Bill Me Later

Special Installment: Ash Wednesday
Billmelater.com is a Web site that lets consumers buy now, pay later. Purchasing, while postponing payment, is a consumer ploy that we’ve turned into an art — if not a science.

It’s been said that Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money. If that’s the case, many folks coming to Ash Wednesday services are feeling a bit penitent about the debt they racked up at the close of 2008 as those credit card bills come due.

Buying stuff on credit, enjoying it now and paying for it later, seems to be the American way. The average American carries four different credit cards in his or her wallet on which is owed a median of $2,200. In fact, the average American consumer has 13 current credit obligations listed on his or her official credit report, owing money on everything from cars to furniture to whatever. Even if you don’t have a credit card (and roughly 25 percent of Americans don’t), it’s still possible to have instant gratification with delayed remuneration. A new concept called “Bill Me Later” has been popping up on e-commerce sites. It allows consumers to purchase items...