Financial empowerment advocate Rose Miller is urging Jamaicans to be frugal with their spending this holiday season in order to avoid compounding their debt, and so that they can position themselves to take advantage of improvements in the economy.

Miller, who is grants manager at the JN Foundation, and who leads JN Foundation’s BeWise financial empowerment programme, says personal debt management is a problem for many Jamaicans due to poor financial behaviours and practices, especially during the festive season.

To avoid racking up debt this Christmas, the financial literacy expert says Jamaicans should consider the following tips for managing their money during the Yuletide season:

 

Invest your bonus

 

Some Jamaicans may receive a bonus based on their performance and the success their employers experienced during the year.

“Instead of blowing your bonus on gifts, a significant portion, if not all the extra cash, can be invested,” Miller advises.

“Christmas is a good time for investing. Consider placing those funds in a fixed or long-term saving account, where they will earn higher interest; or in stocks, bonds or other instruments offered by regulated financial institutions that will yield great dividends,” she counsels.

Persons may also use their bonus to finance some, if not all, of their debt, she recommends.

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