Alternatives to PayDay Loans
I did a previous blog about payday loans and discussed some of my experiences with them, when they should be used, how they should be used, etcetera, but I wanted to post another one and touch on the issue again, this time with some alternatives to pay day loans. The last post was a little long, which is something I seem to do, so forgive me if I go on with this one, I like to be pretty thorough with my posts though and make sure that I give you guys the most information that I possibly can with each one of them.
As I discussed in my last article, Payday Loans Information, there are many pros and cons to getting a pay day loan. You can read over that post to see exactly what I mean, and also find some resources to get these types of cash loans. What I didn’t get to post about, was the alternatives that there are to getting a paycheck loan, and there are several that you may want to consider before getting one. Here are some of the things that I have either done to avoid a payday loan, or other people have come up with to avoid them. As always, remember, pay day loans are a last resort and shouldn’t be used unless you absolutely have to use them.
Alternatives to Pay Day Loans:
- Bank Loan – Most banks offer a personal loan that you can take out in a time of need, I would recommend trying the bank that you use first, or your credit union, both of those will be more likely to grant you the loan. Getting a loan from your bank or credit union will save you lots of money in interest, as well as not be a big of a burden on you to pay back all at once. You can get a 6 month or 12 month loan, and still pay less in interest over that time than you would on a pay day loan that is just good for a week or two.
- Overdraft Protection – If you do not already have overdraft protection, while in a financial crisis or emergency, it may be a good time to consider getting it set up on your checking account. What overdraft protection will do is keep checks from bouncing on your account, and saving you the fee that a merchant may charge you for the bad check. Keep in mind though that the bank will charge you to use this service, and it generally runs between $25-$35 per overdraft item. That said, with careful planning, overdraft can be a life saver. People sometimes get frustrated with overdraft protection, but it can save you money. For example, say you have a check come through and it is paid by your bank. You will only be charged the fee 1 time. Now, on the other hand, say you have a check come through, and it isn’t paid. The merchant can submit a check twice, and it is usually done automatically. So that check will come through twice, charging your bank fee 2 times, and then be returned to the merchant who will also charge you a fee. This works out to usually 3 times what the fee would have been if you had Overdraft protection on your account.
- Advance on your paycheck – This can be rather embarrassing to ask for, but trust me, it is worth checking into. If you work for a small company, you can sometimes request an advance for your paycheck. What happens with this is they will give you part of your paycheck early, and just deduct it from your regular paycheck. Your employer won’t charge you for this, and you can pass all of the charges that come with getting a payday loan through a company. It used to be only small companies that offered this, usually mom and pops, but it seems to be changing, I have even seen a few corporations that offer you a limited number of these per year. It is worth checking to see if this may be available to you! It could save you a bundle!
- Sell things you don’t need – This is something that has become a lot easier to do with the internet. Now days when you need fast money, you can usually find something around the house to sell, and a buyer to buy it from you quickly. The first place I would try to sell an item is Craigslist, as usually items sell very quickly on there. If you can live a short period of time without the item, you may even consider selling an item on there, then when you get the money, buy a similar item from the same website. Kinda use it as a no fee pawn shop of sorts. Say you need $200, well why not sell your TV on craigslist, then when you get the money back, get back on craigslist and search for a different TV in that same price range! Another thing you could do, is get rid of some high end items on there, and buy lower end alternatives. Say you have a flat panel TV. You could sell it on there, buy a regular tube television, and then have extra money in your pocket while downgrading.
- Local Emergency Programs – There are usually some local programs that have hardship programs for those in need. They also are usually pretty quick. This is something that I would advise only if money is absolutely critical for you at this point. The reason I say that is, this is a 1 time thing in almost every case, you will usually not be able to get this sort of assistance a second time around, so make sure that it is a dire situation. These types of programs vary from area to area, but will offer assistance from help with your rent, to utilities and also food. For things they cannot provide, they are usually very knowledgeable on pointing people to the right direction.
As you can see, Pay Day Loans aren’t always the last resort. We have given you a few of the best ideas that we know of to avoid them. I am sure that you can think of some more. If however none of the options work for you, visit Pay Day Loans to find a payday loan that is right for you.
Pay Day Loans Information
Pay Day loans are one way that people seem to get themselves into big trouble financially while trying to get out of trouble. They are almost always a last resort for people, and for very good reason, their high cost. I have been caught in the pay day loan whirlwind in the past, and I can tell you all from experience, it isn’t pretty. If using a pay day loan service, I encourage you to make 120% certain that you can pay back the amount that you owe on your first payday following the loan. This will ensure that you spend less money than you need to on the amount that you borrowed. Letting pay day loans get out of control is one way to quickly lose complete control of your finances in a matter of weeks. One thing that I have learned when dealing with money though, is to always expect the unexpected!
I have had both good experience and bad experiences with pay day loans, and I would like to share them with you so you can get an idea of how they can be beneficial, and how they can go completely wrong.
My Good Experiences with Pay Day Loans – I have had a few good experiences in getting payday loans. The good ones ALWAYS have involved me paying back the loan on the first due date and making complete certain that I was able to do so. There are a few ways to make sure you will be able to pay it back on time. First, everyone almost always knows about what their paycheck is going to be, knowing this, you should plan ahead to take out the amount you will owe for the loan. This can make things uncomfortable following that paycheck, but trust me, it is worth it to pay off your payday loan as soon as possible. The fees for these types of loans can be through the roof, and they will very quickly add up and get out of control. Plan on big cut backs. Pay day loans range from 100$ up to 1000$ or more. That is a huge cut out of your paycheck, and you should expect to make some big cuts in order to pay that loan back on time. Some things that you can do are not going out to eat, cut back all of your entertainment expenses, and when doing shopping that has to be done, look for specials, coupons, and save every cent that you can. You will be surprised how much money can be saved this way, and make sure that you can survive the week(s) after the payday when your loan comes out.
My Bad Experience with Pay Day Loans – Thankfully it only took me one bad experience to learn my lesson with payday loans and to make sure I only got one when I a) absolutely needed it and b) when I absolutely could pay it back on the first date. The interest rate and fees on these types of loans is through the roof and are meant to be just a temporary fix to your financial issues. The fees vary on these types of loans, but generally run you in the range of $10-$20 per $100 borrowed, per 14 days. That means if you borrow $500 in a pay day loan for 14 days, you will generally be paying back between $550 and $600 dollars. This calculates out to about a %300 interest rate! Extending these loans for another pay period will generally reset the value, so say you can’t pay your loan off in 14 days, you can usually get an extension, but that also usually means that your $500 loan, is now a $600 loan, and your fees are now $120, for a total of $720 that you owe, and that is just a month! You can see how quickly this gets out of hand, and it did for me. I went about 2 months, and finally was able to come to an agreement over the amount that I owed, and it helped a lot. I worked out a deal with the manager of my local payday loan place to pay it out in a few payments, keep in mind I was still being charged their fees, but it helped me pay it off without going completely crazy while doing it. If you have found yourself in a situation like I was, try to talk to the manager where you got your payday loan and see if they can’t work something out with you too!
Here are a few places to get Pay Day Loans if you find yourself needing one:
- PayCheckToday.com – PayCheckToday offers Pay Day loans with approval in as little as 30 seconds. Their process for applying is the simplest of ones that we have found. They have no credit check, fast approvals and no faxing is required like some of the other companies online. I like the no faxing thing, as when trying to get a pay day loan, it is almost always emergency money that is needed, and time is usually of the essence. Running around trying to find a place to fax in documents takes up some of that valuable time. Loans are offered here up to $1,000. When approved, you will get a deposit into your bank account the very next day. PayCheckToday also offers the service of renewing your loan, extending it out, or you can pay down your loan as well.
- OnlineCash911.com – OnlineCash911 works with a whole network of lenders, what this means for you is that you will be connected with several places that can give you a cash loan, making your approval more likely. Through OnlineCash911, you will be able to get up to $1500 as a pay day loan. The advantage here, is that getting approved will be more likely. The disadvantage is that it may take longer than going to PayCheckToday above. The amount of time that it will take to get your cash will vary from the different lenders that you may be connected with, so if you do decide to use this service, make sure when you are connected that you read the lenders terms, and the time frame that it will take to get you paycheck loan.
I wrote a follow up post to this one, as this one got a little lengthy. Alternative to Payday Loans
Building Better Credit
First, I would like to say hello and welcome to bbCredit.com, I have made this site out of a resource for people trying to build credit from the ground up, repairing bad credit, or just for those trying to improve their own credit. I have spend many hours doing research on how to improve my own credit, and along the way ran into all sorts of people offering services, only to find out that most of them were scammers, or a little on the shady side. That was very frustrating for me, and made me want to create something where I could help others out with their credit issues and perhaps help them to avoid some of the very problems and headaches that I ran into.
Building up good credit from the very beginning is of course, the best way to do things. However, that is not always possible to maintain for everyone. Family can get sick, people lose their jobs, divorces, there are really any number of reasons that over the course of time, a few bumps and bruises happen to ones credit. Getting those off, and improving your overall credit is possible with a little patience, perseverance and dedication to the task at hand.
One of the first things you will probably be looking at if you are wanting to get better credit, is of course, your credit report! That is where you should always start when trying to work on improving credit, after all, how will you know what to improve without seeing what is wrong. If you don’t have a copy yet, here are a couple of places that you can get a copy of yours from:
AnnualCreditReport.com – If you haven’t received a copy of your credit report in the last 12 months, this is probably the place you will want to start. You can get a free copy of your credit report every year from here, and will include reports from the 3 major credit reporting companies; Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. This is the best place to get a copy, and this is the place where I always get mine. I try to make sure that I get one on an annual basis, as you never know what kinds of things pop up on your credit, and you will want to stay on top of it for misleading or inaccurate information. Bad information on your credit report can cost you big in the long term, you will be paying higher interest rates, and may not get approved for loans that you may need.
CreditReport.com – This site offers a free credit report as well, however, on this one, there are a few strings attached that aren’t on AnnualCreditReport.com, these could be beneficial if you are on quest to improve your credit and want to see how and when changes are taking place on your credit. When you get your Free Credit Report from here, you will also begin a trial into their credit monitoring service. This trial is for 7 days, then after that it is 14.95 a month. What it will do is email you alerts on your credit whenever there or major changes to it. This is great for keeping track of what is happening on your report up to the date, and also is a great service to make sure that you don’t have any identity theft issues going on. It allows you to see right when something happens so that you can correct the issue. The last thing you will want is to find out about something on your credit while trying to get approved for a loan that could be for a family emergency or a new car. Bad marks on your credit and finding out at the last minute could really cost you time and money.
We encourage our readers to keep up to date with all of their credit report issues. One way to think of it is like grades in school, we all kinda knew about what our grade was, but without our report cards, we never knew for sure. At least once in everyones scholastic career there was something on our report card that caught us by surprised, maybe a missed homework assignment, a forgotten project or report, there was that one thing that we all missed. Credit reports are the same sort of thing, they let you know things that you may not have known about, and they give you the opportunity to repair that issue.
I will be writing more about credit reports, and what to do once you have yours, this was my little intro post, and as always, I seem to have carried on and on with it! Check back often, or view other pages on our site to get other little tips, tricks and offers for repairing, establishing or improving your own credit!
