Hey everybody, welcome back to Finance Friday. It's another special edition of Money Girl.

This is the show where I answer your burning money questions. I love hearing from you and

answering anything that's finance related on your mind. So if you want to leave me a voicemail, you can do that by calling

302-364-0308. You can leave your name or stay anonymous. Or you can contact me by visiting

Laura D. Adams.com and using my contact page to send me an email.

Today's topic comes from an email from Joe, who says, I've started doing some online shopping for the holidays.

The cart often shows one or more buy now pay later options with good terms, but I'm

unsure whether it's better than using a credit card.

Can you review what Buy Now Pay Later is and when to use it instead of a credit card?

Thank you for your question, Joe. This is a good one. You know, whether you're shopping for the

holidays or restocking daily essentials, Buy Now, pay later, or B&PL options are available at, I don't know, just about probably every online checkout these days.

And this podcast will review how the buy now pay later services work, their pros and cons, and whether they're a better option than a credit card

during the holidays or any time of the year. What's interesting about buy now, pay later,

is that defining it can be a little challenging because there are different point of sale

services with different business models, you know,

different terms and offers. Some companies offer a short-term loan that you can repay with or

without interest based on the term you choose. And some buy-now-pay-later options specialize in

professional services, like for patients at an ophthalmologist, veterinarian, or a

dentist office. For instance, let's say you don't have dental insurance, but you need a pretty

pricey procedure that you can't afford to pay in full. Well, the office may have one or more

buy-now pay-later options.

You would complete a short application and you could be approved for the necessary work

...