Treygreen13: People still use layaway?

Now that so many people's credit rating are shot/credit cards are maxed out just trying to survive?

Yeah.

That dust must be making you sneeze, subby.

talulahgosh: the awesomest thing is that it was done anonymously. i wish i had the money to do that.

I don't mean to nitpick, but that's not the most awesomest thing about it. The act itself far outweighs his anonymity.

Ah, bailing out people who live outside their means, I see. Terrible example to set for our government.

/But seriously, cool.

Wow, that's an awesome idea... I know that all the layaways at my local Walmart have to be picked up by Friday. Maybe I'll go pay off one or two tomorrow.

Layaway is actually a pretty decent option for people purchasing a big ticket item when they don't have the money up front and using credit isn't an option. If they don't get it out of lawaway with a credit card, of course. You can pick up an item on sale and for a nominal fee pay it off over time. It's about a billion times smarter than going to a rent-to-own joint.

I think whoever did this is a wonderful human being and I would love to be involved with this type of selfless giving.

I guess my first step would be to put a bunch of stuff on layaway.

Pure win. Gratifying.

The most annoying part is that it only took a lousy $1000 to pay it all off.

The people I work for wouldn't bend over for that much.

I am going to put a fancy laptop on layaway and by the time I am done paying for it, the price will be cheaper and I will actually profit!

Ha! Poor people can be smart also.

Rich Cream: The most annoying part is that it only took a lousy $1000 to pay it all off.

The people I work for wouldn't bend over for that much.


*ahem* to pick it up of course *ahem*

scottydoesntknow: The cynical FARKER in me just keeps seeing a followup in March/April where a family put everything on layaway banking that some generous person would pick up the tab. The picture accompanying the article will have the children crying in the front lawn as guys repossess their entire Christmas.

I don't think you understand how layaway works.

You do not receive the goods you place on layaway until the purchase price has been paid IN FULL. For this, the store charges a small fee... if you fail to pay the purchase price in full, you receive of the money you paid down on the item, again, minus a small fee. So, worse case scenario, you're out like... ten bucks if it doesn't work out for you. (Unless, of course, you decide to pay for the goods with a credit card and then can't afford the payments... however, I think in that case the credit card company sends your account to collections rather than repossessing your daughter's Betsy Wetsy doll.)

Awesome guy. Good for him being a true Santa.

css? I was at a stop light the other day when I realized that the guy in the oncoming lane driving the dark colored, windowless van was Santa Claus. Old man. Real Beard. Red suit. Elf hat. Bells hanging from the wrists. I thought to myself "Santa has a rape van!" Then I realized, that if santa wanted to travel incognito through rough neighborhoods or needed a team of elves to help with sorting and packing presents, a van would be a great solution. Until it got carjacked at a stop light.

I love it when real old men want to dress up and play santa just for the giggles it brings children. Good on you, sirs.

gadian: Until it got carjacked at a stop light.

Nobody jacks Santa's ride. Nobody.

Especially when there are elves in the back. While deceptively cute, elves are flat out vicious.

Mystery Santa Kmart 3000 *strummmmm*

My step-father was a cold, unfeeling asshole who was never around during Christmas - always "something more important" to do.

Years after I lost contact with him, I found out what he did during that time he wasn't around. He was spending money on presents for other people. Clothes and food for the poor, toys for sick kids, basically anything for anybody that needed someone else to make Christmas less of a miserable impoverished nastiness for them. He was never there for me, but he was there for lots of other people who, really, needed him more than I did. I never knew about it because of his unshakable belief that it isn't charity if your name is on it. He made my mom promise to never tell me (which she didn't) because he didn't want ANYBODY to know he was doing it. I remember occasional fluff pieces on the local news about some unknown person donating tons of (useful) stuff to charities in the middle of the night, single moms finding the rent and utilities paid, old folks marveling at their new collection of books on tape, and he would always smirk a little.

I thought he was just being a dick.

I have never been happier to be wrong in my life.

gadian: Awesome guy. Good for him being a true Santa.

css? I was at a stop light the other day when I realized that the guy in the oncoming lane driving the dark colored, windowless van was Santa Claus. Old man. Real Beard. Red suit. Elf hat. Bells hanging from the wrists. I thought to myself "Santa has a rape van!" Then I realized, that if santa wanted to travel incognito through rough neighborhoods or needed a team of elves to help with sorting and packing presents, a van would be a great solution. Until it got carjacked at a stop light.

I love it when real old men want to dress up and play santa just for the giggles it brings children. Good on you, sirs.

My one year old gets a kick out of Santa. We've visited three so far.

/always thank your local Santa
//it's not easy dealing with all the bs
///css

scottydoesntknow: Well I'm not poor so.....

I grew up around folks that used layaway quite a bit... while many of them were poor, many of the users were middle-class folks who didn't have the same access to consumer credit that we have today. In our social circles, credit cards were almost unheard of... and considered by many to be a work of the Devil. (No, I'm not kidding.)

Layaway was also one of the main ways that women could make more expensive purchases without involving their husbands in the transaction, since you could make your monthly payment with pin money rather than having to save up a large sum before you could buy that mixer or that coat you had your eye on. (It also prevented the money from mysteriously disappearing... which it was wont to do in households that contained a member with a substance abuse problem.) (That's a nice way of saying Mrs. Meaks didn't have to worry about her husband Dick drinking up the pressure cooker she needed to replace the one that cracked last year.)

Daddy's Big Pink Man-Squirrel: My step-father was a cold, unfeeling asshole who was never around during Christmas - always "something more important" to do.

Years after I lost contact with him, I found out what he did during that time he wasn't around. He was spending money on presents for other people. Clothes and food for the poor, toys for sick kids, basically anything for anybody that needed someone else to make Christmas less of a miserable impoverished nastiness for them. He was never there for me, but he was there for lots of other people who, really, needed him more than I did. I never knew about it because of his unshakable belief that it isn't charity if your name is on it. He made my mom promise to never tell me (which she didn't) because he didn't want ANYBODY to know he was doing it. I remember occasional fluff pieces on the local news about some unknown person donating tons of (useful) stuff to charities in the middle of the night, single moms finding the rent and utilities paid, old folks marveling at their new collection of books on tape, and he would always smirk a little.

I thought he was just being a dick.

I have never been happier to be wrong in my life.

Your story is just as heartwarming as the linked one. Two good stories about Christmas generosity shown by people who were seeking nothing more than to bring a smile to people in need. Nice - CHEERS!

Marysue

Layaway is actually a pretty decent option for people purchasing a big ticket item when they don't have the money up front and using credit isn't an option. If they don't get it out of lawaway with a credit card, of course. You can pick up an item on sale and for a nominal fee pay it off over time. It's about a billion times smarter than going to a rent-to-own joint.

Failed at math much?

Pay more for an item you already can't afford. Yes, A brilliant idea!

How about save the FARKING money till you Can afford it .

// I'm betting 100.00 the "Santa" wasn't an OWS'er.

talulahgosh: the awesomest thing is that it was done anonymously. i wish i had the money to do that.

This is true.

How cool would that be?

"I'm here to pay off the layaways"

"which one?"

"all of them"

/strut out like a BOSS

a thousand bucks only eh? I can afford that. Now I'm going to feel like a jerk if I don't do it. Hopefully I'll forget about it altogether .

/at least I'm honest.

And put me down in the column that says layaway is merely a crutch for the weak-willed. Put the money in the bank, earn interest, buy the product when you have enough. I will admit I knew a woman who referred to herself as the "layaway queen" and she did spend her money more wisely than her friends, who made equally shiatty money but never had anything to show for it.

At best it would help you in a way such as paying off debts in the wrong order. Mathematically it is a poor idea, but if it helps you mentally to stick with the more responsible angle, then its better to pay off the small items and feel like you are making progress.

I normally get all sorts of sociopathic about such acts of "welfare", but since this was done by a private citizen, even I have dust in aisle 5

ganzonomy: I normally get all sorts of sociopathic about such acts of "welfare", but since this was done by a private citizen, even I have dust in aisle 5

Its good you squeeze that in, you farking jackass.

guy walks into kmart to pay off debt on things that they probably didn't need in the first place, further adding to the inflationary spiral

I think layaway is for people who can't actually save money and that it can be a good thing. Say for example, your kid wants this doll for Christmas. Well, you could save the money before buying the doll. But if you're in a habitual cycle where you spend money as fast as you make it - bills, incidental repairs, etc., you'll never have the whole amount at one time no matter how hard you try because something always seems to come up. Yet if you put the doll on layaway, you can put a few dollars on it at a time before it gets spent on anything else. Sure, you may wind up pending more, but its paying for it incrementally that actually helps the most. Like a pre-paid mortgage...you pay the thing off before you take possession instead of dealing with interest and financing.

Of course its not the greatest thing to get yourself trapped in to doing. But, there has to be a certain amount of pride when you've finally paid it off.

OnlyM3: Failed at math much?

Pay more for an item you already can't afford. Yes, A brilliant idea!

How about save the FARKING money till you Can afford it .

// I'm betting 100.00 the "Santa" wasn't an OWS'er.

Russ1642: So when getting farked proper isn't an option this is the next best thing - getting farked in ass.


Hmmmmm... I wonder if either of you pleasant fellows have a mortgage? Or if you ever carry a credit card balance.

Me? I borrow money when the interest rate I pay to borrow is lower than the expected rate of return on the capital I'm investing. But you fellows know all about that, right? You're pulling down so much more in you 401k than you are by putting that money in your house, right?

Guess what, dearies? Not everyone is so lucky as the three of us... and store layaway programs are a relatively inexpensive way for people to purchase something they can't afford on the day they haul it to the service department in the back of the store. It's also a good way to buy an item that's on sale today and pay for it over time. Chances are the smart shopper will make money on the deal. And... if you'd bother to read the entire thread you might have seen one or two other reasons why it would make sense for someone to put an item on layaway.

But hey... who am I to be asking a couple of smart fellow like you all these questions and spewing my nonsense. Right?

RidersOfLohan: guy walks into kmart to pay off debt on things that they probably didn't need in the first place, further adding to the inflationary spiral

Any money spent on things beyond the most basic shelter and minimal food and water requirements is wasted money that contributes to the inflationary spiral.

Driving the economy via spending? pfft. He should put his money under his mattress, which he shouldn't have ever bought in the first place, because burying it in the dirt floor of your cave is better.

Not all spending is optimal, but you are just silly with your criticism here.

Smackledorfer: Put the money in the bank, earn interest

banks pay interest? oh, you meant that shiatty 0.25% apr, well in that case we'll all be rich!

/this is a cool story. good people are good.

He paid off all the people who are late, just like the rejects who couldn't afford their houses and are behind are he only one's getting help on their mortgages. Screw the poor people who have pride and actually pay on time.


/poor, never missed a payment in my life

You know, I thought this story was about a generous person who just wanted to brighten the holiday season for those less fortunate. Little did I know that this was really a story about how some idiot paid for useless consumer shiat for a bunch of poor, ignorant idiots who have no idea how money works. Thank you, FARK, for teaching me how the world really operates!

/seriously, I knew this would happen
//been on here long enough
///it's kind of funny, actually
////but a little sad at the same time

Daddy's Big Pink Man-Squirrel: My step-father was a cold, unfeeling asshole who was never around during Christmas - always "something more important" to do.

Years after I lost contact with him, I found out what he did during that time he wasn't around. He was spending money on presents for other people. Clothes and food for the poor, toys for sick kids, basically anything for anybody that needed someone else to make Christmas less of a miserable impoverished nastiness for them. He was never there for me, but he was there for lots of other people who, really, needed him more than I did. I never knew about it because of his unshakable belief that it isn't charity if your name is on it. He made my mom promise to never tell me (which she didn't) because he didn't want ANYBODY to know he was doing it. I remember occasional fluff pieces on the local news about some unknown person donating tons of (useful) stuff to charities in the middle of the night, single moms finding the rent and utilities paid, old folks marveling at their new collection of books on tape, and he would always smirk a little.

I thought he was just being a dick.

I have never been happier to be wrong in my life.

How did you found out? Hate to break it you, but he was probably out farking his 24 year old mistress and tending to his other children. You got told a sod story.

/Welcometofark

Smackledorfer: a thousand bucks only eh? I can afford that. Now I'm going to feel like a jerk if I don't do it. Hopefully I'll forget about it altogether .

/at least I'm honest.

Michigan?

_{What shade of white is your beard, sir?}

gadian: Awesome guy. Good for him being a true Santa.

css? I was at a stop light the other day when I realized that the guy in the oncoming lane driving the dark colored, windowless van was Santa Claus. Old man. Real Beard. Red suit. Elf hat. Bells hanging from the wrists. I thought to myself "Santa has a rape van!" Then I realized, that if santa wanted to travel incognito through rough neighborhoods or needed a team of elves to help with sorting and packing presents, a van would be a great solution. Until it got carjacked at a stop light.

I love it when real old men want to dress up and play santa just for the giggles it brings children. Good on you, sirs.

Sirs? There's more than one??!!! Fark you, you've ruined my childhood.

RidersOfLohan: guy walks into kmart to pay off debt on things that they probably didn't need in the first place, further adding to the inflationary spiral

You must've grown up in house where Christmas gifts were your parents giving you food for the year and paying the rent. You know, stuff you needed. Toys and what not are for the 1%, right?

Marysue: I wonder if either of you pleasant fellows have a mortgage?

I live in my house. They don't have possession of the goods on layaway.

Marysue: Or if you ever carry a credit card balance.

Never.


The rest of your post was getting a little too close to moving the goalposts for me to respond to. You went from "layaway is a good thing for people to do" and then you added a shiat-ton of criteria. You end up paying a good 10% more on layaway items below a hundred bucks, you get farked in the butt if you something comes up and you can't make the payments, and you lose any investment in the meantime.

it is not a good plan.