Borrowing between paycheck is a hard habit to break.
Job layoffs, plunging retirement accounts, home foreclosures — the ripples of the recession are affecting us all. Like many Americans, you may have a limited income and no savings. You may have been turned down for credit or own maxed-out credit cards. You may have damaged credit for any number of reasons, including a previous bankruptcy filing. If these are your financial demographics, you are a direct target for payday lenders and you may be trapped in a habit of borrowing between paychecks that you can’t seem to break.
Don’t be tempted.
Everyone’s situation is different, but if you’re living from paycheck to paycheck, this much is certain: it’s not easy to make ends meet and payday advances are tempting. Anyone who’s ever applied for an online payday loan is set upon by email messages like these every day: You’re just moments away from cash in your pocket today; Last chance for money before this weekend; Is Payday too far away? Make it happen tomorrow; Claim your cash eligibility by midnight tonight; Get cash with bad or no credit. And the onslaught never ends.
Go cold turkey.
If you’re trapped in a payday loan cycle, you will never begin to regain financial control until you say “no” to the next instant payday loan. This will mean that you will have to scrape by between paychecks. It will mean that you will have to stop paying for unnecessary things like health clubs, lawn maintenance, cable, internet service, and cell phones.
If you consider any of those things to be necessary for your survival, getting out of the payday loan trap will require you to redefine what is necessary and to pare your definition down until it includes only those things required to keep your job, a roof over your head, and food on your table. Getting out will require that you sit down and prioritize your basic living expenses like housing and essential utilities, and make whatever sacrifices you must in order to pay for those things. To break the payday loan habit, you have to stop suddenly and completely.
Change the way you live and then get help. In that order.
Change the way you live.
Getting out of the payday loan trap will require you to make drastic changes in your spending habits. You will have to give up new clothes, lattes, and movies. You may have to shop only at thrift and discount stores. You may have to ride a bike everywhere you possibly can instead of driving a car.You may even have to give up difficult-to-break but expensive habits like smoking. If you aren’t doing so already, you may have to live with a damaged credit report.
Change the way your family lives.
Getting out of the payday loan trap may mean that your kids can’t take karate or dance or ski lessons. They will have to do only those things that cost nothing or next-to-nothing. They may have ride bikes or play in a park or go on local day hikes instead of playing on a soccer team. They may have to camp out in the back yard instead of going off to summer camp. They may have to work on art projects or read books from the library instead of watching TV or playing on a computer. They may have to walk your dog or the neighbor’s dog instead of going to the mall. It may take some doing on your part, but your kids will survive these modern-day deprivations.
Then get help.
If you are not willing to make drastic changes in your lifestyle, there is no sense in hiring anyone to help you with your payday loans in Vermont or other debts. But if you can first do what it takes to break the payday loan habit by living within your means, then take the next step and get advice from a bankruptcy attorney or a debt solutions company.
