The first time I heard the advert, I thought my sense of comprehension was getting impaired. ‘You can’t have your cake and eat it’ is an idiomatic expression meaning that as soon as you use something, you will no longer have it. Fair enough. What I couldn’t understand was this advert claiming that you can eat your cake and have it. Excellent wordplay works as a motivational hook for the target audience, but it’s not a good personal finance choice to make.
It’s an advertisement about salary advance loans. Long before your salary hits the account, you can take a loan amounting to 50% or 80% from your bank. It’s not free money and you get to pay interest on it, so how is that eating your cake and still having it?
If you don’t use that service wisely, you might end up in a debt trap and a vicious circle of constant borrowing. Just ask MTN Qwikloan patrons. There are people who started out borrowing Ghc 30.00 and they currently owe Ghc 900.00 and don’t know how to pay that off. The financial service providers have figured us out. We love spending money we do not have. Not ideal.
The quickest way to getting stranded in the mire of perpetual indebtedness is to spend money you do not have, borrowing money to use just because you are expecting some money. Unless you need it for an emergency, to take care of some pressing expenses or will die of hunger if you don’t get it, a salary loan advance isn’t a good personal finance choice.
To avoid needing such a service long term, get on a personal finance budget, reduce your expenses and thence be able to save more money. Not easy in our economy with salaries remaining unchanged and the cost of living increasing every day. It’s the safest path to financial independence, all the same.
Never ever eat your cake, thinking you can still have it. You won’t.
Let’s do this.
By: Stan Dugah
StantheStoryTeller
16/09/2021
