Standing in line at my local post office this afternoon, I’m confronted by a huge sign saying ‘Why Wait?’ an ad for post office bank personal loans. Now, the loans industry is a particularly odeous one at the best of times, but when post offices – places used a heck of a lot by people collecting their pensions and benefits – try to turn ‘why wait’ into a rhetorical question in relation to borrowing money in order to get a car, a holiday, a new TV or whatever, things seem to have hit a new low.
So anyway, here’s Steve’s reasons to Wait –
#1 – no payments means no stress. If you’re not naking payments on a loan, you’re outgoings are less. Money you’re putting aside for a special thing can easily be diverted should you need it, and whatever the thing is you’re saving for will just have to wait a while, rather than be repossessed.
#2 – you end up paying more, a LOT more – the interest on loans is insane. If you put the money in a savings account, they’ll actually give you money for waiting.
#3 – things you’ve saved up for are more highly valued. OK, so it’s old fashioned, but it’s true. People (ie, me) don’t appreciate the stuff they just get. I’ve had to save up for basses, for amps, for stuff. Other things I’ve bought cos I’ve got the money. almost invariably, the ones I saved for are dearer to me.
#4 – if you’re saving for one thing, you’re less likely to be spending the money elsewhere. It’s amazing how the process of saving up can focus your thinking about money. Do we need to get take-away again, or shall I cook, save a few quid, and put it towards the holiday? That side of it is quite fun. Having to buy take-away because the bailiffs have taken your cooker after you defaulted on a bank loan is less fun.
#5 – debt is the biggest business in the world. Whether it’s third world debt, the national deficit of the US, or personal debt, bankers are making trillions and the rest of us are paying the bills. Opt out.
soundtrack – Seth Lakeman, ‘Kitty Jay’; Fripp/Eno, ‘No PussyFooting’; David Torn, ‘Tripping Over God’; Prince, ‘Sign O’ The Times’.