So, I didn’t break the internet yet with my previous post
about having 51 pay later accounts. Maybe I am still too small of a blogger for
the internet trolls to have found the blog post yet. That’s okay right now,
because I am still having trouble sleeping since I found out myself how many of
these pay later accounts I have chained myself to.
In my previous post, I explained my plans for keeping track
of 51 pay later accounts that I hope to pay off by the end of March 2026. I
have some great news. I was able to pay off one of my accounts already. Of
course, it did happen organically, but none the less, it is paid off.
“To be owned by the things that you own is a very difficult
thing to overcome,” Adam the Woo 12/11/10.
The account that was paid off was a PayPal Pay-In-4 account.
The purchase was originally made in November of 2025. The items purchased were
Christmas gifts for my youngest child including a game called Cows in Space, a Bluey and Bingo Supermarket Playset, and Pets Alive Mommy Turtle Surprise.
The original purchase price was $75.31 for all items. The payment plan was
$18.82 biweekly for four payments.
The source of the payment was from my full-time job. From
the time that I decided to go on this journey to the time that I am writing
this post, I have not had time to do any exciting extra money-making
adventures, so my boring old paycheck will have to do for now. More fun stuff
to come soon.
I am thinking about whether I have buyers’ remorse for this
purchase or not. If I am being honest, I don’t. I am happy with the purchase.
The Cows in Space game was my one of my youngest’s top two Christmas wishes,
and the Bluey and Bingo Supermarket was in her top 5 wishes. I have seen her
play with the Pets Alive Mommy Turtle Surprise every day since she opened it on
Christmas morning. Does it feel good to not be chained to making payments on
those items? Absolutely!
Although the items purchased were not a need for survival,
they are things that bring my child joy, which ultimately brings me joy. The
problem is not the purchase. It’s how I went about purchasing the items. If
this was my only pay later account, I’d be free. Unfortunately, it’s not. The
convenience of the pay it later services has landed me in a swamp of pay it
later debt. Let me be clear. I am not blaming the services. I am to blame for
overindulging in the services.
Since this purchase was a Christmas purchase, I am giving a
mark over to the Christmas category on why the pay later purchase was made in
the first place. It is too early to tell what most of the purchases were made
for, but I am hopeful that I will find an alternative solution to purchasing
Christmas gifts with pay later services next year. How do you plan and save for
Christmas purchases? Do you purchase items throughout the year to give as gifts
to your kids, or do you wait for their wish lists? If you save throughout the
year and purchase after you receive the wish lists, how do you determine the
amount that you save each month?
If you’re counting with me, I am down to 50 pay later
accounts. There is $37.64 per month that is no longer going to pay later
services. I plan to have the remaining 50 accounts paid off by the end of March
to move on to the next steps in my debt-free journey of 2026 so that I can take
my family back to Walt Disney World before the kids have all grown up.
If you’re planning a Disney trip in the near future, check out my favorite items to bring to the parks here.