Pay online course in full or 6 months instalment plan?

If it's a resellers/ebay/Amazon/poshmark success class please don't buy it. They are a scam and some are actually AI generated.

Otherwise, try to pay all at once. It saves you money and trust me monthly payments on anything suck. They are just one more bill to budget for and then keep track of (make sure they are getting paid, autopay doesn't always work, and double checking to make sure you weren't overcharged. One tried billing me twice) upfront is the best.

Cash flow is important. So, while I’d normally recommend paying up front to save money, sometimes it makes more sense to preserve cash (in case of emergencies or unexpected expenses), even if you pay more in the long run.

$266 over 6 months is only $44/month saved. Probably better to keep your cash for now and pay over time.

If you know you can afford to let go of that $266 in interest in the future and could really benefit from holding on to that $1762 right now - that is, you know that down the line it's easier for you to pay an overall larger sum of money in smaller increments over a long period of time than it is to pay a smaller sum upfront - then go for it.

You would have to be confident that you will be able to keep up with your payments in order to avoid any consequences of late/missed payments though (I haven't personally used this type of payment plan before so i'm not aware of what the consequences are, if any).

Also another thing to consider is if you really need to take this course right now, or if you can just afford to wait until you are done moving and have $1762 that you can more confidently let go of than you can right now.

I know you said it's not the end of the world to pay upfront but if I were in your shoes, then I would opt to wait on taking the course if possible until after I was finished moving, so I could just avoid the installment plan bc I'd save more money that way plus I wouldn't have to worry about the potential consequences of missing a payment or being late with a plan.

That said, if you don't think you can wait e.g. the course is only offered once a year at a specific time frame, and are pretty confident in your ability to pay on time, then $266 in interest represents about a 17% increase from 1762 to 2066 if I have my math correct, which, to me, seems reasonable and worth giving up in order to avoid a long delay in waiting for the course.

Essentially, what you end up paying for in time, you save in money and vice versa, whatever you pay in money, you save in time. Hopefully this information can help you make whatever decision is in your best interest.