Buy now. Pay later. Owe forever.

There’s good news at the Nelson residence. I no longer have to pay my rent!

That is, I don’t have to pay it the way I used to pay it. I now have options. I have been empowered. I can choose when I’m going to pay it. And how much I’m going to pay.

They are counting on you being stupid. And not being able to keep your head above water. That’s what they like to see. Millions and millions of heads, barely above sea level.

I can pay some of my rent now, and some of it later, according to my personal “cash-flow needs.”

Unlike in the past, I am released from the burden of coming up with all that rent money in one unwieldy chunk at the beginning of the month.

Now, I can spread my rent out into multiple payments, giving me freedom, flexibility, and financial control!

Flex my life

This has been made possible by a new product called Flex Rent, which my landlord has been pushing on me all month.

I have been receiving emails from Flex (the company behind Flex Rent) every single day. My landlord was helpful enough to give Flex my email address. Which leads me to conclude my landlord must really want me (and all his other tenants) to enroll in Flex.

Looking into it, I realize why. Because my landlord will get all the rent at the beginning of the month, just like he does now. Flex Rent will pay him.

Meanwhile, I can pay my rent to Flex Rent according to my “values” and my “financial goals” and my “monetary situation.”

In other words, when I’m not dead broke.

Land of the fee

Of course, Flex Rent is just trying to make a buck off renter Americans. Especially those in financial difficulties: people living paycheck to paycheck and doing so by a thin margin.

Flex Rent is trying to help those special people who, thanks to inflation, higher taxes, and job discrimination, are barely surviving financially.

Imagine you’re drowning. Onlookers call for help. Your friends at Flex Rent immediately arrive with a life preserver — only to ask for a small fee in order to throw it to you.

Ah yes, the small fee.

And what is that small fee? You start by paying Flex Rent $14.99 a month and 1% of your rent amount. Where I live that adds up to around $40/a month.

In exchange, they will front my rent money to my landlord. And I will get a few extra days or weeks to scratch up the rest.

With Flex Rent, everybody wins. My landlord gets his money. I am given “financial flexibility.” And Flex Rent — if the company can sign up enough people — will get rich off the growing number of financially desperate renters.

Klarna chameleon

Of course, Klarna started this trend. Klarna is that fun company that inserts itself between you and many of the companies you shop from online.

Let’s say you’re really hungry. You want to order a large pepperoni pizza. But you’re a little short on cash right now. Klarna magically appears in your pizza delivery app and offers to help.

Klarna will pay for your large pizza right now. All you have to do is pay Klarna back in installments. And there’s no interest! Not yet, anyway.

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Washington Post/NASA/Getty Images

You better, you bet

What’s interesting about Klarna and Flex Rent is that they exist in a crowded marketplace. Nowadays, there are many, many companies fighting for those last scraps of your paycheck.

All of which is happening during a time when your average American is having trouble even procuring a paycheck.

The various gambling websites are typical of these companies. They have figured out ways to transform your love of sports into highly addictive betting opportunities.

Outfits like Polymarket make it possible for you to gamble on non-sporting events. You can now bet on your local congressional race. Or who will win an Oscar. Whatever your interests, there are ways to lose money on them.

Meanwhile, Big Pharma also wants your last 20 bucks. As do your local streaming services. As does your local gas station.

It seems the less money Americans have, the more companies appear to fight over what’s left of it.

Stupid tax

Of course, the strategies used by Flex Rent and Klarna have existed as long as humans have exchanged goods and services. But these days, monetizing the moneyless is a growth business.

Even as I write this, more of these companies are coming into existence. There’s now a useful acronym used to describe their services: BNPL. “Buy now, pay later.” Here is just a sampling of some of the newer BNPL companies:

• NOWpayments
• Affirm
• Credee
• Sezzle
• QuickFee
• Afterpay
• SplitIt

Each of these new outfits has its own particular gimmick. But they all do the same thing: take advantage of your fiscal misfortune, while pretending they’re “empowering” you.

You might ask yourself, “Do these companies think I’m stupid?” And the answer is yes, they do.

They are counting on you being stupid. And not being able to keep your head above water. That’s what they like to see. Millions and millions of heads, barely above sea level.

But maybe it’s good that these companies will help you buy that large pepperoni pizza. Don’t you need your pizza? And why should the pizza maker get all your pizza money? The Klarna folks need money too. Aren’t we all in this together?