Defer Payment and Save Tomorrow

Every time I check out at the local department store, I’m offered to save 10% if I sign up for their credit card. Other stores offer no payment for six months, a year, a decade, etc. Of course, the stores are trying to make a buck off of you when you forget to make a payment or decide to pay a minimum. The interest rates are borderline usury. It’s scary how easy it is to destroy your credit with these offers.

When I mean defer payment, I actually mean deferred purchase. There are certain cases when you’re going to be exhausted and are required to make an important purchasing decision. Defer. Don’t make it. If you make a purchasing decision when being put in an “urgent” situation, you’re at huge risk of getting low value.

For example, you can repair a tire instead of replacing it. You can board up a broken window for a week while you find the best price on its replacement, instead of calling an emergency glass repair shop. In another example, you can service a vacuum cleaner instead of buying a new one. In some instances, deferring isn’t worth it because the repair costs are higher than the replacement costs. However, having the attitude, “I’m going to have to replace it anyways, so I might as well replace it now,” might result in overpaying.