Don't Take Out Payday Loans Lightly

It's not uncommon for people to be short of cash towards the end of the month, in the period between running out of spare cash and receiving your next paycheck. There are many ways that people tide themselves over this period, ranging from using a credit card for both purchases and cash withdrawals, or making use of a bank overdraft.

There is another option that you'll see advertised all over the web though: Payday Loans. In essence, these are simply short term loans for small amounts, which you clear when you next get paid. They are usually only taken out for a few days or a week or two.

Given the widespread advertising and publicity given to payday loans, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they were completely without drawbacks, but that's definitely not the case. Firstly, they're expensive. Secondly, they're often used as a last resort, when the other methods of accessing cash such as overdrafts have been used up and are no longer available.

Thirdly, it's usually a simple matter to renew your loan every month, which leads to a constant spiral of debt and interest charges, which is not something to recommend if you're already struggling financially.

This is not to say that payday loans are completely evil and should be avoided at all costs, but it makes sense to explore other ways of accessing ready cash before committing yourself to a loan which might last much longer than you anticipate.

Profiting From Your Credit Card Account

Despite their great convenience as a method of payment, credit cards have something of a reputation as a dangerous thing to have. One of their biggest benefits, the access to credit, is also one of their greatest drawbacks. It's all too easy to get into money problems by racking up debt that you'll struggle to pay off.

The can also be expensive, with some of the heftiest charges and interest rates you'll find in the financial services sector. But what if you could actually profit from using a credit card? What if you could take money out of the banks pockets and put it into yours?

We're talking, of course, about cashback credit cards, one of the latest fads to hit the credit industry. Although they've actually been around for quite some time, they are now being promoted more heavily as a desirable option.

Basically, when you use a cashback credit card, a small percentage of what you spend is credited back into your account. The numbers involved are small, usually around one per cent.

However, should you use the card a lot, for example for all your groceries and other essential purposes, then the cashback amount can soon mount up.

The essential thing to bear in mind though is that these cashback earnings will be dwarfed by any interest charges you accrue, and so in order to benefit you need to make sure that you clear your balance in full every month, and so avoid paying interest. Also make sure that there's no annual fee on the card, so that you're not paying anything at all to use the card - the money will be flowing all one way, from your credit card issuer to you!