Many families struggling to maintain a balance between their income and expenses buy essential goods on credit including food, meals and medicine from their nearby grocery stores, restaurants and pharmacies.
They settle their debts at the end of every month once they receive their salary. However, some of them are usually not in a position to clear the debts at month-end and have been caught in a vicious circle month after month, according to a report in Al-Riyadh Arabic daily.
Many Saudi men and women told the newspaper that their inability to maintain a balance between their income and expenditure forces them to open a tab with their local grocery stores.
Umm Abdul Rahman, a housewife, says that her family has been at the mercy of grocery stores until the end of each month even though they are eager to buy essential goods from supermarkets at comparatively lower rates. “When we receive our salary, we settle the debt owed to the grocery store, vegetable shop, drinking water sales outlet and pharmacy located in our neighborhood. In the beginning, we start buying bread and milk using credit, and then gradually added some non-essential goods to the list, including soft drinks and sweets. We were surprised to see that our bills exceeded SR2,000 at the end of some months,” she said, adding this often caused the family to doubt the trustworthiness of the salesman.
Majed, another house owner, said most Saudi families are not in a position to buy all essential goods by paying cash upfront. “This is the major factor behind the increasing numbers of tabs that are opened in local grocery stores. Financial difficulties force many middle-income families to buy goods on credit from grocery stores,” he said.
Majed is of the view that Saudi families should strive to reorganize their family budget in a way that suits their income and not to resort to buying on credit except in unavoidable circumstances. “The families should develop a culture of planning family budgets within their means. They should be aware of the fact that none of their creditors would tolerate a delay in repayments beyond monthly pay-days,” he said.
Family man Muhammad Al-Shaman said price rises have put a strain on many middle-income families. “This is also leading to increasing pressures, especially when they are unable to meet the requirements of members of their families in the wake of rocketing price rises. They are unable to find a way either to increase their income or reduce their expenses, and then they are forced to buy essential goods on credit,” he said, adding that his family decided to start a tab at their nearest grocery store after fixing a limit for the total amount of goods purchased each month.
Abu Mazen, another citizen, said his family planned their spending all wrong. “Even though we earn comparatively higher incomes, our spending most often puts us in precarious situations. Last month, I could not settle all the debts as they reached almost double my salary. This forced me most often to run away from my creditors. Sometimes, I arrange for my children to say that I am outside of the country when somebody contacts the house asking for me.”
Mazen, whose monthly salary is SR8,000, said that he is struggling to meet various expenses including a bank loan, rent and his tab at his local grocery stores.
Commenting on the topic, Fadl Al-Bouailain, economic expert and financial analyst, said there are several factors that force a large number of Saudi citizens to buy goods from grocery stores on a tab. He said they included price rises, lower incomes, and lack of proper planning. He said that this phenomenon should be addressed through the active involvement of various agencies. “The government is responsible for bringing down the cost of living through a number of measures such as monitoring the prices of essential goods, tackling inflation, regulating financial policy, combating poverty and setting up cooperative societies. On his part, the house owner should shoulder the responsibility of ensuring prudent use of his income and avoid extravagance,” he added.
