Alternatives to Payday Loans in Mississippi
In this week's Hattiesburg American, Tawnya Crockett talks about alternatives to payday loans. Let's look at them:
- When you need credit, shop carefully. Compare offers. Look for the credit offer with the lowest annual percentage rate - consider a small loan from your credit union, a loan company or family or friends. These have lower interest rates than cash loans.
- Compare the APR and the finance charge (which includes loan fees, interest and other types of credit costs) of credit offers to get the lowest cost.
- Ask your creditors for more time to pay your bills. Find out what they will charge for that service - as a late charge, an additional finance charge or a higher interest rate. IF you must take this action with a faxless payday loan, be aware of rollover costs.
- Make a realistic budget, and figure your monthly and daily expenditures.
- Avoid unnecessary purchases - even small daily items. Their costs add up. Also, build some savings - even small deposits help - to avoid borrowing for emergencies, unexpected expenses or other items. For example, by putting the amount of the fee that would be paid on a typical $300 cash advance in a savings account for six months, you'd have extra dollars available.
- Find out if you have or can get overdraft protection on your checking account. If you're regularly using most or all of the funds in your account and if you make a mistake in your checking or savings account ledger or records, overdraft protection can help protect you from further credit problems. Find out the terms of overdraft protection.
- If you decide you must use a cash advance loan, borrow only as much as you can afford to pay with your next paycheck and still have enough to make it to the next payday.