Recently I went to Courts to check out some furniture for my home. While browsing, I realise besides having shorter term installment payment plan (IPP) which comes free of charge, there is also the option of 60 month IPP. For a cabinet costing $899, there is a 60 month IPP option that lets you pay, wait for it... $39.95 a month. Whattt? Multiply this figure by 60 and you get $2397. One would be paying 167% more for the product overall. If you annualise this value, you are paying an extra 33.4% effective interest per year! This is even higher than your typical credit cards' interest rate! In fact, in the first year alone, you are paying $479.40. That's slightly more than 50% of the original cost. If one is financing their big ticket items such as furniture or electrical applicances costing 4 digit, it is naturally a better option ......