Ivy says:
Inspired by this thread on LiveJournal, let me repeat with all the clarity and force I have in my typing fingers: RENT-TO-OWN IS NEVER A GOOD DEAL. I don’t care if your washing machine broke. I don’t care if you don’t have a television. And I especially don’t care if you don’t have a couch. You should not rent-to-own. Anything.
If you’re faced with a broken appliance that needs to be replaced right away, there are many ways you can replace that item. You can scour craigslist for a cheap replacement. Often, people will move cross country and will need to sell their washer and dryer cheaply. You can ask for one on freecycle. I see washers and dryers being offered several times a month on my local freecycle. If you are a member of a church, you can ask around and people will often help out, or know someone who will repair your appliance inexpensively or even for free. Or you can always just repair what you’ve got. I’m a huge fan, personally, of repairing stuff you’ve got.
I would rather see people put these items on a store credit card than going to rent-to-own. While interest rates on store cards are often very expensive, interest rates on rent-to-own items are appalling.
But what if you need a couch or television or computer? Oh, wait. Nobody needs a couch or television or computer. Again, craigslist and freecycle are your friends, and there’s also the popular curb crawl. Additionally, thrift shops like Goodwill and Salvation Army often have furniture very inexpensively.
A television or computer is not a need. I promise, you can do without one until you can afford one, unless you make your living from your computer and/or television, in which case, you should try to have an emergency fund set aside in case anything happens to those items. And both of these items are fairly easy to beg or borrow from friends- many people have an “extra” that they would be willing to loan you until you can get up and running again. Especially in the case of televisions- I have one sitting in my garage at this moment that I don’t know what to do with.
Most people might consider it a given that rent-to-own is a bad idea, but there are many people who do use rent-to-own, there are plenty that are in business. If you are considering doing rent-to-own, please don’t. Consider the other resources I have given here instead.
Heather says:
Amen and pass the peas.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Exactly! And many stores offer 12 months no interest financing deals, so you can budget to pay the amount off over that time and pay no interest!
Just wanted to remind everyone that nowadays with the rising bedbug epidemic picking furniture up off the curb is sadly no longer a good idea (used to be one of my favorite NYC past-times- so much good stuff gets thrown out!).
However, did want to provide an update on my bedbug situation- haven’t gotten a bite in months now and we’re pretty sure they’re gone (from our apartment, anyways). It’s tough to tell because you almost never see the elusive suckers anyway, but an absence of bites and blood spots on the sheets is a good indication.
We only had one pesticides treatment (but they treated other apartments in the building several times, which may have affected our situation as well). We did not do all the ridiculous stuff they asked us too, (you’re supposed to basically bag every single thing in your place and either wash it in extra hot water if it’s fabric or somehow get it extra hot or extra cold if it’s not washable), but we did clean up our clutter as much as we could to help the pest guys access all the nooks and crannies. The pest guy also recommended that we caulk the crack between our molding and floor in the bedroom because the bugs often come through the walls. And I’m happy to say it all seemed to work!!
There is hope after all… I was getting freaked out when I looked on the internet and it seemed like people were agreeing the only surefire solution was TO MOVE and THROW OUT infested furniture. Ack! Not so for us… just catch the suckers early and use a professional exterminator, because home or store-bought solutions won’t cut it for those suckers.
Yay! I’m bedbug free!
I was visiting a friend one and just as we were about to take the kids outside to play a truck pulled up in front of her house. She made us all go upstairs and hide, in total silence.
Turns out, they were renting to on most of the stuff in their house and hadn’t paid the bill in a while.
As someone who has used a twin mattress as a couch, went without a TV for over a year, and schlepped clothes to the laundromat, I would never – ever- rent to own. No extended warranty is worth the cost or headache.
I read your comment about “the voice” on musings of a housewife, and OMG i feel the same way after my first boy who still does not sleep through the night I have a breastfed three month old who sleeps 12 hours! I mean really after my first I thought I would die from lack of sleep for more than 30 min at a time and a deployed husband. I feel the same way though with her, the swing the dealing with my boy and his meltdown etc.
Oh!…that's great helpful, it's so right to me! Million thanks for the article,
My recent post Easy Computer Financing
Oh!…that's great helpful, it's so right to me! Million thanks for the article,
My recent post Easy Computer Financing