Layaway, credit cards, and loans are all mechanisms to acquire items now that you can’t (or have chosen not to) pay for in full. Credit has been around for thousands of years, though its mechanisms change due to technology and cultural evolution. Recently, a burst of Buy Now, Pay Later companies made this approach seamless with online purchasing. But we must ask ourselves, why buy something we can’t easily afford today?

Minimalism is rooted in the idea that anything we buy now, even if we pay the purchase price in full, has a cost. Minimalism focuses on the present: what you need and can afford now. To buy something we can’t even afford today should give us pause. Of course, there are exceptions and unlikely situations where these services can be advantageous, but those are few. We often try to rationalize our choices, so keep that in mind as you consider preventable situations and not outliers.

The concept of credit quickly takes me back to my childhood. I grew up in a household with no tolerance for buying things you couldn’t afford. My parents only had loans for their home and (sometimes) a car. My parents wanted more, but they never let their desires overtake practicality. They made each dollar count. As Baby Boomers, they’d become adults when cash and checks were standard and credit cards were new. For younger generations, buying things you can’t afford continues to become more accessible. 

While my parents’ financial sensibility hasn’t changed a bit, they’ve had to adapt to the ease with which they can click on an online purchase. But for people with less financial education and experience, credit cards more readily lead to debt along with new Buy Now, Pay Later programs (e.g., Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm). These services offer easy installment plans during online purchases. Often these involve paying one installment upfront and the remaining three every couple of weeks: most charge late fees or interest upfront.

Consider whether Buy Now, Pay Later programs, overusing credit cards, or loans help you live simply and intentionally, or keep you in the consumer rut. Perhaps you haven’t yet unpacked your financial anxiety, created a minimalist financial system, or developed a minimalist mindset to prioritize the different elements in your life. If so, this may be the best area of minimalism for you to focus on now.

If you are in a clear financial position, the issue remains that what we buy now we often pay for in various ways later. Therefore, we must adopt a full view of each purchase. For example, even if you pay for a car in full, there are parking, repair, gas, insurance (and many more) costs you’ll incur during the lifetime of ownership. While cars are products that carry some of the highest maintenance costs, it exemplifies how “later” charges relate to the way a product is used, stored, and maintained. In addition, these costs aren’t easily predictable throughout the life of the purchase.

A minor example is a video consul that requires the purchase or rental of games. Or consider how you may need to pay to remove large, unwanted items from your home or pay for a storage unit to hold onto your things. Consider these (often hidden) costs of keeping an item. 

The time of purchase is often not the time that we fully pay for an item, regardless if we use credit or not. That’s why managing our finances is integral to creating a minimalist lifestyle. It helps us consider the actual cost of any item we purchase, both now and in the future. Plus, we become conscious of seemingly problem-free credit services. If we live as if the best-case scenario is locked in, we often find ourselves in preventable situations.