If you’re strapped for cash, you may be tempted to get your laptop with a credit card instead.  While this can be a great decision for some people, other people may not find this to be their most advantageous choice.  Credit cards have become a staple of the American economy.  Fancy dinners, Christmas toys, clothing, and tons of other everyday and luxurious purchases are made with the credit card.  But with all these purchases, people are finding themselves overwhelmed with debt and monthly payments.  This results in people getting bad credit which affects their interest rates as well as their ability to get loans and credit cards in the future.  Before you go out and buy a laptop with a credit card, think about some other options.

The first thing you can do if you want to buy a laptop and not deal with interest is get a laptop layaway.  Many large businesses offer layaway programs for large and small purchases.   When you do this, you make small monthly payments towards the principle of the laptop.  During the time that you’re making payments, you’re not able to take the laptop with you home to use it.  When you finally finish making your payments, you’re able to take the laptop and use it.  While this can be a bad idea for someone who needs a laptop right away, this can be a good idea for someone who doesn’t.  If you find yourself spending extra savings that you have, doing a layaway can help discipline your spending habits.  Plus you don’t deal with the interest or fees you would have with a credit card purchase.

Another choice, similar to a credit card, is to get a personal loan from a credit union.  Even if you have bad credit, you can get one of these types of loans.  Most credit unions have fairly loose requirements  and only require you to prove that you’re able to make your payments on-time.  They’ll typically request a proof of income through the form of a pay stub or bank deposit.  Once you have a personal loan, you’ll benefit from it’s lower interest rates and flexibility of monthly payments and methods of paying it off.  If you have a bank account at the credit union, you can opt to have money automatically making payments so that you don’t forget.

If those two options don’t really work for you, you may be someone who should use their credit card.  As with all purchases, make wise decisions and only buy what you can afford.  Don’t think about getting your laptops on a whim and find yourself in a situation where you can’t even go to the store to buy food.

This post is tagged with: credit card, credit union, laptop financing, laptop layaway, small personal loan