It’s no fun living paycheck to paycheck. Let one little thing go wrong – a car repair, a medical bill or even overspending at Christmas – and you can find yourself racking up a lot of debt without even knowing it. You’ll find yourself banging down the door of the modern-day loan shark – the payday loan business near you like usaloansnearme.com You’ll spend $10 just to borrow $100 for two weeks, and then have to do it over and over and over again until that original $100 costs you around $250.
Still, there’s a way to end the cycle. It’s not easy, and it’s not an overnight process. Still, if you want to dig yourself out of debt as quick as possible, here’s what you need to do:
– Figure out what you owe. Make sure to write down the interest rates you’re paying on your debt.
– Set your priorities. If you really want to dig out of debt, you need to be committed. You also need buy-in from the rest of your household.
– Decide how much you can pay. At a minimum, you need to be able to make your monthly payments on your debt. That means creating a realistic budget, and it also may mean scraping and scrimping on some things for a while.
– Pay off your highest-rate balances first. This means you should pay off things like payday loans first, as they’ve got the highest interest rates.
– When you pay something off, put that money toward the next debt. Just because you don’t have to send $25 a month to your Visa card doesn’t mean that money shouldn’t go toward getting you out of debt. Add it to the debt with the next highest interest rate.
– Don’t accrue more debt. No matter how tempting it is, you have to get your spending under control and not take out any new debt. Cut up your credit cards, if you need to, and make yourself a promise not to get a payday loan.
– In some cases, your debt is going to be overwhelming. You might need to consider consumer credit counseling, or even bankruptcy. Most people will find, however, that they really do make enough money to get out of debt if they focus their efforts in that direction…
There are some companies out there that just know how to effectively market to folks in the middle of financial difficulties. Payday loan businesses are really good at this. In the case of payday loans, the fact that these lenders offer a service that traditional financial institutions tend to ignore – short term low value loans – doesn’t hurt either.
If you’ve been listening to radio ads lately or turned on your television for more than five minutes, chances are pretty good you’ve seen or heard an ad about how you can “settle your credit card debt for pennies on the dollar.” Some of these ads are pretty slick and possibly even intentionally misleading. They talk about the President’s “stimulus plan” that helps you to reduce credit card debt, and about “secrets” that “they” don’t want you to know.
(And, of course, anytime someone claims to have a secret that “they” don’t want you to know, watch out. They’re probably selling something, and it’s often a scam.)
The thing is that there is no magic fairy out there that’s just going to wave her wand and erase your credit card debt. It’s never as easy as it sounds, even if it is based on one small kernel of truth.
What is that kernel of truth? The fact is that, in some cases, you can settle credit card debt for less than what it’s worth. This practice is known as “debt settlement,” and it isn’t a secret formula or a magic bullet that you need to hire someone else to handle.
Credit card companies will sometimes accept as little as half the debt you owe. The thing is that you need to be able to pay them that amount in one lump sum. The chances are pretty good that, if you have that much in a lump sum, you wouldn’t be struggling with your credit card bills to begin with.
So, how do these debt settlement companies work? Usually, they have you put money into a bank account or a trust account. When the balance gets big enough, they contact the credit card company and make an offer of a lump sum.
Is this something you can do on your own at home? Of course it is. Is it a service that you need to pay someone for? Not usually. There really is little advantage to using this kind of a service except for the fact that the money you set aside into the bank account or trust account is kept out of your own reach, where you can’t get to it and spend it.…
Bankruptcy is out there for a reason. It’s there so that people that can’t afford to pay their bills don’t have to go to prison.
You see, back in the old days, it used to be that you could go to jail just because you owed someone money. When Scrooge ranted about “prisons and poorhouses” in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, he wasn’t bluffing.
Not too long before those days, in the old, OLD days, someone could actually “own” you and your family if you didn’t pay back a debt. You literally would become a slave until the creditor decided that you’d worked long enough to pay back what you owe.
Today, bankruptcy is preferable to jail or slavery. In fact, bankruptcy doesn’t even carry the same social stigma that it did just half a century ago. During the recent financial crisis, many respectable people have found themselves facing bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy eliminates many of your debts. To file, however, you’re required to liquidate your personal assets in order to pay off some of the debt. The bankruptcy trustee will actually sell the personal property, and then she will use it to pay your creditors.
There are some assets that are exempt, such as a percentage of your home equity. The laws regarding bankruptcy can vary greatly from one state to the next, as well.
There are some downsides to filing bankruptcy.
Among them:
Your credit history will be injured. It’ll be hard to get a loan, mortgage or credit card. It will stay on your credit report for as long as 10 years.
Your loan rates will be higher. When you do get a loan, expect to pay more for it. The exception is a payday loan, which has astronomically high loan rates anyways and generally isn’t based at all on your actual credit history.
Your retirement accounts may not be protected. Some retirement assets like 401(k) accounts are protected, and so is up to $1 million in an IRA. However, the law requires that only those assets needed to support a filer and dependents are exempted, so you may only be able to keep a portion of an IRA account.
Bankruptcy isn’t easy anymore. The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 made it harder to file for bankruptcy and added more types of debt to the list that can’t be filed on.
There may be alternatives. You might be able to negotiate with a creditor or even work with a credit counseling service. Make sure to explore all of your options before you commit.…
Truth be told, I can answer that question with one simple word: NO! I could stop there and let you figure it out, but I won’t. The fact of the matter is that some people have been led to believe that payday loans are nothing but shady products, which “normal” upstanding people should not bother with.
This could not be farther from the truth, however! I suppose that the aggressive actions that those who are anti-payday loans have been taking are paying off somehow. There is a considerable number of people who, since they have no other source of information, have fallen into the trap of thinking that payday loans are not worth their while.
I am here to tell you something different, though. Payday loans are designed to meet the needs of the average working person. They are meant to be used for various purposes, for emergency needs. When used properly, payday loans can make the difference between financial disaster and the perfect solution.
I will not act like an ostrich with its head in the sand, however. Like it or not, there are payday loan lenders who may not exactly be above board. These are those whose operations lean towards the shady side. These are payday loan lenders which give the rest of the industry a bad name. But just because these entities exist, it does not mean that all of the payday loan lenders operating in the USA today are dubious!
With the results before you, how are you to figure out which ones are worth looking into?
This is where a bit of research comes in handy. One thing that you can do is to check with the authorities. One such institution is the Office of Fair Trading. You can also check with the Financial Services Authority.
Another option is to actually pore over the web site of the payday loan lender that you are checking out. You should take a look at the charges they apply and their system as a whole. A good determiner is the quality of their customer service. You can send them an e-mail or call them and see if they are easy to reach.
You can also visit forums and blogs wherein real people share their experiences with various payday loan lenders. These experiences are very useful for those who are looking for a lender, as you can weed out those lenders with bad reviews. Of course, you should not simply believe the first review that you see. Look a bit deeper to make sure that the opinion of one person is validated.
There are many payday loan lenders in the USA which are legitimate. Do not be turned off by bad publicity and lose the chance to solve your financial problem.…
A payday loan is one of the best kinds of loans that you can find, especially when it comes to short term needs. However, as with any other kind of product, improper use just might override any benefits that a payday loan has to offer. So how can you get the maximum benefits from a payday loan? Here are some quick tips to get you on your way.
One, make sure that you know exactly what you need.
The fact is that there are so many payday loan lenders out there. Most of them operate online, making it even easier for you to take out a payday loan. You have to know, though, that not all payday loans are the same. In fact, they have slight differences which could actually make one perfect for you while making another one a bad match. What you should do before signing up with a payday loan lender is to determine your requirements. Some questions that you should answer before anything else:
-How much do I need?
-How much can I afford to borrow and pay back?
-How soon do I need the money?
-For how long can I afford to pay back the loan?
Once you have everything clear on your end, you will find it easier to match your needs with what a payday loan lender has to offer.
Two, shop around.
This is the next step, stemming directly from the first tip. Once you know exactly what you are looking for in a payday loan lender, do not settle for the first lender that you come across. Take advantage of the fact that there are so many choices to choose from. Instead of merely taking a look at one or two lenders, take a look at four, five, or even six. Doing this will give you a broader idea as to what is available out there. You can compare what the varying payday loan lenders have to offer, and then you can take your best pick.
Three, be alert for red flags.
As beneficial payday loans are, there are some rotten apples out there. While majority of payday loan lenders are legitimate businesses, there are one or two that operate in shady settings and may not be all above board. As such, you have to be on the lookout for signs that may point towards this idea. The best thing to do would be to check with a government agency as to whether or not the payday loan lender is a registered business. Another thing you can do is to make sure that their customer service is up to par. Give them a call, send them an e-mail, and see how they respond.
Four, take your time.
You may have urgent needs but rushing into something you do not fully understand is not the way to go. Take your time in choosing the right payday loan lender and get the most out of it. Otherwise, you might end up on the losing end.…
Is there such a thing, you may ask. My answer would be a straightforward yes. While it is not that easy to get a loan from a high street bank or a similar financial institution these days, there are still other options that are open to you. And one of these is a payday loan, which offers cheap and fast cash to most anyone. My goal today is to provide you with the right information so that you can avail of a payday loan.
Let us begin by defining a payday loan. In the simplest terms, a payday loan is a short term loan that has been designed to meet the urgent needs of employed people. I am using the word employed quite loosely here, as it covers both those who are working for another entity and those who are working for themselves (self-employed). More so, a payday loan has been deemed short term as anyone who borrows money from a payday loan lender would have to pay the loan back, together with the corresponding charges, within a shorter amount of time.
You might be worrying about that last clause – shorter amount of time. I am telling you right now, it is nothing to worry about, because the way a payday loan works, you will be able to afford to pay it back within a month or so of the loan release.
So how exactly can you avail of a payday loan? It is very easy – just go to Google, or any search engine that you prefer to use. Look for a payday loan provider that services your area. You can use search terms such as payday loan, payday loan provider, cheap payday loan, and so on. Any of these terms is guaranteed to give you results. Alternatively, you can look for referred sites. You can ask your friends or colleagues for advice, as they might have used a payday loan lender before.
The next step is to determine which payday loan lender will suit your needs and preferences the most. Again, you can ask for advice from people who already have experience with payday loans. You can ask people you know, or you can look for web sites or blogs which provide similar information. The important thing is that you know exactly what you want and need, so that you can use that information to weed out lenders that you will not want to use.
Once you have decided on which payday loan lender to use, then you are ready to apply for your payday loan. You can do this online as well, without having to expend much effort. Filling out the online application form will take you several minutes at the most. And from the moment you apply to the time that you get the money, you will not have to wait for more than 24 hours (in most cases).
As you can see, a payday loan is probably your best bet when you need cheap cash FAST.…
Well, you probably do. And so does tons of other creditors out there. We cannot deny the fact that credit scores, credit histories, and credit records count for a whole lot of things these days. This is especially true nowadays since the economic climate has not been good for the past several years. If it was hard to get a loan in the past, it is even harder today.
Then again, there are creditors out there who do not really worry much about bad credit. In fact, there are lenders who do not care a whit about your credit history! Yes, they do exist, and they exist in the form of payday loan lenders.
Now before you balk at that term, give me a chance to tell you what payday loan providers are all about. Contrary to some people’s opinions that they are good for nothing, payday loan providers actually offer some of the best deals with regard to loans today. Payday loan lenders exist to fill a need in the market. This need revolves around the urgent cash flow problems that many average workers meet every now and then.
Think about it, you probably have a regular stream of income that gets you by. While you may not be earning an astronomical amount, at least you receive your wages on a regular basis and you are able to meet your needs with it. However, there may be times when your cash is not enough to deal with the emergency needs that crop up from time to time.
This is when payday loan lenders come in handy. Since they do not care if you have bad credit, you can easily borrow money from them and pay it off without too much of a hassle. You see, payday loan lenders do not run a credit check on their customers. While they understand the purpose of a credit check, they also realise that credit checks can take such a long time and that the results do not always present the most accurate picture of the person’s financial standing.
Instead of a credit check, they have other requirements which determine whether or not a person is qualified for a payday loan. Perhaps the most important of these requirements is the proof that the borrower has a regular source of income. As far as payday loan providers are concerned, the important thing is that you receive money on a regular basis. This means that you only have to make copies of your most recent pay stubs if you are employed by another entity. This should be enough to prove to the payday loan lender that you have a stable source of income. In case you are not employed by someone else and you run your own business, then your financial statements should do the job just as well.
As you can see, nowhere in the story does a credit check come into play. It may sound too good to be true, but it that is the reality of payday loans.…