You've seen the ads: "Get Cash Fast!" "Short On Cash? Get a Payday Loan!". These loan practices are horrific, and charge interest at rates that used to only be seen in bad mobster movies. Yet, for a number of Americans with poor or bad credit, payday loan debt is a way of life, albeit one that will gradually destroy them.
First, understand that a "six for seven" loan (borrow six dollars, pay seven in two weeks) is a horrendous interest rate, though it's a typical one for most payday loan rates. That works out to an annual interest rate of over 370%. This means that if you "rotate" a loan of $100 for an entire year, you'll end up paying $470 total. By contrast, even the most hard-cased credit cards are in the realm of 24-25% per year, a savings of $345.
Now, the truth of the matter is that a lot of consumers using payday loans don't have credit cards, or had very poor credit, or abused and misused their credit, and now they're in a pinch. Here are some practical ways to pay off your payday loan debt.
First, pay off the smallest debts you can to free up the capital to tackle the larger ones. If you're rolling multiple payday loans, pay them off first. Talk to friends, talk to family, ask them if they could extend you a small amount of money to buy out a payday loan before it gets bad.
Second, do what you can to bring in extra income. Pick up a part time job, find a way to do some freelance work. There are places online, like Craigslist, where you can post up that you're willing to do work for fire. And if you can write, there are places online that are always hiring freelancers for penny to two-penny a word web content.
Third, If you have a checking account -- and over 97% of Americans do -- talk to your bank about getting a debt consolidation loan for part or all of the debt you're paying off on payday lenders. Even if the consolidation loan is at 22%, it's still better than a payday loan.
Fourth, budget, budget, budget. Go through three months worth of receipts -- car payments, gas, rent, utilities, phone, groceries. Find out what you're really spending, and look for things to trim away. If you go out to eat every day for lunch, pack lunches in from home -- a good sack lunch can be made for under $1. Going out to eat at $8 per meal means that over the course of one work week, you save $35. Do that for an entire pay period, and you've saved $140 -- do it for three months, and you've just accumulated $400 or more to your debt relief.
All of these are fairly standard advice from credit counseling services. Again, your bank can probably direct you to one. Avoid credit counselors that offer debt consolidation loans, or access fees to use their services.
Lastly, once you've paid down the payday loan debt, keep to the thrifty habits. Try to live on 90% of what you earn, and put the rest in an interest bearing account, so that compound interest works for you rather than against you.
