Incurring debts in the name of looking good

Such women make impromptu purchases, and are known  to many hawkers of fashion wares or shop owners.  A woman who earns 50,000 monthly for instance could buy clothes and jewelleries on credit from different persons worth 500,000 in a month.It is even more appalling that housewives who know they can only get money from their […]

Such women make impromptu purchases, and are known  to many hawkers of fashion wares or shop owners.  A woman who earns 50,000 monthly for instance could buy clothes and jewelleries on credit from different persons worth 500,000 in a month.
It is even more appalling that housewives who know they can only get money from their husbands or some occasional tips from friends or relatives  also amass debts on fashion items that their husband’s salary cannot finish paying for in months.
The buy the items promising   the sellers they will pay at a stipulated time and renege on the promises most times. This makes them to have constant fights with the people they buy from,  frequent police stations, put their family members in trouble and always be on the run.
They run away from home or the office when they know the creditors are coming, switch off their phones and do a whole lot of things. The question is do such women have to buy on credit or amass debts   just to look good ?
Hajiya Fati  Omeiza ,a business woman said women who always buy items on credit do so out of greed and the innate competitive and jealous spirit in women.
“Many women don’t want to feel inferior in meetings or social gatherings, so if they can only afford High Target Wrapper, they will rather buy Hollandis wrapper on credit so that whenever they enter a place, other women will not look down on them or estimate them poorly. You know women are always fond of estimating each other. When one talks for instance, they will turn and look, the first thing that occurs to them, is who is this woman? What is she wearing? How much worth of gold is on her fingers, neck?”
She said she has a friend who is always buying very expensive clothes and accessories on credit.  “The reason she gives for this is that they way you look is what opens door for you. So when you buy good clothes and those beyond your means on credit, you will be able to mingle freely with those who have or can connect you, and when the door opens or money comes you pay your debtors.”
A student, Cynthia Ogbole said students on campuses also do this. “When things are brought for sale, you will see girls who have been complaining of being broke rushing to buy at alot. I think some of them are easily carried away by fine things. When their parents  send them pocket money, they will use it to pay for the items, and start another round of buying on credit, this makes some of them to neglect buying books and other things they need for their studies.”
She said it is not right for women whether young or old to buy things on credit in the name of looking good. “I will advise them to wait till they have money before buying clothes or other things. Or buy on credit what they know they can easily pay for at the agreed time . Some of them have these things , it is not as if they are really lacking them, but they just want to be seen as having money or always well dressed.”
She said:  “From the spiritual or religious perspective it is also very wrong because they commit sin and offend people when they  have these debts. They lie they will pay when they have no such intentions, and lie to their husbands and their traders. They lie about how their baby was sick, how salary is not paid, how their husband didn’t give them money. They quarrel and keep the seller in perpetual anxiety and even ruin their businesses for them at the end of the day. When you don’t pay the person who sold to you, how can he or she be balanced?”
Mrs Grace  Nwidor a self employed women said women who are committed to supporting their  family’s upkeep do not buy things on credit in the name of looking good. “That is why you see them lying to their husbands they bought the cloth  3,000 naira. When it is even more than 25,000 naira sometimes. Because the man will get angry. it is from the home keeping money their husbands gave them or their own salary that they begin to squeeze out the money, giving their family inadequate care.  
Hajiya Hauwa  Buba  a housewife said while it is not good for women buy things they cannot afford on credit, their husbands are to blame too. “Men should try to ask their wives when they see them with expensive or several clothes.  Some of the men don’t know how much into debts their wives are until the traders get fed up and report to them, or when they come to harass their wives infront of them. They should  also guide their wives against buying on credit instead of appreciating what they wear without asking for the source of the money,” she advises.