Thanksgiving is only three weeks away... a time for eating turkey... watching football... and making those Christmas shopping trips but not all shoppers want to wait until "Black Friday" to get their holiday gifts.

The shaky economic situation has many consumers trying to limit spending and maintain a strict budget.

It's also meant more people are avoiding paying for everything with a swipe of their credit card.

Now layaway plans are once again becoming a popular choice among shoppers.

Lakesha Sheppard and her 11-year-old daughter Imari are trying to get a head start on their Christmas shopping. Once she's picked out the perfect gifts Lakesha's going to use layaway

"we're able to get just about everything that we want to get and not have to pay for it all at one time."

Before credit cards layaway plans were the norm among department stores...now few use it. K-mart kept its layaway program and has seen a growing number of customers use it.

"it's great to come in and leisurely shop and just put it all on layaway."

But using layaway doesn't always mean avoiding crowds.

With layaway as long as the payments are made on time the merchandise will be held for you until its completely paid off.

another note if you are planning to use layaway at K-mart... no new plans will be accepted between December 12th and January 2nd and hat's because of items that they expect to be purchased.