if i needed new furniture, i would take advantage of it. we bought a refridgerator from Best Buy and a washer and dryer from Sears and did the no interest promotion. we paid it off as quickly as possible, and don't have a balance anymore. i think probably the most difficult thing to do would be to go above and beyond in your payments, as Miss Lucie said. it even says in the terms that paying the minimum will not help you pay it on time to avoid interest.

It is debt. The only way I would do it was if I had the money already to cover it. That way, I could pay it off anytime. I would be too scared that something would happen where I wasn't able to make the payments and then I'd be screwed. But that's just me. A car is one thing but furniture or a t.v. are another. I'd either pay it all up front or make sure I had the money to cover it down the road. At least that way you could make use of the deal and earn money off your money but still be protected.

Generally speaking, with "no interest" deals, you wind up paying more for the item itself. The sellers need to make money somehow, right? They are not giving anything away. They entice buyers with no interest financing, and then jack up the price of the item so you pay more than it's actually worth.

I agree that this is debt because you do not have the cash in hand to pay for it yet. If you wait, you may find the item will eventually go on sale/clearance and you can pay cash. Or, you may find something similar that you can afford outright. Delaying gratification is not a bad way to go.

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Yes, this is a debt. We have actually done this several times over the past 8 years, and it has always worked out well for us. To me it's like all debt. You have to be responsible. Make your payments on time and always pay a little more than the minimum due every month. Debt itself is not bad it's the way people handle their debt that can turn it into a bad situation.

I sound like a freaking broken record...pardon me but I don't agree with the fact that you pay more at the end. I can only speak from experience and from my discipline with loans. I've never had to pay more than the loan, and I don't ever buy anything from someone I've never bought from before. Everytime I've gotten things on 0%, its the original amount of the loan that I've paid. I think this applies to people that don't go in over their heads and that make it a point to finish the loan before the time's up. Also for people that DON'T have lots of things on credit, and instead of making that particular line of credit positive, its negative. If I wasn't sure I would be able to cover the monthly amount on my budget, I wouldn't do it. Neither should anyone else.

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You must be the change you want to see in the world ~ Gandhi

I think they mean you pay more because the original price of the item is more due to the fact that it's 0% interest. It's not on sale, not reduced, not marked down . . .

Oic Freebiemom thanks for clarifying that. At Best Buy though (violin music) lmmfao, anyway - at best buy, they do let you finance even open items and stuff. I paid 1847.00 (with taxes) for my HITACHI 52' inch plasma HDTV, when the original price is closer to 2200. It wasn't even an open item! So that to me was a deal, much more so to my dh

Hope you make the right decision changed4life...great topic, btw! LOL

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You must be the change you want to see in the world ~ Gandhi

It's a debt. Dave Ramsey doesn't like it because, well, first of all, it's a debt, but secondly, it's not really interest free. He says that the finance companies purchase the contract at a discount, like if you buy $2,000 of furniture, they buy it for $1800, so they just made $200 when you pay it off. The furniture store just made their profit.

I say, well, the store is going to charge you the same $2,000 whether you finance or not, unless you do ask for a cash discount (which I've been told no on before), so what happens in the back office is none of my concern.

The other thing, which one poster above touched on, was that none of these "experts" ever takes into consideration that if you instead choose to save up the money you need, and lets say it takes you another 2-3 years to pay cash, yes, you may earn a small amount of interest on your cash, but the price of the item is definitely going to go up a higher percentage than what you've earned.

If you need it, and can afford it, and your history is that you will meet the obligation in time, my opinion is go for it.

One note we did: We had the cash, put it into a CD, so it wouldn't be touched and we earned a decent rate at the time. We paid it off when due (it was a no payment scenario, which not all of them are), so we did make money and had what we needed, also. That was a good move.

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Like others said. It is a debt; plain and simple (you are acquiring something and still have to pay it off over time). And no Dave wouldn't approve if it has the words "New Debt" he doesn't approve.
If you have the discipline to ensure that you pay it off in the 5 years time and don't make a single late payment (read the fine print 100 to 1 says if you default they charge you interest...and probably at an obscene percentage).

That being said...We just did the same thing a few months ago. I did acquire a new debt....Our old worn out couch, that we knew was nearing it's last day finally died, but not a moment befor we heard a "thunk" and Dh was suddenly sitting about 1 foot lower than he was the previous second One of the local furniture stores was offering an anniversary sale 63 months no interest but we had to put 15% down. That actually worked in our favor now b/c we owe less. They divided our remaining balance by 63 and that is our monthly minimum (make sure if they don't do that (they might just say a minimum of $15, then you owe a bundle at the end) that you do it yourself and make sure you're paying it off before time is up). I try and send in at least $10 on top of that (if I can double it then I do) just to make sure I pay it off sooner, and I always schedule the payment to be drafted electronically a week or more before it is actually due.

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No Dave wouldn't approve, he would say if you don't have the cash for it right now you can't afford it!

Yes, it's debt, a very sneaky way for the company to get you to buy furniture!

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt