I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today

She's putting cardboard boxes on layaway? Now THAT'S delayed gratification

No one’s falling for that line anymore, especially not retailers. Realizing that their customers have maxed out their existing credit cards (and the daily barrage of new offerings has stopped), K-Mart, Sears, TJ Maxx and other large national retailers are bringing back an old favorite: layaway.

Back when Lyndon Johnson was president, credit cards barely existed. Store credit was so rare that shoppers would choose what they wanted to buy, then the store would hold it, charge a down payment and collect weekly payments thereafter. After you paid in full, whatever you bought was finally yours to take home.

Like a prepaid phone card or credit card, layaway can help you reduce your consumer debt (while returning society to a cash-based economy.)

In college, I was the #1 customer of my employer, a now-defunct retailer. Sheets, towels, dishes & clothes all went into a big bag at the back of the store. I would visit my purchases when I made my weekly payment.

Today you can even layaway online, layaway your vacation or even lay diapers away.

If you miss a payment, the store will charge you a fee and the put the items back in inventory. With layaway, unlike a credit card, there’s no downside to the retailer-no chargebacks or defaults. The responsibility and consequences belong to the consumer, and that sounds about right to me.

Why Target thinks you’re stupid

Woman in the process of being offered a Target card

You stop by your local Target to pick up gardening supplies, a new bike, or a flat screen TV. The clerk asks you if you want to apply for a Target charge card and save 15%.

Should you do it?
$800 x 15% = $120.

Were you planning on paying cash for that TV? If so, open the account, pay the balance in full and then close the account. This will affect your credit score*, so only do it if it’ll save you at least $100. And plan your purchases so that you’re not opening new accounts every weekend. The road to debt-free living is paved with good intentions and department store credit cards.

Let’s see how much an idiot Target customer “saves” when she takes the discount and pays it off at typical American consumer speed.

The original balance was $680 with an interest rate of 18.5%. If you make only the minimum payment each month, it’ll take you just over 6 years and cost $1,110.

* The formula for calculating your credit score is the closely guarded secret of Fair Isaac & Company, a publicly traded company that makes money selling its scores to companies that lend money and assess potential borrowers. Having lots of revolving debt (e.g. department store credit cards) reduces your score. If you’ve recently taken on debt, or had someone inquire about your credit, that’ll also lower your score.
Up to a third of your score is determined by your ratio of debt to available credit. Carrying a zero balance on a credit card with a $5000 limit isn’t quite as good as carrying a zero balance on a card with a $10,000 limit. It’s this ratio that makes people hesitate to close accounts. If you’re Controlling Your Cash, charging your expenses to one card & paying it in full each month, your debt-to-available-credit ratio should be fine.

A Fun Comparison

Compare popular credit card programs

Is it better to get cash back or airline miles when choosing a credit card?

Let’s compare:

Discover
-1% cash back (5% on gas)
-no annual fee
-medical assistance
-valuable document delivery

American Express
-1 airline mile for each $1
-$95 annual fee
-online transfers to most frequent flyer accounts
-extended warranty (doubles manufacturer’s warranty)
-purchase protection
-emergency check cashing
-overnight card replacement.

Discover also lets you choose 1 mile for every $1 you spend, in lieu of cash back. Both cards offer fraud protection, travel assistance, luggage assistance, car rental insurance and flight accident insurance.

Assuming you put all your day-to-day expenses on your Discover card (of course, you’re paying it off every month) and you spend $24,000 annually with 10% of that being gas, you’d get $336 back.

With American Express, you’d get 24,000 miles which translates to about $240 in travel credit. Also, there might be $25-$50 in fuel charges for using frequent flyer miles.

Discover wins by $191-$241, with a few catches. Far more merchants accept American Express, especially outside the US. Add the ability to save your miles without expiration* and the purchase protection/double warranty, and I still choose American Express.

*In 2007 I flew to Australia and last month to Hawaii, using miles to upgrade from coach to first class both times.