‘I am so scared of them now’: Burned from overspending, some ‘buy now, pay later’ users warn others away
After racking up thousands of dollars in debt, some borrowers are deleting the apps from their phones to avoid getting prodded to spend more.
Many consumers find buying now and paying later a godsend when cash is tight. Others are wishing they’d paid upfront to avoid pain later.
Tia Whiteside, 27, knew she was spending more than she would have without buy now, pay later services — the popular loans that let borrowers split purchases into installments with little or no interest. Planning a day trip to the beach with her 2-year-old son last year, she spent $800 on Amazon purchases including a tent, new outfits and a high-end sandcastle kit with the BNPL provider Affirm.
Whiteside, a Greenville, South Carolina-based behavioral analyst who treats childhood autism, makes good money; she and her husband bring in about $110,000 per year combined. But the $6,000 in BNPL loans she’d racked up over roughly two years felt frivolous, she said, especially because they’re planning to buy their first home.
“I was just seeing my paycheck continually eaten up,” said Whiteside, “and I was like, ‘Where’s my money going?’”
$800 on a day trip to the beach?? Thats insane to me.
Also never understood why anyone would you those options, they have always seemed like trap. Have some self control
Why do you even need a tent for the beach? Are you camping out there overnight?
I could see it being useful for keeping the sun off, serving as a refuge from insects (depending on the local biome), perhaps serving as a changing room for privacy. But yeah, it should hardly be necessary. Just another frivolous expenditure, only do it if you can genuinely afford it.
If you're spending $800 for one day at the beach its cheaper to get a day pass to a mid-to-higher end beach resort and rent a cabana. You'll get a better experience, staff that will cater to your needs and still be cheaper than $800 for one day.
It could become a bit more reasonable when you consider that most of that gear is probably reusable, so if she expects to do day trips to the beach frequently the $800 gets amortized.
In this case, though, I wouldn't assume any forward planning like that was factored in to this.
We both know that stuff will never be used again!
Yes totally necessary if you're going to have a 2 year old out in the sun all day, but you can also buy these at Walmart for $40.
I imagine it’s more of a canopy than a sleeping tent. Something like an EZ up tent that provides more shade than just an umbrella.
I’ve used them and they’re pretty nice, especially if you’re going to be at the beach all day and don’t wanna get sun burned. That being said, it’s still a big purchase for just one day trip. I’d only invest in one if you were using it regularly, or had like a week-long trip planned.
I think I've seen those before. And I believe when I did, they were renting them out for the day like they do with chairs and umbrellas. Which I'm guessing is not uncommon at beaches.
Yeah, it would make much more sense to rent one for a day trip. Even a week vacation honestly.