San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

Yea why have the stuff sitting in a closet where Santa's dependents can find them before Xmas.

I have less issue with layaway then just easy credit purchases. With Layaway the item stays in the store till it's paid off...

Unless they've changed things.

I remember as a teenager, (back when dinasaurs roamed the earth), I put a pair of jeans on lay away - then brought in my baby sitting earnings each week to pay it off. After 3 weeks, I'd paid off my new jeans and got to take them home.

When credit cards started being given to anyone with a pulse, layaway disappeared... but now that credit is tighter (as it should be)... layaway is back. At least people have to pay to get the goods.

I guess I am just a weirdo, but I really dont understand lay-away. Just save your $, and when you have enough, buy what you need. I guess if we had high inflation and it locked in your prices it would be a good idea, or if we had really scarce resource/item and it kept it available to you; I could kinda understand that. But why let the store hold onto your money, and merchandise, for you? It isnt like we have inflation or scareity right now.

I don't disagree DWCAP. But when I was 16 and it was the 70's and designer jeans were all the rage - if you found a pair of jeans that you liked, in your size, etc... you put it on layaway - because they might not be there when you saved up the money. It was kind of a way of calling "dibs" on a clothing item.

Even then I wasn't a huge fan of shopping - but at 16 I tolerated it more than now.

That wasnt directed at you UCgal so much as just a general comment. As you said, lay-away made sure the pants were there when there was a significant possibility that they may not be in 3 weeks. So I can understand that, especially for a teenager. But now, why put your washer and dryer, or dishes, or whatever else people are buying, on layaway? It isnt like washer model XXX #1 is gonna wash any better or worse than washer model XXX #2.

Agree with UCGal.

This isn't really buying before you can pay. You're just setting it aside -- for reasons already mentioned by UCGal -- until you can pay for it.

Quite frankly, I'd love to see people using lay-away instead of using credit. It's just a way of saving toward a particular purchase. With interest rates near zero, you're not losing anything by having the store hold onto your money. It helps the less disciplined save for a purchase.