Back to school.

The phrase conjures up images of freshly waxed hallways, starched jeans, and plastic shopping bags full of supplies.

And while retailers are struggling during a season which usually brings a modest increase in sales, consumers are rediscovering an age-old method of paying for the things they can’t quite afford: layaway.

The premise is simple. You see something you like, look in your wallet to find you don’t have enough money to pay for it, fork over what you can, and ask the store to hold it for you while you scrape up the rest. It’s a novel idea, and one that makes credit cards look silly by comparison. Why pay interest just to have something right this second when you could pay for it interest-free and have it a short time after?

There are restrictions: most stores ask that you pay a certain amount before they guarantee to hold the item for you (usually about a third of the total price), and they won’t hold it forever. If you wait too long--often after a few months--you may have to pay a restocking fee.

It used to be that layaway was only for bigger purchases. Over the last year, I’ve had a $160 longboard and a $400 bike both held and paid for through layaway programs. But as consumers spend less money, they’re choosing to layaway items that would normally be bought without a second thought. The average price of a layaway purchase dropped to $330 from just less than $600 a year ago.

People are even putting basic school supplies such as calculators, pens and pencils on hold as they find creative ways of avoiding debt.

So ask your retailer if they have a layaway program. It might be your best payment option, and it comes with a level of satisfaction that credit cards don’t offer. You’ll also find yourself accumulating less debt, which--in this economic climate--is a very good thing.