Elayaway.com: Buying Gifts Without Paying Credit Card Interest

If you've already started your holiday shopping, you're already hearing the ca-ching of debt building up on your credit cards. The average family will put more than $800 on their credit cards this holiday season and it may take years to pay off. But you don't have to go into debt. There's a new twist on an old method to buy your holiday gifts, and you don't have to hand over all the cash right now.

Remember the good old days of layaway? Making payments for gifts over time.

Many stores like Wal-Mart have thrown away their layaway plans. Families are now racking up credit card debt, an average of $835 each Christmas.

A website called www.elayaway.com is bringing layaway back, online. That's how Mark Rockefeller bought his family's gifts this year.

Said Rockefeller, "It's planning on shipping probably the middle of this month, so it should be getting here any day soon."

He snapped up the sale prices on gifts, like a DVR, made payments over time and paid no credit card interest.

Said Rockefeller, "I didn't have to go out and make that capital expenditure or that big purchase."

Elayaway.com says it lists more than 3 million products through companies like Comp USA, Serta, Apple, Intel and Diamond Source. Payments are drafted from your bank account. You can pay monthly or every couple of weeks. A calculator on the website shows what your payment would be, depending on how many payments you want to make. Once it's paid off, the item is shipped to your home.

Said Rockefeller, "If you feel comfortable paying for it over 3 months, you can do so. If you want to extend it over 6 months, you can pay a little less over that time."

Rockefeller has eyed a few gifts he'd like himself. "I tend to gravitate toward the electronics and the sport supplies, but right now I better take care of everybody else around the holiday season," he laughed.

A spokesperson for Elayaway.com says there is still time to buy gifts on layaway before Christmas. You can set it up over two or three payments to receive it before the holiday. Or you can start making plans for next time.

Elayaway.com says it plans to offer even more stores next year. There is no credit check and they say they do not share your address or financial information.

So how much can you save? If you put $835 on a credit card at 18.9% interest and pay it off over a year, you could pay as much as $157 in interest.

www.Elayaway.com  charges a 1.9% fee. $835 worth of stuff would cost you just under $16 in fees. That's a savings of $141 dollars.