Move over credit card companies. Consumers, turn off the QVC and Home Shopping Network. Log-off of that e-tail site. Do you really need that cornucopia sweater? It's identical to the one you bought last year -- well, sans the cranberry sauce stain -- and wore only on Thanksgiving. Or that belly buster bit of exercise equipment? May I remind you of the space in your basement where similar items go to die.
Put the plastic down. Better yet, take a scissors to it. You can do it. Our obsession with "gotta have it now" has come back to bite us in our debt-laden butts. We love the "buy now" bit, but cringe at the "pay later" portion of the agreement.
Proposal: Bring back the Layaway Plan.
Remember Layaway? Department stores and shops would hold an item for you while you paid installments directly to the store. You put a percentage down and made payment agreements. I remember putting a green leather jacket on layaway after I got my first part-time job. When I'd go to Gimbels to make a payment, I'd ask the saleswoman if I could look at that green leather jacket. Sounds a bit like an episode of "The Waltons", but I think it was financial sanity.
Retro or economically un-American? We do love our plastic and the weaning could be quite an ugly withdrawal process. Perhaps we could form support groups. Call each other whenever we feel the urge to put yet another shiny object on our card. Cost of membership in the group? Ten bucks a year. Cash only.
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