The Kmart LayAway

Got your eye on a nice little pup-tent, or a Coleman propane lantern, or a sweet rolling computer case? Don’t have the cash on hand? (And if you’re like me, you’re trying to limit the use of the credit card for purchases now)? Well, do you remember the Kmart LayAway? I remember when it was first introduced, what, (unintelligible) years ago! The inception and ease of the credit card overshadowed the LayAway system, but credit card use has gotten a whole lot of people in trouble. Lots of folks are avoiding that way of making purchases as much as possible. So it’s natural that the frugal and easy Kmart Layaway for the Holidays would see a bit of a revival. The Kmart LayAway is actually a terrific service to save money and reserve that nice item you wanted when you don’t have the cash immediately on hand.

Here’s how the Kmart LayAway works:

1. Find your product(s) at Kmart.
2. Take it (or them) to the LayAway counter and make a down payment. New service contracts have a service fee of $5 and you pay an advanced Cancellation Fee of $10 upfront. Of course, if you don’t cancel your LayAway, you get the fee returned.
3. Make payments on your items every two weeks, for up to eight weeks.
4. Once your payments are completed, you take your stuff home.

Of course, if you want to use your credit card to make the LayAway purchase, Kmart accepts them. For me, I’d use the LayAway so as not to use the credit card, because it is too easy to use it all the time!

There are more details about Kmart’s LayAway program here.