Mpoomy Ledwaba’s tips to Beat Black Friday

Black Friday is around the corner, which means shopping for great deals. But it can also mean really bad financial decisions that we’ll regret for a long time.

We want to prevent that from happening.

Before you head to your favourite shop, website or shopping App, check out these 5 Badass Black Friday Shopping Rules from Mpoomy Ledwaba. Her epic advice will help you make great financial decisions as you browse those tempting deals.

1.  Save up, and don’t go into debt

With so many stores offering big discounts, the temptation to spend money we don’t have is often quite extreme.

But according to Mpoomy, the best advice is to leave the credit card at home or locked away before opening your shopping App. “Do not go into debt,” she urged. “If you’ve survived without that item, I’m sure you can go a little longer without it while you save up to buy it.”

The Velocity Club team added that using expensive debt, such as a credit card, to buy an item on sale is actually defeating the purpose as it will probably end up costing you more than the normal price because of the interest charged on the debt.

If saving up for something sounds like a mountain you’ll never be able to climb, remember - to be successful in saving, you need to set specific goals. Your goals must speak to your dreams and what you want to achieve. When we’re not clear on our savings goals, it becomes much more difficult to sustain a habit of saving money because it’s so much harder to justify in our minds.

Once you have your goals in place, it’s time to write them down, and then, she suggested, get to work empowering yourself with our other great articles about savings and financial planning. You won’t regret it.

2.   Identify and prioritise your needs and wants

Separating essentials (‘needs’) from non-essential purchases (‘wants’) is critical to taking control of your finances.

Your ‘needs’ are things like your rent or bond payment, food, water and electricity costs, school fees and insurance payments.

The bad news is that a designer handbag is not a ‘need’; it’s a ‘want’. But the good news is that having those ‘wants’ is also really important in our financial lives. It can motivate us to be disciplined savers, and it can even motivate us to push ourselves to be the best we can be in our careers. Or it can push us to build that side hustle and pursue our dreams.

3.   Only spend money that’s left over after paying yourself first

If you decide to spend money on Black Friday, it should only be money that’s genuinely left over after you’ve settled your expenses and all of your debit orders have come off.

4.   Avoid the temptation to spend unnecessarily

As we’ve already said, we should only be spending money that we have and only after taking care of the essentials and savings.

If, after doing that, you find that you don’t have anything left over right now, that’s also okay.

But Mpoomy suggests that, if that’s the case, then on Black Friday, it would be better rather just to avoid the temptation to spend. “If you know that you can’t afford to take part in Black Friday this year, rather avoid social media, adverts and any other platforms that might pressure you to spend unnecessarily,” she urged.

If money is tight, did you know that you might be missing out on some easy (legal) tax wins that could put more money in your pocket each month? It’s totally legal and totally open to anyone. We’ve written about it in the past.

One of the ways to pay less tax is by saving towards retirement annuities or just saving money into a tax-free savings account. Get all the juicy details here.

5.   There will be other sales

Remember that this isn’t the last sale ever. That item you want will likely go on sale again at a later stage, so even if you can’t buy it now at that price, chances are you’ll be able to buy it another time at that price.

“Take time to plan for, buy and enjoy an item you’ve wanted. Remember, there will be other sales,” Mpoomy said. “So don’t break the bank. Enjoy the benefits of a sale if you can, but if not, rather save up for the next one.”

If it makes you feel better, Black Friday sales in South Africa are seldom worth the hype. Major retailers, especially certain online retailers, have been known to completely overstate the discounts they’re offering by advertising ‘sale’ prices that are often no different from the regular, non-sale price. Unless you knew what the original price was, you wouldn’t know whether or not the price you’re seeing is an actual discount.

These fake sales are all designed to entice you to buy things you can’t afford, and if you give into that hype, you risk ruining your credit score.

Your credit score affects your ability to apply for credit to finance other things in future, like a house, a car or a loan to start a business.

So before you jump on that sale using your credit card, think about your credit score and how it may impact future you.

Conclusion

Black Friday is a relatively new phenomenon in South Africa, and each year, more and more retailers are jumping on the hype wagon to try and separate you from your money. Before buying an item on Black Friday, we suggest you ask yourself these questions first:

• Did I budget for this?
  
• Will this item add value to my life?
  
• Where will this item be in 5 years from now?
  
• How does this purchase make me feel?
  

Mpoomy Ledwaba offered her 5 tips to make Black Friday work for you. To recap:

1. Don’t go into debt for the sake of a sale item. Instead, save up for it.
   
2. Identify your financial priorities and stick to them.
   
3. Pay yourself first before spending money on sale items.
   
4. Avoid the temptation to spend. Switch off social media for the day.
   
5. Don’t stress. There will be other sales, so be patient and save up.
   

Our Velocity Club experts would love to talk to you about how they can help you reach your financial goals and turn over a new financial leaf. They’ll develop a Money Plan, especially for your needs and the best part is that the first consultation is completely free!

Schedule your free session with a Velocity Club expert. We are looking forward to meeting you!