furious

When WalMart first discontinued lay away I thought I was going to miss
it. I live off a total of $600 a month retirement soc. sec. and I
get buy. I start my Christmas shopping in February and have been done
for about one or two months. I never spend more than $20.00 on each
of my grandkids and they are teen agers/young adults. I give my
daughter and son-in-law a $40.00 gift card to WalMart, and my mentally
disabled adult daughter that lives with me gets $40.00 worth of
various things that she has said she would like. It isn't that hard
to do.

I understand your mother's dilema, I was for many years a single mom
who also used layaway at walmart & others for larger purchases. I also
understand the problem with layaway, people putting stuff in and not
keeping up with payments, the added expense of storing all merchandise
and staffing the area. Your mom should check with her bank to see if
they have Christmas club accounts. I've used that before, you deposit
so much money per week into the account and in November the bank cuts
you a check for however much money is in the account. I also don't
wait until the end of the year to Christmas, I shop all year long.

Tell me does it make you feel good to prey on a defenseless kid? As if
he/she's not going through enough with just being an adolescent, you
have to rip her/his family apart! All of the "gimme" comments and
accusing her mother of being a bad parent. Do you even think that just
maybe there is illness involved? You don't know these people to crush
them so brutally. You should be ashamed of yourself! I really do hope
this helped your self-esteem, because the lack of campassion and
empathy only spells out trouble for you. Karmatic justice will find
you.
BTW-Walmart charges a layaway fee, so it's not like they weren't
making money.

I am a financially capable adult and I am not happy with the layaway
option being taken away. I see many of you that say save your
pennies...well sometimes it isn't that easy. All of you who say that
must be very, very rich and/or live off credit.

I utilized laway for many reasons and it didn't mean I was too lazy to
save, or over spend or whatever. It was a good way to hide gifts as
well as making some of the more expensive things back.

I know that many times there is a money issue because people don't
keep or return the items but most of the people would even pay a fee
for the option.

I'm sorry I feel that layaway should come back but I can see both
sides.

I am glad WalMart is doing what it needs to do to stay profitable.
For-profit corporations are not charities. They are in business to
make profit and keep their shareholders happy.

I am glad lawaway is gone. Means fewer people in line at WalMart
customer service, less hassle and overhead for WalMart, and that
translates to lower prices for those of us responsible consumers.

Here's an idea if you think you need layaway. Budget your income. Make
responsible choices. It's really a simple formula for financial
success but most people are LAZY and GREEDY and the "I WANT IT"
mentaility takes over.

Hats off to WalMart for discontinuing this unprofitable program that
feeds the consumers who already have issues with their financial
lives.

If you need layaway...you don't NEED whatever IT is.

I've used layaway in the past for various reasons - budget purposes,
hiding gifts, etc. But there are other means to accomplish the same
results.

As others have suggested, a Christmas Club account with a credit union
would be ideal, especially for someone with a limited income. Your
mother can start saving in January instead of having to pay for
everything with wages earned over a 3-month period.

She can also purchase gifts over the course of the year, one at a time
as money permits.

Wal-mart is, above all else, a corporation with stockholders who
expect to earn a profit from the stock that they own. Wal-mart's
first obligation is to those stockholders & they must make decisions
that are financially advantageous to them. It would be nice if
businesses had "heart", but I believe that way of doing business ended
decades ago.

THANK YOU!!! Finally someone said it. In a post on September 21!!
SAVE YOUR MONEY!!! You don't need layway, just save your money each
month or week or day. The mother is going to have to pay for the
items, Christmas or not, at some point. Even if you put your change
for the day in a jar, that will get you somewhere. My husband and I
went to Vegas with pennies we collected over the year. The mother can
also sign up for a Christmas Club at a local bank. I know Commerce
bank has one.
And what's with this "she has to do without" nonsense, please grow up.
Do a Secret Santa where each person in the family buys one gift
instead of everyone buying everyone else gifts. There are so many
people in this world that don't have the ability to buy Christmas
gifts. It is sad at how selfish Corey sounds with this me me me
attitude.

this has really been bothering me. I have been trying to come up with
an answer that is relevant and doesn't tell children to "grow up."
They are kids, and Christmas is for kids and kids need presents, end
of story. You can appreciate Christmas for all the sentimental stuff
later. Kids need presents. First, have your mom or you do it
yourself check into the local charities. Toys For Tots is a good
place too. Local churches, etc. We are big on Christmas around here
and even our grocery stores collect donated presents for kids.
Second, i have called every store i can think of and it turns out a
lot of stores in my town still offer layaway. Target, Kohls, Kmart
and J.C. Penney, to name a few. The policies vary from state to
state, so investigate for yourself. With a little detective work, you
can find alternatives. Good luck, sweetie, and don't listen to those
scrooges. All children deserve presents at Christmas.

Understanding that you are just a kid and not privy to the way the
"grown-up" world works, let me just explain to you WHY your letter is
neither appropriate nor accurate.

There is something that adults are supposed to have called
RESPONSIBILITY. That means that they and they alone have control over
what happens to them. Things don't happen to them without some choice
that was made somewhere on their part.

The fact that WalMart is doing away with their layaway does not mean
that you can't have a decent Christmas. That will rest solely with
your parents ability to plan ahead and be prepared to make holiday
gift purchases a little earlier in the year or to save up money to buy
them just before Christmas.

If your parents told you and your siblings that you would not be
getting a decent Christmas this year because of mean old, heartless
WalMart, then they should be ashamed of themselves. As adults, they
know full well the only person responsible for their lack of
preparedness for the holidays this year is themselves.

WalMart does not OWE them the luxury of layaway just because it is
more convenient for your parents.

There have been several stores that have gone down because they tried
to be "customer centered" and do things their customers wanted and
they lost more money than they made. Woolworth's is one such store.
WalMart is trying not about to allow it to get to that point.

My guess is it won't be long before KMart does away with the program
as well. They are already in worse money situations anyway.

Based on the way you wrote your letter, you seem like a pretty
intelligent kid, so I am thinking you'll be able to understand all
this, but at the end of the day, it isn't WalMart's fault, doing away
with the layaway does not make them hearltess and they are not the
reason that you or any other family might "go without" this holiday
season.

How sad

I'm going to start a business. People have to give me some of their
money, each week. After 1 year, I'll let the person buy something
with their own money.

If you fail to make a payment, I get to keep whatever you've already
put in.

For the right of having me hold on to your money, so you aren't
tempted to spend it, there will be small fee.

I bet there are enough people out there with no self control that I
could retire in 6 months.

Corey, I have no idea of your age but if you are the one who typed
this letter, you're at least a teenager who by now should know life
isn't always fair--as is evidenced by your going through the divorce
of your parents. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if you were in
your 20's or perhaps had an adult compose this letter. These are not
the ramblings of a 10 or 11 year old.

The past four years should have got you out of your gimme, gimme,
gimme mode. What have you done to have your mother attain 'financial
capability?' Do you have a job? If so, what do you spend your money
on, video games? It would be so much better if you contributed to
household expenses.

I note you have not replied to any of the posts so obviously question
whether this letter is just a plant to get members riled up about
Wal*Mart's decision to eliminate their layaway department.

During my lifetime, I have used a layaway plan *once*. It was for
something my spouse and I had kicked around buying but didn't really
have the ready cash for the purchase. On a whim, I put it in layaway
thinking 'it might not be available when we have the cash saved up.'
I managed to keep my 'secret' for about two months. When my spouse
finally found out about it, there was a huge verbal explosion in our
home. The next day, a withdrawal was made from our savings account
and the item was taken out of layaway.

How did we replace that money? We both had jobs where we went out for
sometimes pricey lunches each day. Effective immediately, we took our
lunches to the office from home each day. Rather than dinner out two
or three nights a week, we had our dinners at home. Our
'entertainment' was watching TV while munching on popcorn we made at
home. Within a three month period, that money was replaced.

My spouse's reasoning for dislike of layaway? The retailer was
earning interest on the money we paid. Yet, we would not have use of
the item until it was completely paid off. This was a win/lose
situation. Win for the retailer, lose for us. But by doing it this
way, each time we added to the savings account, we were the ones
making the interest and we had use of the merchandise.

You mention you, your 'brothers' and your 'sisters' so I have to
surmise there are at least 5 siblings in the family. If so, for what
purpose is the child support any decent court would order being used?
Is this just being frivolously spent with no regard for tomorrow?

Take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror and answer those
questions. That is, if this letter is legitimate.

Here's what you should do. Get your mom a jar and have her put so
many dollars a week into a jar then at the end of the year she can pay
for these gifts without the layaway fee. Problem solved.

Finally! I'm with you Corey and Daniela. Just because those of us
sitting at home on our computers might not use layaway, a lot of
people without a lot of expendable income do use it. It seems a lot
of people who post here are just here to bash letters. Gee, how
original. Seems like another case of a big corporation getting rid of
something valuable to customers because it doesn't fatten their bottom
line fast enough. Before you say it, I know it's their perogative,
their business, their rules, blah....blah...blah... but there is a
growing trend where business is no longer valuing their employees and
customers all in the quest for more cash for the shareholders. Shame
on Walmart for turning their backs on the customer base that made them
so huge in the first place.

Hello Corey,

I wish that you could take a moment and explain why layaway is
important for your mom beyond just Christmas gifts. Some people seem
to be hung up on the Christmas GIFTS not realizing how people use it
all year round and how it keeps lots of people from amassing debt that
they will never be able to repay.

To everyone who doesn't understand layaway, think of it as your credit
card. How would you feel if all stores decided they won't accept your
credit cards anymore and you had to cough up all the money in cash
when you wanted something.

Now perhaps you undersatnd why he is furious, along with a lot of
other people who maybe aren't fortunate enough to have a computer and
internet service to voice their complaints in a public forum like
this.

Again, I have to add that he is not writing to any of us, but to
Walmart and people who seem offended by his outrage are some how not
getting the point of this forum. We are here to help our fellow
writers, not bash them or begrudge them for having more than us.

Good luck to all those who want Layaway back. I'll write too, to help
the cause.

No heart for you and your siblings? How old are you? Why don't you
make your Mother's Christmas nice, and let that be your gift to
yourself from her. She does, as you say have no financial capability.
Help her out! Clean for her, cook for her, ask her what you can do.

why even expect a gift from her? Let her off the hook! Tell her,
"Mom, we love you and all we want for Christmas is to be together as a
family."

I mean, many, many poor families with little or no money for Christmas
have coped ever since the commercialization of Christmas (which began
in the late 1800s, I believe).

All it takes is squirreling away money every month -- if you were
going to spend $120 on Christmas, you put away $10 every month. Easy
peasy.

I don't know about your kids, but mine are bloodhounds who cn smell a
present a mile away!
I purchase them in Oct, and by November they know exactly what they
are getting.

Hid them in the attic, you got it, they found them! Hid them at my
moms... and guess what, they still found them! I even hid them in the
broken dryer in the basement... and lo and behold, they still found
them. Then I found the joyous law-a-way! I could buy them, put all
but ONE DOLLAR down (yes that is exactly what I did) and pick them up
just a week before Christmas, that way they did not really have time
to snoop, because mom was crafty ;)

I loved law-away solely for that reason, it hid the gifts far better
than I could from the snoops.

one suggestion-you and your mom can shop for presents as early as May
or June or September. in this way, you can save on money.

Corey, I highly recommend you read the following letter and all the
replies. Maybe it will help you have a better understanding of the
pros and cons of layaway, and also find out about other ways for your
mom to do her Christmas shopping:

http://www.planetfeedback.com/index.php?level2=blog_viewpost&topic_id=
290965

You, sir, are a spoiled brat.

Just be thankful you will most likely have food on your table during
the holidays. A lot of people won't even have that.

And all you can think about is how Wal-Mart is screwing you out of
toys?

I've never understood layaway, so maybe someone can explain it to me.

Seems to me that if you see something you want to buy, but can't
afford it, you wait to buy it until you have the money.

The only reason I can see for layaway is if something is on a crazy
sale, but you don't have the cash (and don't have a credit card). I
guess it makes sense to layaway something if you can pay the sale
price later. If that's the case: grab something on sale and then be
assured of the sale price whenever I'm ready to buy... I guess that's
a good thing.

Sure, I suppose that something could sell out and you want to protect
it from someone else buying it. But stores DO get things back into
stock. Unless it's something that's being discontinued, you can
always come back later.

Have I missed the point? Why else would layaway be useful?

I think it's simple: go to the store and pay for the item when you
have the money. Unless you have reason to believe that it won't be
there or will be much more expensive, what's the point?

"you are actually going to let me, my brothers and sisters, and every
other family that is in the same situation as me go without this
year!?"

With an attitude like that? YEAH SURE YOU BETCHA!

Jeez, greedy much? We have Scrooge and the Grinch for those who don't
feel like giving, now we need something to represent GREED.

Which, now that I think about it, could also represent those who don't
feel like giving, but more importantly, represents those who don't
like it when OTHER people don't feel like giving TO THEM.

if she can come up with the $$ to pay off a layaway in less than 60
days then there is no reason she cant save $$ during the year to pay
for it upfront.... as i suggested on another letter about this same
topic, start a Christmas Club or a small savings account at your local
bank and put away a few extra bucks each paycheck... then when its
time to do your Christmas shopping, you have the $$ and wont need
layaway...its that easy...or as someone esle suggested, buy a WM gift
card and each time you have a few $$ laying around, go to WM and put
that amount on the gc.. you'll have that also at Christmas time...

Find another store who still uses it. Plus there are so many other
things to resort to than layaway. What did your mother's mom do when
times were lean and layaway did not yet exist?

Don't blame them, blame the people that take advantage of the layaway
department. Many people put items on layaway and not pay for them, or
they cancel the layaway because they cannot afford it.

I have seen so many letters complaining about Wal-Mart's doing away
with their layaway program! This seems to be a service that their
patrons for whatever reason are very passionate about. I personally
don't see the point, since saving up bit by bit seems like it would
serve the same goal. However, based solely on the number of letters
regarding this issue, I do hope Wal-Mart listens.

When you mother puts something on layaway she goes to the store every
week (or month) and pays a little bit down. If she starts right now
saving that same little bit. Whne Chrtistmas time comes, she can pay
for gifts with out using layaway.

"you are actually going to let me, my brothers and sisters, and every
other family that is in the same situation as me go without this
year!?"

Wow - think only of yourself much?

You could learn how the true meaning of Christmas isn't PRESENTS.