properly. From my point of view, should be used to pay essential items and clothing is not one of them.

In the past, consumers had the option of paying for their purchases with their credit cards. 

Later came store cards, that many consumers were mis-sold and didn’t even realize they were getting a customized credit card. 

Nowadays there are new financial services that allow you to buy now and pay later, spreading the cost of your basket value in several smaller instalments. 

The target consumers of these services are young millennials. Very easily a 20 year old can accrue a few thousand pounds in debt, spent in non-essential items, mostly clothing, shoes, bags, small jewelry, etc.

I think the financial industry is capitalizing on the fact that these consumers don’t have big priority expenses (yet), like a mortgage, with most of them still living with their parents. 

Also the fact that millennials suffer the most with social media pressure and have low rates of self-esteem much earlier in life, than other generations born before the internet boom. 

But I can assure you, that starting your young adult life accruing debt in non-essential items, is not a good start. Once an individual decides to move on to a personal relationship, I can assure you that your finances will have an impact on how your partner sees you and can be a determining factor if the relationship will move forward or not. 

So if you are thinking of buying now and paying later, please stop for a few minutes and ask yourself this “Do I REALLY NEED this?”.

verb: need

require (something) because it is essential or very important rather than just desirable.

I will leave you with this interesting article too: https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/25/debt-diaries-i-racked-up-13k-of-credit-card-debt-from-shopping-11163704/

I am Franca and this is personal. Take care.