As of 2018, the United States had at least 225 million units installed mobile devices.
These include laptops, tablet devices, mobile PCs, desktop PCs, and other personal computing devices.
With laptops being the most preferable work devices, having one for your work seems like a natural thing to do. However, quality laptops don’t come cheap these days.
There is a range of ways to finance a new laptop one of which is with an installment loan. Here are three simple ways of getting one.
- In-Store Financing
Expensive products such as high-end laptops are often given in-store financing options so that customers can afford them no matter their financial status. With this kind of loans for your laptop, you spread the total cost of the device over several months.
You then pay slowly with time with most payments going for months and with little interest on the principal amount.
Physical stores such as those owned by Apple and Samsung offer such discounts. Online stores like Amazon and Alibaba also have similar financing options.
- Credit Card
With a credit card, you’re in a position to buy things you don’t have cash for. You can pay for your laptop through installments made through your credit card over a given number of months.
With credit cards having some of the highest interest rates, you should seek interest-free credit cards so that you don’t pay too much above the principle of the laptop.
Obtaining a credit card depends on your credit rating with those without a bad credit rating not in a position to get credit cards. In such a situation, you have the option of a credit builder credit card. While it has higher interest rates than a normal credit card, it gives you the same capabilities as a normal credit card.
Just be careful with how you use it since it’ll determine whether you get good or bad credit rating going forward.
- Personal Loan
Personal poor credit loans involve borrowing a given amount of money from a lender with the payment made in an agreed number of installments. Such installment loans enable you to pay for the laptop of your choice at once even when you couldn’t afford it with your own money.
For this option, always seek the most flexible and reasonable specialist lender. Paying such a high premium on the loan that it feels like paying for two laptops isn’t a good deal for your financial status. The good bit about this is that specialist lenders provide higher loans than a bank would afford you even with a poor credit rating.
You can pick any of the three methods of payment as per your situation and the cost of the laptop you’ve chosen. Again, go for the most suitable one in terms of the total cost of the laptop and the implications the loan has on your financial standing.
Advantages of an Installment Loan
If you decide to finance your new laptop with installment loans rather than outright payment, you will enjoy the following benefits:
- You avoid the problems associated with dealing with traditional credit card options or bank loans.
- Some payment options allow you to upgrade your devices at no extra cost besides the installments. One of the best of such arrangements for smartphones is the iPhone Upgrade Program. This program allows you to upgrade to a new device every year with the same installments.
- You don’t need to have the actual amount of money to get the device of your needs.
- You may get interest-free payment rates and other perks. For example, device upgrade programs such as the iPhone Upgrade Program above may come with a form of insurance for your device. This insurance offers device replacement and repair in the case the device gets lost or damaged respectively.
If these are the benefits you’re looking for, consider getting yourself a loan for your next laptop.
Disadvantages of an Installment Loan
The downside to this form of payment includes the following aspects:
- Without a good credit rating, no credit history or a steady income, the amount you borrow is limited to avoid bad debt.
- This method is quite risky because when you miss a single installment, the penalty may be as hefty as repossessing the laptop even when you only have a few payments left.
- At times, lenders may not be genuine with the terms of the contract. You may thus get duped into paying exorbitant amounts in the long term.
- Zero-interest loans can hurt your credit score in the long term. First, the low payments on zero-interest loans encourage lengthy payment periods which reduce your score especially when they last for more than a year. Secondly, such attractive borrowing terms may not go well with your overall rating as increased borrowing only hurts your overall credit score. Lastly, new borrowing only reduces the length of your overall credit.
These aspects bring out the fact that you need to be careful with the size of the loan you’ll go for, and the terms as well. Even with a good credit rating, too much borrowing can lead to a poor credit rating.
Features of an Installment Loan
Before you go for this kind of loan, here are the most common features of these loans you need to know about!
- Loan amount: the money you can borrow (the principal amount)
- Loan terms: loan amount, duration, interest, and repayment plan.
- Personalized quote: money lent without effect on your credit rating.
- Monthly repayments: money you’ll be paying back every month.
- Repayment holidays: periods you’ll not be making payments.
- Fees: any costs above the principal amount.
- Overpayments: amounts you pay to clear your loan faster than the agreed period.
- Perks: any special benefits you obtain from the loan.
Ensure that you fully understand the terms of the loan before getting one.
Get the Laptop of Your Dreams Today
With an installment loan, you can get the laptop of your dreams without the need to save up for it. Knowing the terms of the installment loans will keep you from making costly financial mistakes which may end up hurting your credit rating.
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