Tips on How to Avoid the Payday Loan Trap

Feb 13
10:21

2012

James Famuliner

James Famuliner

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Families can get trapped in a recurring cycle of using a payday loan prior to each paycheck. Some ways to avoid this cycle are cutting costs, deferring expenditures to a later time, and deferring payments to a later time.

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Families that use payday cash loans to make ends meet can become trapped in a cycle of continuing to need a payday loan prior to each paycheck.  This is due to the fact that when they finally get their real paycheck,Tips on How to Avoid the Payday Loan Trap Articles the net cash that they receive for that paycheck has usually been significantly reduced by the typically high interest rates associated with cash advance loans.  Therefore it is imperative to break the cycle, which means that at some point they must receive a clean paycheck that they have not already borrowed a payday loan against.

In a typical family household, there are many opportunities that can be considered to avoid using a payday loan.  A few tips to avoid a short term cash shortage are 1) cutting costs, 2) deferring expenditures, or 3) deferring payments.  Cutting costs can simply be just smaller items like making your first cup of coffee at home and taking it with you instead of buying it on the way to work or bringing a sack lunch to work rather than going out for lunch.  While these may seem like insignificant costs, if both a husband and a wife commit to doing these types of small cutbacks, it can easily add up to over one hundred dollars a month in savings by reducing these expenditures.  Another way to cut costs is to use coupons for purchases like groceries and to focus on avoiding purchases that are not absolutely necessary.  Deferring expenditures basically just entails waiting until a later date when you are not in a cash shortage situation to make discretionary purchases.  This can include any items that are discretionary, such as clothing or accessories, as the purchase of these types of items can often be delayed to a later time.  Another way to make ends meet and avoid a short term cash crunch can be to negotiate payment terms on larger items, as this can allow these larger items to be purchased through a payment plan, which avoids having to come up with the full cash amount at one time.

Families that are really having difficulty breaking the cycle may also want to consider other types of loans that might have lower interest rates.  One example would be borrowing money from friends or family members.  Other options be home equity loans, bank signature loans, or other types of loans where collateralized is provided in exchange for a short term loan.  These types of loans will nearly always have much lower interest rate.