When you're poor and money is tight, you'll do most anything to get by.

And for the majority of low-income consumers facing exorbitant credit card debt and bills, that means opting for layaway come Christmas time.

In a thoughtful essay, the New Yorker's James Surowiecki ponders what's making layaway so incredibly popular right now.

At first blush, the retail service seems to feed into the "buy now, pay later" mantra of American retail, but in really it's more about the way we behave. Surowiecki writes:


He adds that layaway is also an excellent way to help low-income consumers start to think about saving, something many economists have said they never do.

For those who can't meet their savings goals without separating their money into designated accounts, layaway can serve as a helpful reminder to pay for the dishwasher or whatever else is waiting for them at all the big-box retailers who rolled out this service this year.

But while this all sounds well and fine, it's hard to believe that anyone who mismanages their money would have the wherewithall to suddenly become fiscally responsible, thanks to a revival of a Great Depression marketing ploy.

Though Surowiecki somewhat defends layaway, calling it the inverse of credit card spending—wherein consumers wait to retrieve their purchase and pay a series of installments over time interest-free—it's still an exploit of Americans' compulsive spending problem that encourages them to BS themselves into thinking they're making smart choices.

Trust us, they're not.

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