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Can You Afford a Payday Loan?

I have not done a payday loan in five years nor will I ever again.
Back then I was married and my husband had a really good job, until he lost it about 3 months after I got a payday loan. Of course he had been out of work for medical reasons so the checks he was receiving from work were not as much as he was bringing home when working. This put us in a financial strain that resulted in us eventually losing almost everything.
I had been working at the time although we were scraping by. I wanted to get a bill paid so I went to one of those payday loan places. I had not ever done one before and I didn't have the credit to just go to my bank and get a loan.
What people do not understand is that you pay the amount borrowed (or allowed to borrow) plus a huge interest rate back. Rates vary from payday loan to payday loan but they are excessively high. And the way many payday loans catch your attention is no fees for new business. That is one thing that attracted me to more than one place.
I can say that I know an owner of a large payday loan store chain because the headquarters is in the town where I live. He and his family live like royalty mostly in part because of people like me who have used the payday loans. His family and one of his houses- a real tree house was once featured on a cable show about extreme houses.
Paying them back was pretty much giving them my paycheck. I might have had $50 left afterwards. So how could I pay my other bills? So, I ended up renewing the payday loan once I paid it off. Eventually I did get desperate to pay bills and the payday loans so I began shopping around again.
You can pay the minimum each week with interest included but they give you a month to pay it in full. If you don't pay then the check you wrote to them will be sent to the bank. And guess what, if you don't have the money in your bank account it means NSF fees for you. If you cannot pay them then you lose your bank account.
Unless you know you are getting a bonus at work, money from family for a special occasion or it's tax return season then don't do it. You have to make sure the bill you ARE paying is one you usually pay. If your budget over a month period allows you to pay this loan back in full (with interest) then you may be able to get it.
In my case, I learned the hard way and I made terrible mistakes. I got a payday loan from one place was doing well paying it off but then I was renewing it. Otherwise I didn't have any money. But then more unexpected things happened that had I had that payday loan paid off, I could pay for straight out.
Well, I went to another payday loan place and got one. Then another. Later I found out I should not have been able to get the third payday loan. Two payday loans are supposed to be the maximum. But in reality, it is all about money so who is going to complain?
Two of the three payday loan places I could not pay back like I was supposed to. They were willing to work with me to make payments and get them paid off. It took a while but I managed to do it. The very first place I had went though, kept running the check through the credit union I was a member of. I had thought that checks would not be run through no more than three times. Apparently that was not the case for the credit union. Needless to say, it racked up nearly $500 for the amount of the check plus the fees.
Payday loans are supposed to be temporary yet they are advertised to help someone with car repairs, emergency medical or dental issues, etc. These are things most people are not prepared to pay for out of pocket anyways at anytime. Getting the payday loan is great, but then How are you going to pay it back and survive?
The payday loans should be the very last resort to paying something. If you have a few weeks before needing the money a yard sale or putting things on eBay is an idea. Even a local trade newspaper is a better idea to consider.
It is not that I am against payday loans completely. I will personally not ever use one again. Most people are desperate by the time they seek out a payday loan store. They tend to not be thinking completely rationally, but then learn the hard way.
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