Now that Christmas is under four weeks away, it’s time for many of us to think about presents. Not just the ones on our own wish list but the ones we’d like (or feel dutybound) to buy for our loved ones.
At times like this, Christmas creativity is needed. And not just in the process of choosing the right Christmas present. With the cost of living still very much an issue for many of us, working out how to pay for these gifts will require some Christmas creativity.
This might mean Christmas credit creativity for some. Credit cards are still very much a go-to solution for those doing their Christmas shopping. But are there other options?
I’m old enough to remember the days of lay-by. That involved paying for an item by instalments before you took it home. It was a pretty good system, I think. There was no requirement to pay interest and the moment where you paid that final instalment and collected your coveted new television or dinner set engendered a real sense of achievement.
But lay-by has mostly gone bye-bye now. What other alternatives are available? One I’ve used a few times is Afterpay. This is another form of credit, but it works in a slightly different way to credit cards.
A year or so when I was running short of ‘liquid’ funds, I was in need of some new tyres. Noticing that my local Beaurepaires offered Afterpay as an option, I investigated what that entailed.
It was pretty simple. Pay a quarter of the full cost up front and the remainder in three equal instalments over the next three fortnights. As long as you paid on time (via direct debit from your bank account), all was well. Basically, I got four new tyres in one hit and paid for one of them each fortnight afterwards.
Even on the one occasion I did not have enough in my account to cover the instalment, Afterpay sent me a message and I was able to pay manually within 24 hours without penalty.
The trouble starts, of course, if and when you are unable to pay an instalment. The fees can be costly, so a fair bit of discipline is required. Surprisingly for me, I have been disciplined in my use of Afterpay so far and it’s worked well for me.
Presumably there are other good options out there. What approach do you take to Christmas shopping when it comes to the small matter of paying for it?
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