Or, if you can't afford it, don't buy it. Credit a.k.a. debt, which layaway is a close cousin to, is the vast majority of our economic problems (world wide, not just in the US) right now. Layaway isn't as bad, but it still means you couldn't afford it IMHO.
You always have to put priorities first of course, food, mortgage, insurances, etc etc, after taking care of those, I believe lay away is a better option than a credit card for obvious reasons. Those that are foolhardily going to get into debt will do it one way or the other. Unfortunately the economic mess is due to misuse of credit, not credit itself.
I do agree that the majority of consumers misuse credit, hence the meltdown, but I fault the banks just as much as the consumer. My credit rating is in the 900s, I've used layaway instead of cards many a times, I'm not in a rush, why pay interest to a card.....now if it's something I need, not want, I'll use card then pay off at end of month....in total.
