'Tis the season to be merry - but you can't really see it. Walk into any shopping centre and you are met by hundreds of harassed-looking men desperately trying to find a Christmas gift for their partners. And failing. They look glum, they look scared and they look lost.
Despite Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni's best efforts, availability of cash is not the problem here. Mboweni has been begging us to tighten our belts. So desperate is the situation that last week he raised the repo rate by 50 basis points to 9%.
But it won't stop SA shopping.
As Mboweni himself said, SA banks and anyone else who feels like it is throwing money at anything that walks. Every day brings a new credit card in the post. It is "madness", said Mboweni.
"Some of our colleagues received phone calls offering them all kinds of credit cards. Someone was offered two credit cards and told he could use the one to pay off the other. Clearly there is some madness out there that needs to be stopped," Mboweni said.
Next thing you know, fish and chip shops will be offering me a credit card.
The problem is that as the sound of jingle bells gets louder and Christmas day approaches, no amount of begging from Mboweni for the banks to stop giving us credit - and the spectre of ever higher rates - will stop this. It is in the nature of man and woman to take that which they have not worked for.
The availability of money - whether yours or not - pushes one to the shop door. So there will be spending aplenty this Christmas season, and the wailing and gnashing of teeth will start only in January.
But then, how to spend it? You can walk around Sandton City being bumped from all sides by kids going nuts on fizzy drinks and no school for a month, or you can focus.
Focus is necessary at this time of year, otherwise you will be the glum-looking guy at the mall. Sharing the focus with friends is also critical.
So I get a call from my friend the filmmaker saying it is that time of year again. Food, he says, and a bit of Christmas shopping afterwards. Focus: just one shop. Numbers: eight of us for security, a helping hand and to ensure that no-one loses heart when faced with the smorgasbord of Christmas treats to choose from.
Food first at Assaggi, the perennial Italian favourite in Illovo. Assaggi has changed a lot, but the food remains divine.
Right next to Assaggi is Princesse Tam-Tam, the French lingerie shop we all are focusing on. I presume we are all going to buy for our partners, but you can buy for yourself if you feel like it.
After our expansive meal we all march over purposefully. The ladies at Princesse Tam-Tam are amazing. I had forgotten my lovely wife's size - and the last time I was in there was February.
"No problem, sir," said one of them and immediately told me my wife's size. Look, it might have been a fluke, but the fact remains: a definite 10 out of 10 for service.
The shop carries everything from bras to camisoles, slips, tops, swimwear, panties and briefs. Making a decision can be a harrowing experience.
"What if this is rejected," whimpers one of my friends. But here too the assistants come into their own, asking questions about tastes, giving advice about what's hot and what's not.
The Ciel de Paname bra, for example, is a huge hit with my party - and one can understand why. It is lightly padded and has a push-up style to amplify one's natural assets. It is a killer.
Another hit is the Capri trousers whose cropped-length legs are slit to the knee. The guys want to load up on that. Alas, there aren't that many in stock.
Of course, being a French lingerie store, Princesse Tam-Tam is a bit light on garments that are designed for the ahem, er, shall we say, the fuller figure. This is a problem that has to be corrected swiftly, of course, but otherwise it is a great shop.
And so, shopping done, we line up with our credit cards issued by airlines, medical aid companies, newsagents, corner shops and even dog kennels. It's like the Yellow Pages. The assistants swipe - and none of us spares a thought for Mboweni.
It is the season to be merry, and to spend, after all. We'll talk about debt in January.
Ranking the Analysts 2009
Princesse Tam-Tam
Post Office Centre
Spend it!
Good 
Don't take that credit card!
Like bad debt