Christmas loans, the adverts start early and play often, appealing to the starry-eyed Santa wanna-be who's just striving to make the season bright.
But is a Christmas loan ever a good idea?
You might be interested to know that the concept of getting a loan and even that of the customary Christmas spree could be as old as the creole culture itself. It started with the Christmas advance that loggers would be given during the season leaving them prone to spending it all while here in town. That left their families in more than a state of "magga season" for the next sixth months.
And all these years later is that tradition one we want to carry on. Its' great fund but is it good dollars and cents?
Well we put the question to Jamaica-based media personality and financial expert Khalilah Reynolds when she appeared on SunUp on 7 this morning. She told our hosts that a Christmas loan like any other could be a good thing when used in the right way. Here's more
Khalilah Reynolds, Media Personality
"You do have to be aware of the type of loan you are getting and especially pay attention to the interest rates on the loan. I saw one just before we came on the air, I was looking at one of the ads of one of the Christmas loans and even though they have increasing amounts that they can borrow, the monthly repayment was the same. I'm like how is the monthly repayment the same, what they do is first of all they raised the interest rate, but they extend the repayment period, so rather than repaying for one year, now you are paying for 4 years. Don't be fooled by just looking at the monthly repayment. how long are you going to have to repay this loan if you are borrowing a big loan and you have to repay for 4 years, then what will you do next Christmas, you can't get another loan, because you are still repaying the loan from this year."
"You see the offers all over the place and from what I can tell they are advertising them as deals and promotions and as lower interest rates that you might be able to access throughout the rest of the year. So if they are offering a lower interest and you could get on that ship, jump on it if you need it. If you are going to do something with it, that's going to improve the value of assists that you have - if you have a small business and you want to invest, you need equipment for your business or whatever, these are unsecured loans, during the rest of the year it's hard to get, they don't like to approve small business loans, interest rates are very high, you could use this as an opportunity to buy stuff for your business or buy stuff to improve your home. I think that could be an excellent use of the offers that are out there right now."
"Before you even get to what you should be spending on, let me give you some advice that a good friend of mine gave me several years ago: Christmas is a time when like you said everybody spending, so what you should be doing during Christmas time is finding something to sell. We need to think outside the box that income is not only salary, it's not limited necessarily to salary, there are other ways that we can make money. All the people who make cakes, anything little thing that you can think of that possibly earn you some extra income, now is the time to double down and sell and make some extra income."
PM Briceno And His Beloved Coke Cooler
And while the public might be hard-pressed to reconsider their borrowing habits, the same might be said of the PM and his penchant for a Cold Glass bottled Coca Cola.
It's a revelation that surfaced a few weeks ago when a picture of the PM's office featured a well-stocked Coca-Cola branded refrigerator - right in the corner of his office - kind of like your corner store meets the highest office in the land.
It kicked off a debate as to whether the fridge was a Bowen and Bowen ad placement or just evidence of a beverage near and dear to the norteno heart of PM Briceno.
And this morning when he appeared on Sunup on 7 we asked what's up with this particular executive appliance.
Host
"There's one thing that the people want to know so there was a video circulated with a fridge with a lot og glass cokes there. Right there in your office, your coke fridge."
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Oh, oh yes."
Host
"And they aren't just plastic bottles, there's a thing about Orange Walk where they say the best combo for tacos is a glass coke."
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Glass coke, that's so true. Nothing, none but but but but but...
Host
"Did Bowen and Bowen paid for the advertising."
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"We have to charge, come to think about it."
"Nothing like a cold coke in a glass thing but you can't drink too much coke because it'll get you sick. When I just got married, my wife always tells this story I used to buy a case of coke just the two of us and she realized that in a week that case was done and she said you will get sick, from now on stop buying coke, we will drink juice. So please drink juice."
"It's shaming me now, it's shaming me now, we have to put it somewhere else, hide it...that bloody Jules ih owe me."
