3mo ago

More Americans are financing groceries with buy now, pay later loans — and more are paying those bills late, survey says

www.cnbc.com

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Is this the American Dream I keep hearing about? Surely people having to finance their lunch is a sign of a healthy economy and society, right?
- The American Dream currently is to hopefully have food on the table and a roof over your head…
- “It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.” - George Carlin
Definitely a sign of a recovering economy. 5% bump on the S&P tomorrow.
Reminds me of SkipTheDishes (Canadian version of JustEat) adding an option to finance your order. The thought of financing a pizza is equally hilarious and terrifying
- For Americans who haven't heard of either of those, DoorDash. For everyone else, it's a takeout delivery gig service.
The loans… are a popular alternative to credit cards because they often don’t charge interest.
I never considered this. That makes them seem more reasonable TBH, though of course they screw you over more if you pay late or pile them up.
- Credit cards also don't charge interest if you pay off the balance every month.
  
  There’s also something called a “line of credit” which is basically a credit card with lower interest and no cash advance fee, but no rewards.
  Obviously you don’t want to keep a balance on that either, but if you can’t fully pay off your credit card, you can at least save money by transferring the debt there.
  
  My thinking is that it’s a way to avoid adding to existing credit card debt, and accumulate more net “interest free debt” so to speak, as it’s a separate pool from a credit card.
  Yes, I know. But if one is going to have the debt one way or the other, I kinda see the logic.
- Do these loans report to the credit bureaus?
- The loaner must be getting something out of the exchange. If it’s not interest, then it’s collateral.
  
  From what I’ve found reading terms on some of these it’s fees baked into them that are pretty dang steep compared to interest if you pay them off immediately. Many then balloon once you get past some arbitrary point between 30-90 days. Might take a look at this to get an idea. I’ve seen these guys recently at a mattress store and googled a cost estimator to see how they worked.
Someone convince me this is not intentional
This must be what being great again feels like. Right?
- I don't know about you, but I am officially tired of all the winning
  
  Sounds like you're an ideal candidate for ~~reeducation~~ a tax payer funded visit to a summer camp.
Every society is three meals away from chaos.

20 comments