EDITOR’S NOTE Well, what looked to be a quiet month for the industry was quickly turned into an industry feeding frenzy of finger pointing and remonstrations. The big story of the moment is the NCR changing their mind about the industry codes of conduct regarding debt counselling. Admittedly this will not effect consumers immediately, and it remains to be seen how this withdrawal of approval for these codes will potentially change the way that creditors interact with Debt Counsellors. There are as many different opinions on the matter as there are Debt Counsellors. So a reasonable portion of this issue is set aside to discussing this matter and theDCIs role in things. For institutions like the NDMA and PDASA the announcement by the NCR is a real blow to their credibility and relevance in the industry. Some tough times are ahead for them. Speaking of tough times, with the end of the year being upon us, it means that consumers will need to display even more self control in the face of aggressive advertising by companies desperate to cash in on the end of the year shopping madness. Be strong, avoid becoming a victim of the “silly season”. In our living on less section we look at ways
that consumers can save funds and still have fun. Did you know you could lose your licence if you speed? We discuss the need to slow down out there this December. One of our team speaks about doing the popular Moonlight mass bicycle ride...maybe you too can join in at the end of this month? December and January are, generally speaking, slow months for Debt Counsellors. So many consumers look forward to getting a bonus at this time of year and they plan to solve all their problems with that small bit of extra cash. Sadly after the ‘end of year’ glamour wears off, many consumers awake to a harsh reality. They are worse off than the previous month. Fortunately for them, Debt Counsellors will be there to help steer them toward financial freedom and help them to become debt free.