Posted on 10/21/2014 8:49:47 AM PDT by knak
CULLMAN, Ala. — The love seat and sofa that Jamie Abbott can’t quite afford ended up in her double-wide trailer because of the day earlier this year when she and her family walked into a new store called Buddy’s. Abbott had no access to credit, no bank account and little cash, but here was a place that catered to exactly those kinds of customers. Anything could be hers. The possibilities — and the prices — were dizzying.
At Buddy’s, a used 32-gigabyte, early model iPad costs $1,439.28, paid over 72 weeks. An Acer laptop: $1,943.28, in 72 weekly installments. A Maytag washer and dryer: $1,999 over 100 weeks.
Abbott wanted a love seat-sofa combo, and she knew it might rip her budget. But this, she figured, was the cost of being out of options. “You don’t get something like that just to put more burden on yourself,” Abbott said.
Five years into a national economic recovery that has further strained the poor working class, an entire industry has grown around handing them a lifeline to the material rewards of middle-class life. Retailers in the post-Great Recession years have become even more likely to work with customers who don’t have the money upfront, instead offering a widening spectrum of payment plans that ultimately cost far more and add to the burdens of life on the economy’s fringes.
The poor today can shop online, paying in installments, or walk into traditional retailers such as Kmart that now offer in-store leasing. The most striking change in the world of low-income commerce has been the proliferation of rent-to-own stores such as Buddy’s Home Furnishings, which has been opening a new store every week, largely in the South.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Nobody is putting a gun to their head.
We have a very small budget, so I found all the fixtures on Craig's List. Bath, surround, stool, sink, in wall medicine cabinet for under $250.00
When we needed a new living room suit, sofa, love seat, coffee table, two end tables, small end table and shelves. All from Craig's List, all for under $250.00
Not the colors I would have chosen but I can remedy that as time and money allows.
You can even get stuff for free if you are willing to take it out or pick it up.
People who go the "rent to own" route are just foolish and bad at math.
You can’t fix stupid
Two aspects of the article stand out: the lack of job skills and education of the mother-dropped out of high school at the end of the ninth grade, and second the type of work the husband is doing. I just left a meeting where we learned that there is a shortage of truck drives-about 40,000 right now.
Also, one post was spot on-why not purchase your furniture at a thrift shop or the Salvation Army store, or Good Will etc.
There’s a big urge when you’re poor to own something “nice”. Coming home to a building filled with 3rd hand stuff that most folks would throw at (that probably has been thrown out at least once) is hard on the sense of self worth. The TV doesn’t help, everybody on TV, even the “poor” characters have nicer stuff. Then these place show up and for an “affordable” $20 a month you too can have nice stuff, it’s a hard temptation to resist, especially for folks that demonstrably bad at resisting temptation already. I grew up in that world, it’s a hard climb out.
That’s what I was thinking, or a yard sale.
She could probably get a used sofa, ect for about $50.
The ‘rent to own’ places are doing such great business because so many “poor” people feel like they need the ‘finer’ material things that the middle to upper-middle class has. Thus, they do stupid things like spending $2,000 on a $800 big screen TV(over years). That $20 per week payment just looks to good to be true! Stupid things like this is what keeps them “poor”.
I can’t tell you how many of these people I see. Often, I see some that have clothes that are worn out, shoes that don’t match, a car that barely runs, but they’re carrying around an iPhone. LOL You’ll see others that are in an obviously similar situation, they’ll use an EBT card for their ‘free stuff’, then immediately throw down a $20 bill for booze, smokes, and lottery tickets. I’m standing there behind them in line thinking about how I just paid for her junkfood so she can afford her booze/smokes/lottery tickets, and pay a $150 per month smartphone bill! grrrr
When I was in college, I spent a summer on a stateside mission project in a tourist area. One night, the group split up in several teams to play a game we called bigger and better. Each team was given a paper clip and a street name. We would start at one end, knock on a door and say that we’re playing a game and could they trade our paper clip for something bigger and better. Within an hour, we came back with a couch. For the cost of a paperclip.
Craigslist, yard sales, thrift stores ... all kinds of options for inexpensive furniture. And having no credit is your own damn fault. Get a gas card as soon as you can drive and make your monthly payments religiously. By the time you are in the market for larger ticket items your credit rating should be looking pretty spiff.
I have credit, but prefer to deal in cash.
Always have money for cigarettes though...
I’ve seen perfectly good sofas sell for $1 (that’s one tiny little dollar) at estate auctions.
Because they can't do simple math?
You are fortunate the you and your wife agree on saving for what you want. I know so many couples where one saves and the other one borrows and spends, and it always causes trouble.
Well then it's not really an economic recovery, is it?
Oh they're bad, but absolute pikers compared to the Native Americans. Western Sky loans for a $2,600 loan, the annual percentage interest rate is 139.34% and is set up for 36 months...that is well over 10,000 dollars for a 2,600 dollar loan. The second loan is a 1,500 loan with a APR of 199.98 percent, a little over 7,000 dollars if the applicant takes the full three years to pay it back. And remember, some American don't apply!
That’s exactly it. No concept of delayed gratification. No concept of paying themselves the $50 a month for 6 months and getting a sofa, instead of paying some scam artist $50 a month for 3 years. But hey, they’ve got their sofa NOW. That’s all that matters.
Put them together and you have a successful business model and mission statement.
I have an older dobie mix who is subject to leaking so she wears a diaper at night. I’ve bought 3 sofas from St. Vincent over the past 9 years and will NOT purchase a new one until she goes to Rainbow Bridge. I did not pay more than $25 for any of them and believe I only paid $12.50 for the one during their quarter end sale.
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