David over at MyTwoDollars has a good blog post on layaway plans and how the big box retailers are all jumping on board lately. In case you don’t know what a lay away plan is, it is when you pick out items, say a K-Mart(one of the stores pushing it), and pay a little on it at a time until you pay it off and and can take your items home.

This begs the question, why not just save up the money and go in and pay for the items when you have enough money. Well for some people it’s pretty impossible for them to save the money on their own. The money hanging around is just asking to spent on something else. And it’s better than using a credit card.

The layaway plan is a great deal for retailers as well. My wife works retail, and they have a lay away plan. You would be surprised at how many people put stuff on lay away and then forget about it and don’t pay anymore on it. That is a bonus for the retailer’s bottom line.

So, if you do plan on using layaway, number one don’t forget about it and number 2 pay it off as soon as possible. That money could be gaining interest in a savings account somewhere. And as David says,

Learning to create your own layaway plans for the things that you want helps you really understand the value of your dollar – something that is sorely missing in today’s consumer-driven world.