Are Holiday Lay-a-Ways Worth It?
663 views · Published 22 February 2016 · 4:13 · Indexed 8 November 2026
Channel: Utah State University Extension · 2016 · Howto & Style
Amanda Christensen, Utah State University Extension, Morgan County ............... Hello, it’s Amanda Christensen from Utah State University Extension here to share with you today some of the pros and cons of holiday layaway. Several stores in my area have rolled out a holiday layaway plan. While layaway can be a great tool if it’s used wisely, it can also be a bit of a trap if you don’t consider the pros and cons of putting items on layaway. If your goal is to be in control of your holiday spending this year and avoid that credit card debt, then layaway may be a good option for you, but here are the tips for things that I would consider before utilizing holiday layaway. My first tip is to read the fine print carefully especially store to store as many layaway policies will differ store to store. Is there a set-up fee charged for setting up your layaway account? Are there any cancellation fees charged to you if you choose to not buy an item that you’ve placed on layaway? Are there any restocking fees if an item runs out in a store and the store has to restock? Do they charge any restocking fees? So be sure to consider all of those things before you jump into your layaway account. My second tip: if you choose to cancel at any time or don’t want an item that you may have already paid towards on layaway, what’s the cancellation policy as far as receiving your money back? Is it in the form of a gift card to the store? Is it cash back? Make sure to check so that you’re aware of those policies. My third tip: can the payments be paid off within the allowable payment time? So layaway does us really no good to avoid holiday debt if what we put on layaway to pay off can’t be paid off in the amount of time they give us interest free. Fourth: if the item goes on sale during that layaway period, will you be credited the sale price? And fifth and final: will you be tempted to buy more when you go into the store and pay towards the items that you have on layaway? A quick review. Make sure to read the fine print carefully. If you cancel is there a refund? Will the payments fit into your budget? If an item goes on sale will you be credited the sale price? If you choose layaway will you be tempted to spend more every time you walk into the store to make a payment? After reviewing these tips and doing your own homework as a consumer, you may or may not decide layaway is for you. If you don’t, here are a few things I would recommend to kind of do your own layaway. First, set a goal and stick to it. Decide what you are purchasing by way of gifts this Christmas and have that solid in your mind so that you know approximately how much you will need to save to be able to purchase those items. Be sure to do research when it comes to big-ticket items: to cross comparison and find the best deal for you. Once you have that list solid in your mind, move on to step 2 which is to make a plan by calculating how many paychecks you still have between now and Christmas. Once you know how many paychecks are coming in, you’ll be able to see how much money per paycheck you can put aside towards these holiday expenses. Set up an automatic transfer from your checking to your Christmas savings account. Keep your list handy and watch those sale prices in the stores, and as your money continues to grow in this account, take some out to purchase the items that you’ll need. Now the trick with this is to only buy what is on your list and stay true to that list and that plan that you’ve created initially. Whether you choose layaway or not during the holidays, setting goals, making a plan, and sticking to that plan will help us best avoid consumer credit card debt during the holidays. Thanks for watching. I’m Amanda Christensen with Utah State University Extension. I’d love for you to leave a comment below if you have any tips as to how to avoid consumer credit card debt during the holidays or how you manage your holiday spending. Also feel free to reach out to me on social media if you have any questions that I might be able to answer. I’d love to hear from you. We’ll see you next time! Bye. Connect with USU Extension! Facebook - http://facebook.com/usuextension Twitter - http://twitter.com/usuextension Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/usuextension LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/company/usuextension Google+ - https://plus.google.com/+usuextension
