The holiday season is upon us. Some of us are already planning Thanksgiving dinner. As usual, the holidays cause me to reminisce about holidays gone by. You know like when I was a kid, or when my sons where children. When I think back, I can immediately see lots of things I miss…like my Dad and Mom, my Mom’s cooking (LOL), the carefreeness of my childhood, the excitement my boys had about the holidays and…Layaways.
Yep, you read that right. I miss LAYAWAYS!
Back in the day, many retailers allowed customers to select goods to put aside at the store and be paid for over 30 to 90 days. The customer was required to pay a deposit for the items, usually 10-20%, and there was a minimal fee for holding the goods. Growning up, I remember using layaways for pretty much everything. They were great. Fast forward to 2023 and layaway is pretty much a thing of the past, being replaced by credit cards, loans and BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later).
What was so great about LAYAWAY?!
- They were convenient and easy. Again, the major retailers, Wal-Mart, K-Mart (remember them…lol) had them, and even smaller boutique stores offered the service, so the option was available where you shopped.
- They were budget friendly. OMG, they were great! Layaways are structured to spread payments out over 30 to 90 days, so you could make payments over multiple pay periods without breaking the bank. The process made items more affordable.
- They allowed you to purchase items without debt. This so important and is my favorite reason for loving layaway. You didn’t need credit. When you walked out of the store with the item it was PAID IN FULL, and no debt was incurred. You didn’t have to worry about a credit card statement shock coming next month.
Layaways were great and I miss them. If they were still available, I would totally still be using them…totally. They were the absolute best for birthdays, back to school and especially Christmas. And for me there was always a “layaway surprise”. Something I purchased and completely forgot about until I pulled it out of the box…LOL!
So what to do now?
Though there are still a few retailers providing layaway services, the practice is pretty much gone. Companies prefer credit cards and BNPL instead. So what’s a layaway loving consumer supposed to do? Well, I do “reverse layaway”, meaning I price out the item then save up for it. I take the total cost and divide it by the number of pay periods or months I need. For example, if I wanted to buy an item that cost $100 (don’t forget to include tax, shipping/handling and other costs) and decided to save up for it over four pay periods, I would save $25 per period. On the fourth pay period, I would head to the store and buy it or hold the cash and wait for a sale to save even more. Simple.
You know what is surprising?
The number of times I get to the end of the saving period and just don’t want the item anymore. It is not usual for me to end up buying something totally different or not buying anything at all. Reverse layaways have all the benefits listed above PLUS a built –in “cooling period” on purchases. It allows you to think before you buy, which is really important if you are prone to impulse buying. Instead, throw it on your wish or wait list, and save up for it.
Until Next Time♥…
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