Layaway,,,Uh Oh

Have you noticed the onslaught of television commercials about layaway coming back? I have, and let me tell you, this is not a good sign for the current economic state, nor how people should be saving for their holiday shopping.

3 major stores, Walmart, K-mart and Sears, have all spent some serious advertising money to remind the public that you can buy all the holiday shananigans you want, (you should check out these links- it's almost impressive) but the trick about layaway is that you don't receive the item until you've made all the payments. You literally "lay" the item "away" until it's paid. Sounds smart?

Well, folks, I'm not so sure. I guess I get nervous when retailers know that the economy is so bad, that now we have to go back to paying for items in installments. No longer do we even have the credit or the cash on hand to be able to buy something. That doesn't seem to indicate economic recovery is on the rise...

And for some people, layaway may be the only feasible option to afford buying certain items for holiday gifts this year, but perhaps we should consider supporting Small Business Saturday on November 26th (oh the irony of this after we have gorged ourselves on Black Friday sales at the major retailers!).

It's one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year, so what would happen if we decided to support the small businesses instead of the megastores? I, for one, am taking the challenge :)