Frugality Guru

We have all heard about the don’t pay a cent event at our local furniture and department stores. The idea behind this came from the store layaway. With layaways you put a certain percentage down on your purchase and on a weekly or monthly basis you would put more money down until you paid off the balance. The only caveat with a layaway is that you don’t get to take your purchases home.

The layaway has made a comeback most likely due to the economic times. The premise of the layaway is fabulous and works really well for most.

They, in turn, do this for many of the same reasons that we learn bad habits. i.e lack of awareness and mindful, thoughtful living.

Kids saving money need to know its more than just being handed a few dollars and they can move on from there. They need to understand that in one way or another every penny they get has to be a penny they earned.

Don’t allow a balance to build up on your credit card. Only use a credit card when you know for certain that you have money coming in to pay it off that same month.

Determine if $50 a week is an amount that is acceptable for you. The store will sometimes work with you to help you determine a solution

A Few Last Caveats to the Layaway

* Always check the store policy to ensure that you can get your deposit back as some hold on to it if you decide that you do not want to take your purchase.

* Ensure your deposit is debited to your purchase price – that is, it comes off the total purchase price. * Ensure there is no fee associated with the layaway.

* Another alternative is using a separate bank account. As the industry has gone electronic you can now, with most banks, withdrawal an amount from one bank account and deposit that amount to another account – a special fund account. This works very well if you are budgeting for the holidays or a special event.

At the end of the day make sure the kids know that everything you are doing is in their best interest. At the end of the day its all about kids saving money.

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November 26th, 2011

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 26th, 2011 at 4:02 am and is filed under Family Budgeting, Tips On Budgeting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.