When Does Debt Become a Form of Empowerment?

You’re probably familiar with the “buy now pay later” company zip. This $4 billion company ostensibly built its worth from consumers spending money they don’t have; on stuff they don’t need.

So, when their CEO amasses this amount of wealth, you’d be forgiven for thinking they might share their good fortune on the less fortunate. You know, the people who can’t afford to buy stuff in the first place, so need the ‘buy now pay later’ option. WRONG! Instead, they recently spent millions of your money, developing a new two-dimensional logo with this poignant message from CEO, Larry Diamond;

“We’ve been driven by the belief that if we help people be in control of their tomorrow, they can live fearlessly today.”

What does that sentiment even mean? Ironically ‘live’ sounds suspiciously like a synonym of ‘spend’?

So, when did taking on debt become a form of empowerment? And, I’m not just referencing financial debt. There’s the emotional debt, regret debt, resentment debt, clutter debt, anxious debt, depression debt, “I feel worthless” debt…the mental health repercussions are endless.

But here’s the thing, Zip and many other ‘buy now, pay later’ service providers will continue to enforce their slick marketing message with the knowledge that you will “feel better” with more. More things - more debt.

Perhaps it’s time to rethink buying habits and re-evaluate what we really need vs what we think we need.

If you’re spending money you don’t have, on things you don’t need, these corps are winning the game. If you believe the dream of a better life is in the next purchase, I’m here to tell you otherwise.

Do you really need that shiny object, or more clothes you have no room to store…or more dolls/toys? The answer can be found by asking, what emotional void am I filling?  What trauma am I trying to heal?

More + more + more amounts to so much less.

Think about it.