Afterpay day hangover? How to get your spending under control!

After last weekends Afterpay sales, you may of had a week full of excitement with packages coming through the door (funny what keeps us going in lockdown!!) Then the regret starts to set. Suddenly, all those $50 weekly withdrawals start to add up, or work tells you they don’t need you as often, or you simply look at what you bought thinking “what the … was I thinking!”

Now quick point here  – don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise.  Afterpay and its friends (hummm, zip pay) and any of the other "‘buy now pay later’ schemes are credit facilities.  They impact your credit score as well as taking larger and larger chunks out of your weekly income as they add up.

So how do you get rid of the Afterpay hangover?

First, start with a little pile of what you don’t want. You normally have a few days to a month to return to the store, and most on line shops make it particularly easy to return.  In my area, the local newsagent is an agent for The Iconic and a couple of others, and open longer hours than the post office. So no excuses about dropping off a return.

Next, is forgive yourself for silly purchases and overspending – seriously I had a client who bought roller skates the other day!! So what!  Times are dark and hard for those of us in lockdown.  Even for those of us that aren’t. My sister in Perth with her new baby, is stressed not being able to see the rest of the family. Shopping in my mind is not a stress reliever as overspending causes more stress.  Think of it this way, for the price of a normal night out she has something that will get her out and about…and fun! 

Plan to buy the next thing.  If you were buying things in Afterpay sales, there were some huge price drops – 60% in some online stores, so why not take advantage.  If you didn’t, then have a think about that strategy for Black Friday sales. So next time do some planning around what you want and shop around.

Review what you have spent and see if you can close out some of the accounts with cash.  Afterpay is mainly smaller purchases – so define where you are going to use it and why.  I notice you can now pay for meals, which to me is the same as putting your groceries on a credit card.  These expenses are things you should be able to manage on your current income. So, if you are deferring repayments why don’t you take some time to look at your current spending and see what needs to change?

If you keep up repayments there are no fees or interest on Afterpay and similar companies. So yes, they can help you get something you need faster.  If you are late to pay, there are fees and interest. Know what you are getting into, and if it feels like its all getting out of control, sit down take a breath and make a plan to pay it off sooner.

Phoebe x