Am I stupid or a loser for buying a laptop from Rent-a-center? It s $100/month and is for a legit work at home job that pays $12.45 an hr?

first, why share your personal information with people that will look down on your decisions. Time to keep your mouth closed!

As for renting a lap time. Good idea? Of course not. BUT if you needed to have one for your job, then it's the cost of doing business.

you say you have poor credit. Start working on it NOW so that when you need it again, you will have it. PLUS, if you had saved up some money, you could have purchased a lap top outright. SAVE MONEY!!!

Basically, if you add up the total price you will pay for your computer by the time you pay out the contract for rent to own, you will discover that you have paid at least twice and often three times the true value of the computer. This is true for almost all items sold by any rent to own store. If you can't pay it off early, then it costs you more than the item is worth to buy it.

Now, that doesn't make you a loser for doing it. It just makes you like many other people who don't have the full price for an expensive item at the time they need or the credit to finance the item at better interest rates.

If this computer is truly helping you get a good paying job, then it is worth it. But, use the money to pay it off early and save yourself some money in rental fees. Also, if the job doesn't work out, you would either be stuck with an expensive computer payment or you would have to return it if you hadn't paid it off early.

It's a bad move because you'll end up paying 3x what the computer is worth. But if that is what it takes to land a job, might be the best thing. Ignore them.

if this is the only way you can make any money, no it is not stupid
it is a bit costly and you might have been able to get a better deal somewhere else so unless you actually tried other methods, then yes this might be a dumb move
but your problem is telling too much to the snobs, you opened the door for their snide remarks

you could have bought a laptop for as little as $200-300 TOTAL anywhere ELSE

I see exactly where your family is coming from. After a year or so, you would own outright a decent computer, an i7, pretty close to gaming. However, if you do not have the money to buy a good and fast computer, then renting is an option that works for you. If it were me, I would have money saved and I would have planned my finances better so that you did not have to rent anything, except perhaps, the apartment you are living in.

Not stupid , if you need it to make a living , then is not stupid. Most of the time RAC is a stupid choice. How poor stupid people stay poor . It will be a tax decuction that will help offset the cost some. I hope the online job works out for you . My I ask what the company is ? Is it customer service ? I could be interested in it.

You're not stupid at all. I don't have the best credit either, and the only way I was able to afford my TV's and computer was from Rent-A-Center. It's a good resource for people with lower credit. Plus you can always pay it off early if you really want to avoid interest. But I always did full term since their interest isnt too high

Pay it off early, or go to Aaron's and get one, then pay it off early.