Spending with financing services such as Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna rose 1.3 percent on Thanksgiving, reported The New York Post. The apps allow consumers to make smaller payments over time for their purchase, oftentimes with interest.
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Again, who didn't see this coming?
The human trait of "sacred mystery of dimness" is strong. People not seeing the store stealthy bumping up the cost of a product over 12 months 70% and then on Black Friday the price is advertised as 40% off and the leaping-for-joy salivating people stand in like for 8 hours and whip out the cc. No wonder the Democrats are winning elections.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I took advantage of one of those offers. We bought a new washer and dryer that was financed at 18 months no interest. Why not? It's a better idea to make payments over a year and a half than it is to pull money from savings and lose interest and dividends.
ReplyDeleteThe key words in your comment are no interest. That changes things somewhat.
DeleteI thought that I had made it clear to my wife that we would not carry a cent of debt. She got a Kohl's credit card, to get a one time 30% discount on a cast iron frying pan. It cost 16$ after the discount. You can see it coming, right?
ReplyDeleteShe forgot to pay the damn bill. For enough time to end up paying 69$ for a fucking cast iron pan, that I didn't need. For the low price of 16$, I didn't mind having an extra one, but not for 70$.
Of course, I didn't yell or show my displeasure at her mistake, as she is almost always on top of our bills, with never a mistake in all our time together. But she at least understands now why I do not even have a credit card, yet alone use one to " save money". It only takes one time like this to burn you bad. Being deeply in debt, and digging out, will also teach you how great it feels to pay cash for a car that previously you would have had to finance.
I had a Pastor tell me 40 years ago, never pay interest on a depreciable item. He told me that in couples pre marital counselling, those who took his advice, came back later, and thanked him, saying it was the best thing that they ever learned to make their lives better.
The Pastor was a former construction contractor from Indiana, with enough of a business to have a large board of directors. He wanted to buy a corporate jet. The would not let him. He was glad that they didn't.
I've seen the same S&W pistol listed from $499 to $899, depending on which black friday ad I'm looking at. I almost pulled the trigger on the $499 but then thought better of it. It's all scam and BUY NOW hysteria with no real connection between what you spend and what you get. I'm seriously talking to my wife about no presents except for the two grandkids this year. We got each other and I'd rather have a full pantry and no debt. We'll see how far I get with that.
ReplyDeleteIn HS and thereafter, about ten yrs total, I worked retail. That includes jr mgmnt.
ReplyDeleteWhat Bogs says is usual business.
With few exceptions, people are absolutely dumb about purchasing. The stores know this very well.
Yes, avoid like the plague paying interest on a depreciating asset, although there are limited exceptions to that;
- Buying large ticket items on low interest rate.
- Paying off the total amount before a stipulated deadline.
- Building credit history.
If you're gonna use credit, even at a low rate, you must religiously practice discipline.
Everyone gets cash / bullion for Christmas and that solves the problem of shopping. Bullion = harder to spend savings account.
ReplyDelete- Arc
I spent $50 ... on ME!
ReplyDelete