Cost and worth are very different things
Learning from the film Confessions of a Shopaholic
A little girl looks longingly at a pair of beautiful, sparkly shoes… it’s an image that I can definitely relate to. Although I’m no longer that little girl, the sight of a pair of heels invokes in me a kind of envy and desire that is seldom contended with.
Yet, as Rebecca Bloomwood shows in the film Confessions of a Shopaholic, continually giving in to these desires might make you feel confident, alive and happy, but these feelings will only last for a few brief moments. Once they have faded away, all you’re left with are sore feet and a shocking credit card bill – which in Rebecca’s case leads to her facing debts totalling over $9,000.
Fiscal crisis… Fish crisis…
Rebecca’s job, writing a column for Successful Savings magazine (something she clearly hasn’t mastered), is particularly pertinent in the current financial climate. So many of us have very little idea of what financial jargon actually means. What is an APR, what do the FSA do and why have RBS received a tidy sum from me, the taxpayer? All these acronyms and jargon can be so confusing that they leave you mistaking a fiscal crisis – which, FYI, is to do with taxation and spending- for a fish crisis, never ideal.
I write a weekly column for ‘Moneybasics’, which breaks down the top money stories from the week into easily understandable snippets, to help you understand what’s going on in the economy. I can’t promise to explain investments in relation to a cashmere coat, and I don’t have a catchy pen name, but I can help you to understand the sometimes complicated world of finance.
Is it really like that?
Some critics of Confessions of a Shopaholic are unimpressed that in the current climate Jerry Bruckheimer has trivialised and glamorised debt. However, I broadly disagree with these commentators. I think that Confessions’ portrayal of Rebecca’s journey into debt could ring true for many – a denial of how much you really owe, an inability to budget, and a stack of unopened Visa bills hiding under your bed. Rebecca’s debt has been accrued through her inability to stop shopping and deal with her debts. In the end, however, she realises that clothes, shoes and accessories can cost a lot, but actually be worth very little.
The film does take some liberties - its portrayal of debt collectors is inaccurate (they cannot come to your workplace, so don’t fear having to make up any convoluted stories to explain them away). Also, in the UK today, many people are finding themselves in debt through no fault of their own, merely due to the circumstances of the downswing in the economy. I understand that, for these people, Confessions could be seen as inaccurate and misrepresentative of how people find themselves facing unmanageable debts.
Get back in control
However, if you do find yourself hacking your credit card bill out of a block of ice with a stiletto, or you have no money to meet those essentials like rent or mortgage payments, then the time has come to take action. Get back in control by managing your money and curbing your spending. Use Credit Action’s free budget planners and the Spendometer (a tool that lets you budget on your phone), which can help you keep on top of your spending.
Likewise, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service and Christians Against Poverty can offer you free and independent advice on how to best deal with your debts.
As Rebecca Bloomwood is told by her dad, the American economy is highly indebted and it survives - and you can too.
Jo Parsley (Advocacy Officer, Credit Action)
You may also like to read "Say goodbye to debt stress" by author of the Sixty Minute Debt Buster, Katie Clarke
Written by Joanna Parsley.
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