Payday Loans…they look so appealing, but are they really?
Have you ever been in a bind and needed some quick cash, but payday was 2 weeks away? Or maybe you had an emergency that couldn’t wait another week? You are not alone! For this reason we have many ways to get some quick cash—Payday loans, deferred deposit check loans, check advance loans, cash advance loans, or postdated check loans—but are they a good idea?
A previous roommate of mine was indebt up to her ears with payday advance loans that she got into the habit of taking out, but didn’t get into the habit of paying them back! It is an easy trap to fall into; especially after accumulating so much debt that you feel there is no hope for you to pay it back and continue to borrow money. That same roommate had been in a bad car accident that year and ended up using the money from her accident to pay off her debts. The only problem with this is that when she went to buy another car, she ended up taking out another loan to purchase the car with when she could have used the money from her accident if she hadn’t needed to pay off the cash advance loans with it.
The interest rates for payday advance loans are ridiculous. The average interest rate is 400%, with some raising it to 500%. The finance charges and fees are based upon the amount desired. For example: Let’s say that John needs $200 in advance. He writes the payday advance company a postdated check for two weeks in the amount of $220. When payday comes around again, the payday advance company will then cash his check to receive that $20 extra; however, if he still can’t pay that back and has them roll-over onto the next paycheck, he then will be paying a finance charge of $20 with an APR of 321%! Outrageous!
Be careful when borrowing money from a payday advance lender. Try to avoid it if you can, but if not possible and you are in desperate need of quick cash, be sure to pay it back as soon as possible. Otherwise you will be drowning in debt to your ears!


