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Adinnieken on 05 May 2013
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Miguel_Zorro said:
Adinnieken said:
Chark said:
So its less expensive, till its more expensive.

If you're living on a tight budget, what is easier to manage?  An outlay of $360 or an outlay of $100 with 24 - $15 per month payments? 

In contrast, Wal-Mart and KMart charge a $5 fee just to place items on lay-away that you'll be picking up in two months.  That would be equivalent to $120 over 24 months, yet people use lay-away all the time because it offers consumers a means of purchasing an items on sale without the full cash outlay at the time of purchase.  Likewise, there are even worse deal in the Rent-To-Own business, where consumers are charged interest rates greater than 90%.  Often tripling or quadrupling the initial cost of the item purchased.

The EFA is 4.5% per year, $1.61 per day, for a total of $38.74 at the end of two years.

  1. Better than a credit card - You pay $15.30 instead of $15.00, for 4 years instead of 2, for a total cost that's nearly $300 more.
  2. Better than lay-away - You pay $45.62 per week instead of $3.75, and you have to wait before you can take home your purchase.
  3. Better than Rent-To-Own - You pay 92% or more over the term of the contract rather than 9%.
  4. And for budgetary reasons, better than an outright purchase - Your inital cost is $360 rather than $100 and at the end of one year, you've paid more than through installment payments.

In all of these situations, if your money is that tight, you shouldn't be buying a video game console.

A smart man holds onto his money.  Doesn't matter if he's rich or poor.  The less I spend on the entry price, the more the money I have left can work for me, regardless of how much of it I have.  In addition, $15 is easier to manage and budget per month as opposed to one lump sum of $360, nearly 2/3rds of which you'd be just giving to Microsoft to keep for nearly 18 months. 

If you want to give someone money to hold on to, I can give you my personal contact information and we can arrange for you sending me money.

I'm also not going to dictate what someone should or shouldn't spend their money on.  If they feel they have the money to afford it, then have at it.  It's wiser for them to use the EFA Plan than to buy it outright.