My version of layaway

I bet there are a lot of older dudes here that remember the days of “layaway” — paying for an item a little at a time while the store holds it for you with no fees or interest. I can remember going to Circuit City with my dad to pickup the new TV that he’d been chipping away at for months. It was a good lesson to me as a kid — you don’t get instant gratification if you don’t have cash in hand, but with patience and discipline you can work for nice things on your own terms.

The vast majority of retailers won’t do this anymore, they want you to sign up for their credit account. I have plenty of credit available to me with better terms than the store cards can offer, but I have no interest in putting a “toy” on my Visa. I often find myself with $50 or $100 of “fun money” and it usually gets wasted on crankbaits and beer and fast food. Anyway, it’s a leap for me to get to the $500-$1,000 dollar mark in the “fun fund.” That money inevitably ends up getting spent on necessities or something for the whole family as opposed to my boat.

So my thought is: I’ve been wanting to make a considerable investment in my boat electronics. Why not just start stockpiling $50-$100 gift cards to Fleet Farm or Cabelas? The physical item won’t be reserved with my name on it, but that’s almost better as I can wait until purchase day to make my final decision on which product to buy. If I’m waffling between two and one goes on sale, I can go that route. It will still be tempting not to grab a gift card when I need some raps or whatever else, but at least I know that money won’t end up going to Taco Bell. Or Culver’s. mmmmm Culvers.

Feel free to poke holes in my plan. The downsides seem minimal. No “due date” or cancellation fees like the old layaway plans. No expiration date on gift cards these days.

Forced savings takes away the impulsive parts of human behavior, most people have problems with it whether they admit it or not. Only downside is if you would need those funds for emergency reasons but otherwise I think your plan is a good one if you can maintain it. Good luck!

I did think of one potential pitfall — store closings, mergers, etc. I wouldn’t want to end up with a bunch of gift cards in a Gander Mountain type situation.

Fleet Farm seems safest since they’ve been around and have the most diverse product base. I guess it’d also be unlikely that Cabelas/Bass Pro would go through yet another change so quickly. . .

Good plan. Leave the cards at home to avoid temptations.

Two things. I know many folks get the gift cards at a 10-13% discount. That could help. The part I don’t like with the plan is being tied to one store, one pricing system. You’ll miss out on potential savings possibly?

not a bad idea. if you know what electronics you want and a store you like that sells those electronics, makes the decision easier. Hopefully, you have enough saved up when the item goes on sale. Seems like everything is on sale 4 times a year now.
I remember lay a way and also Christmas clubs.

tangler you and your dad and I think alot alike. I would rather save up to buy it once then to give into instant gratification and end up buying something cheaper and not as good.

I keep an envelope and I throw a 20 in it here and there and it is surprising how it adds up. I know too many people who cant discipline their spending. They are buried in debt and paying those finance charges really adds up. Making it hard to get out from under that debt. It ends up controlling you

Someone once said do you control your toys or do your toys control you?
I buy good stuff when I can with cash. I do not carry a credit card balance. If I cant afford it I wait till I can.

I think it is more the norm now then ever. Student loan debt is at an all time high. Our national debt is ever increasing and the finance charges are a huge burden.

I own everything 0 debt and it is liberating!!
Good Luck
BB

https://www.youneedabudget.com/ is a program I’ve been using for a few years. Basically you create whatever categories you want and assign your income to them. They accrue month to month minus the transactions that you subtract from a particular category. It doesn’t prevent you from spending money you shouldn’t but it does show you how much money you’ve allocated for each category and whether you’ve exceeded your budget or not. It’s gotten kind of expensive since I started using it is one problem. It’s $84/yr now which is almost absurd compared to what it used to cost but I’m still on a grandfathered plan that is $45/yr. Honestly though it probably saves me more than $84/month just by keeping those little things like eating out for lunch and buying pop/snacks at the gas station under control.

benelli-bob wrote:

I keep an envelope and I throw a 20 in it here and there and it is surprising how it adds up.

That’s exactly the method I was thinking of. Instead of buying a gift card to a certain store, why not tuck a $20 away and allow that fun fund accumulate and give you the flexibility to spend that fund at any place, especially if there is a good sale to be had the item you want, such as a boat electronics in this example.

Another thought is to buy generic Visa debit cards rather than store gift cards. Avoid the risks of store closures and would be able to use the $$ at other places if needed.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I should also say — I typically buy everything used whenever possible but in my opinion, used prices on fish finders are absurd. Lots of guys selling outdated technology for ridiculous prices in my opinion.

I’m familiar with the envelope system, and the rest of our finances are in really good order. The problem I have is with this one small portion of the budget, the slush fund. I’m good at putting money in that bucket, I’m not good at letting it grow to like $700 for a new sonar/gps.

______________ wrote:

Two things. I know many folks get the gift cards at a 10-13% discount. That could help.

I forgot about those discount gift card systems. Thanks for the reminder.

I was at a Cabelas this December buying a gift card for my Dad and the Customer Service rep said they had a guy come in and buy a boat with gift cards. I’m like haha sure and he goes no seriously it took us over an hour to put in all the gift cards into the system. He said the guy saved for 5 years.

tangler wrote:

I did think of one potential pitfall — store closings, mergers, etc. I wouldn’t want to end up with a bunch of gift cards in a Gander Mountain type situation.

This ^^^^^.

tangler wrote:

Fleet Farm seems safest since they’ve been around and have the most diverse product base. I guess it’d also be unlikely that Cabelas/Bass Pro would go through yet another change so quickly. . .

Actually, Fleet Farm has been the subject of merger/takeover/sale rumors for about 3 years now. They are encountering the same issues Cabelas was, expansion and renovation of old stores and limitations of a family ownership structure.

I can’t see the advantage in the gift card thing. Put cash in an envelope and avoid all the potential limits and things that could go wrong with gift cards.

Grouse

If you’re gonna go the gift card route, check to see if they expire or start to decline in value over time. Lots of cards do this, not all. Some expire after 5 years, and some start deducting a percentage after 1 year.

KP wrote:

I was at a Cabelas this December buying a gift card for my Dad and the Customer Service rep said they had a guy come in and buy a boat with gift cards. I’m like haha sure and he goes no seriously it took us over an hour to put in all the gift cards into the system. He said the guy saved for 5 years.

I have heard this same story but the guy used his cabelas points from his credit card. Either way that is quite impressive.

Pailofperch wrote:

If you’re gonna go the gift card route, check to see if they expire or start to decline in value over time. Lots of cards do this, not all. Some expire after 5 years, and some start deducting a percentage after 1 year.

Actually I believe, this was made illegal. Gift cards can not expire or decrease in value over time…

KP wrote:

I was at a Cabelas this December buying a gift card for my Dad and the Customer Service rep said they had a guy come in and buy a boat with gift cards.

And I was impressed with a guy in front of me at Menard’s that bought a snowblower with his 11% rebates!

I see gift cards on eBay and Amazon all the time by a $50 gift card that give you a 60 for free so that could be some added bonus

WinnebagoViking wrote:

Another thought is to buy generic Visa debit cards rather than store gift cards. Avoid the risks of store closures and would be able to use the $$ at other places if needed.

This is a better option IMO also. MY credit union issues these free of charge. These can be easily replaced if lost or stolen. Nice to have in case you need to change your plan for an unexpected emergency.

-J.

I’m not adverse to coming at it from both ends. I use any point earning credit card to buy monthly items and always pay off in full. Save gift cards plus points to buy an expensive item. My most expensive item purchased this way was my Minn Kota Ulterra, $1,900 and change.

Stash the cash, little each month and it’ll grow faster than you think. Then find someone who works for the company and utilize their employee discount, if they’ll let you.

I despise gift cards/credit cards…… too much to lose. Ruins the good deal.

Deleted wrote:

Stash the cash, little each month and it’ll grow faster than you think.

Remember way back when all the coins at the end of any day were tossed in a jar for some future “extra”.

Last time, years ago I changed out almost $500 worth. We use very little cash now, and someday I need to take in the coins I have before the last of the free coin acceptance banks goes away… think I have two large plastic ice cream containers filled in the garage under the tool bench.

Two other options:

1)Get a cash back card with no limit. Every purchase pushes 2% into an account. Use this money for “toys” or big purchases. You won’t be limited to a particular store. (I do this for all my xmas shopping at the end of the year)

2)I fell into this savings method by accident. One day I set up automatic deposit into a savings account and forgot all my log-in information…there’s a pretty descent amount in there now that I can’t get at (Bank is out of town and I keep forgetting to call).LOL

I like your plan but like someone said, you are stuck at one store.

WinnebagoViking wrote:

Another thought is to buy generic Visa debit cards rather than store gift cards. Avoid the risks of store closures and would be able to use the $$ at other places if needed.

X2

If you had all Cabelas cards and the unit goes dirt cheap at Store X, what do you do if Cabelas won’t price match??

We use Ally.com savings accounts for large purchases. We figure out how much we want to put away each month and set up automatic deposits. Right now its earning 2.2%. Not gonna get rich, but pays better than most banks. With the Ally accounts, you can set up as many accounts as you want. Want to save for boat electronics, put it in that account. Want to save for a fishing trip, put it in another account.

This to me seems like the most simple straight forward method. 2nd account where you set up some type of automatic transfer or extra money deposit. No checks or debit card. Transfer/Deposit and leave it. Transfer out when you’re ready to spend. Combine it with a cash back credit card building money on purchases. Out of site, out of mind money that has the benefits of being liquid without being tied to anything specific.

Trent W wrote:

We use Ally.com savings accounts for large purchases. We figure out how much we want to put away each month and set up automatic deposits. Right now its earning 2.2%. Not gonna get rich, but pays better than most banks. With the Ally accounts, you can set up as many accounts as you want. Want to save for boat electronics, put it in that account. Want to save for a fishing trip, put it in another account.

Just keep it simple. Save every single month, more than you think you should. You’ll be surprised at the growth

Just put a certain amount of money you are okay with putting aside in a savings account, or jar or envelope. I bought my first boat this way. I worked my ass off with overtime for almost two years and forced myself to keep that extra money in my savings account. Did I take some out for things I needed? A few times, of course. But two years ago I boat my first boat and paid cash for it. No debt. I don’t think I could do it any other way…..

get one of these and throw a twenty in it every week

All you people with will power and self control can just buzz right off. If I could just throw a 20 in an envelope or a cutesy fish bank with regularity, do ya think I’d be wasting my team concocting hair-brained gift card schemes?

Seriously though, I appreciate all the thoughts. Lots to look at. Do like the idea of direct deposit into an account with no debit/atm access.

With a little luck I’ll come out the other side with some nifty modern side imaging and maybe a bit more top-end speed from outboard. (Fewer trips to chick-fil-a)