Need Money In a Hurry!
It happens to a lot of people. You have just about used up all your money in your bank account and it’s a couple of weeks until payday and then it happens - you get a totally unexpected bill and you can’t afford to pay it.
So what do you do? Assuming that credit cards and personal loans are not an option, you could just go overdrawn at the bank and pay the bill and suffer the consequences later. This is not generally a good idea unless you get an authorised overdraft. Unauthorised overdrafts with most banks now carry a fixed charge for going overdrawn and also a daily charge, something like £5 for every day you are overdrawn. These charges add up and although most banks cap the charges, you could wind up paying back an equivalent APR in the tens of thousands.
One alternative to the overdraft is by using a payday loan. These are short term loans offered by many lenders now. They are designed to get you out of a short term fix and as the name suggests, the idea is that you pay back the loan when you next get paid. However, payday loans must only be used for short terms as they can become hideously expensive if you let them roll over from month to month. Not as expensive as an unauthorised overdraft, but nonetheless, it is not something that you want to do.
Another way of getting hold of money might be with logbook loans. If you have a car that has a certain amount of value to it and it is clear of finance, you can borrow money against the value of the car. Basically, it is loan secured against the car.
The only other alternative, and one that should be tried first if I’m honest, would be to see if you could borrow the money from a family member. This all depends really on the amount and whether you have someone that you can approach.
