Lay away

This is the first year that I won't have to do that! But for the past 4 years I have learned to stay away from KMart(not that I am suggesting that to you, just venting), I swear they lost my stuff twice from poor organization! Anyway, start EARLY, now is a good time!! If you wait, then the selection isn't very good.

i do it almost every year at Wal-Mart withthe big toys, beacuse they go fast, and because I don't want Richie to find them - it's very convenient storage!!!! Well, the pros would be having a few months to pay them off, and not having to charge the gifts on a credit card. The cons might be if you changed your mind about wanting the gift - all the money you have put down is non refundable. Same thing if you see it on sale somewhere - usually stores will match prices, but not if it is on layaway!!

Oh, I thought of another good thing about it - it saves you headaches. You can do your shopping in October, rather than in December when the stores are packed!! You might have to stand in a long line for pick-up, but if you go early in the morning, it won't be so long, I don't think.

Also, we luck out because holiday pick-up cut-offs are usually arranged by last name alphabetically. Such as: Last names starting with A-F have to be picked up before Dec. 20, or something like that. Our last name begins with a W, so we are always on the last day!!!

We always use layaway. I already have stuff put away for this year.

I have used lay-away every year since Cori has been born. I have had no problems at all. I usually have one at Wal-Mart and KMart at the same time.
I have run into the problem of not wanting something that I have put in there but you can get teh money back after you pay the full balance of the whole lay-away. There have been many times that I have paid it off and went straight to the refund counter with the stuff. That way you do not lose any money (except the $2 or so lay-away fee.)

I do a lay a way every year at Ames. Around Thanksgiving they come out with there christmas toy flyer and my son goes through it and checks off what he wants. He think he is starting to prepare a list for santa. I sneek to the store. I have never had any problems and I pick it up just before christmas so I don't have the stuff it the house either. He snoops.



Michelle

Oh my goodness!!! I haven't done a layaway EVER before and I've been worrying about HOW I'm gonna pull of Xmas this year!! What a great idea!! I need to shop for my family, my SS, my dh and my DD. I'm stressing b/c this year we have to buy plane tickets for SS to fly out and that will be a killer on our already tight budget!! Wow!! I didn't realize how great layaway was. Do you know if I go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving IF they will put stuff on layaway at that sale price for me??? If so......I'm all over it!! How great. And how much do you usually have to pay each month on the stuff you have on layaway?? Wow.....this is great!! Thanks for sharing this today....I'm feeling relieved already. (We never grew up doing layaway and I'm just not used to it I guess!!) Does that sound weird???

No, I don't think they let you put things on layaway at the sale price the day after thanksgiving - but I'm not positive. I would suugest calling the store. Our Wal-Mart requires you to put 10% down when you put it in layaway, and then have to pay somehing on it every 30 days or else they will put it back on the shelf and you lose your money. Usually, I put stuff on layaway the middle of October, and every week I go in and pay 10% - that way, 10 weeks later, it's paid off and ready for wrapping!!!

Ahhhh...a debt-free Christmas!

Yes, if you have the patience to wait in line the day after Thanksgiving they will honor the sale prices. A lot of the places stop accepting them around the first of December so it all depends on if they are still open there. Also, you usually have to have all things out of lay-away before Christmas (someone earlier stated some dates, I think) so it is usually better to start earlier than that.
I think that at WalMart you have to put 10% down and then just make payments every 30 days on it. I think that there is a max. time that they are allowed to hold it but I am not sure of it.

I know that I have said a lot of "I thinks" but I am not 100% certain of the particular details. I do this every year but I do not pay too close attention to the payment schedules. I always just paid around $50 each pay check until it was paid off (I start before Halloween).

I hope I helped SOME!!!

I did last year. The only thing is I went a little crazy and put a ton of stuff on layaway. Then when I went to pick it up, I couldnt afford all of it, so I had to cancel a few things. Other than money being tight last year, I use layaway through the year quite often.

I have never used layaway before but I am thinking this year will be a good one to start using it! We have no money and so many bills so I think layaway will work best at least on the more expensive items that we can pay on for the next 2 months!

I have a cousin that works for Wal-Mart. He said he loves working on the day after Thanksgiving, because he thinks it's funny to see people fight over the last one of whatever's on sale. The good thing about the Wal-Mart back home was that you got the "day after Thanksgiving" flyer about a week early. My best friend would go to the Supercenter, which was open 24 hours, and get the stuff (if it was out) before the sale started and then just walk around the store until the sale began at 6 AM. Then she'd check out at 6AM and get the good price and miss the lines. Of course, she also didn't mind getting up at 4 AM to do it. ughh.

I know that Wal-Mart requires 10% down for layaways. Usually for Christmas stuff, you can leave it on layaway for a little longer. Normally other stuff has to be out in 30 days, but with Christmas stuff, you can leave it for up to 3 months. At least, that's how it was the last time I did a layaway. Hmmm.. I've seen other places that want 5% down, but I can't remember where.

My mom used to put all of our stuff on layaway because they didn't have credit cards, and she never knew what my dad's pay was going to be from week to week. We'd go to the store or look at the catalog and find things that we wanted, and then she'd go back while we were at Granny's one day and put everything on layaway.

The only bad thing about layaway is that some places are terribly disorganized around Christmas because they have so many layaways. They lost my stepsister's layaway a couple of years ago. She was SO upset. She stood in line for 3 hours waiting to get to the register, and then they looked for an hour and couldn't find it. They told her they'd call her if they found it. They never did. The gave her her money back, but there were some things that she couldn't find in the store after that, because they were popular things that year. So, she had to go out the week before Christmas to other stores looking for these things her kids wanted.

My only suggestion for a thing like that would be, if you can get it out before the last day and you have somewhere to hide the gifts, I think that would help. That way you don't have to fight the long lines. And the people working in the stores are always so confused on the last layaway day. They make you want to kill them, but at the same time you feel sorry that they had to work that day.

Actually, since our budget is tight this year, that's a good idea. DH has a couple of things that he wants. Mostly little stuff, but it adds up... So, I may do that the next time he's out of town or working late so he doesn't see it. hee hee. That way we won't lose a big chunk of money all at once. And if it disappears gradually, he won't notice it. hee hee.

Last year I went the day after thanksgiving and put all of our sons xmas on layaway at Walmart. They had no problem accepting the sale price. I am not sure if I will do it again this year or not. We don't use credit card and since I can not go out shopping a whole lot if is easier to just stick it on layaway. I hate it that Target doesn't do layaway though! And I am not sure..but doesn't Kmart advertise that they have free layaway? I can't remember if that is correct or not.

Okay you are going to think I am crazy! But I never knew how layaway worked!! I am so excited I am going this weekend!!! Money is tight this year for us to so I just really happy about all of this info! Thanks girls!!! Are there any other stores that do layaway?? I am really upset about Target too that is my favorite store!!!!

I know for sure that Kmart and Walmart do it. I am not sure about other stores like Penny's and Sear's...they may though. We used to have a store here called Ames and they did layaway also.

I can't understand why more stores don't do it - it's such a good way to be able to spread out the cost of whatever you are buying.

Umm...I think Toys R Us has it too, but am not positive.

WAHHHH I wish Target had layaway!!!It is my favorite store..

THank you Elaine - I am going this weekend.

Thanks girls for telling me about the other stores