Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where your finances just don’t make it to the end of the month. Despite your careful budgeting, something unexpected like a car repair or doctor’s bill pops up and you’re left scraping cents together just to get to payday. It’s at times like these when you’re strapped for cash and only need a little extra money to get you through to pay day that you may be tempted to take out a payday loan. After all, they’re marketed as the ideal solution for this kind of scenario and are the clear go-to solution, right?

The truth is that payday loans aren’t the convenient and low-cost solutions that they often appear to be. In this article, we explain why payday loans usually come at high price and are best avoided. And then we look at an alternative.

WHAT IS A PAYDAY LOAN?

Payday loans are short-term unsecured loans designed to give you quick access to money when you need that little bit extra to get through to the end of the month. These loans are usually repaid after a week or two, at which point the repayment amount is deducted from your account.