Buy Now, Pay Later can make a $160 grocery bill look much friendlier at checkout. Instead of handing over the entire amount, a shopper might split the purchase into several smaller payments. The trouble starts later, when the groceries have disappeared but the payments keep arriving.
That timing matters more than the grocery bill itself. A payment for last month’s milk, chicken, cereal, and produce can land in the same week as this month’s rent, utilities, insurance, and another grocery run. Suddenly, the household budget has developed a memory.
