Buying a Used Car

It’s that time where you are in need of a new or newer vehicle. You current mode of transportation has been good to you in the past, but it’s just costing too much in repairs or just isn’t as reliable as it used to be.  This situation happens thousands of times across the country every day. The problem is that you don’t have the money to buy a newer car. Let’s take a look at obtaining a personal loan or going to a buy here pay here car dealership.

Buy here pay here dealerships can be a good choice for many people that need to get into something fairly quickly. It can be a good alternative to taking out a loan in some cases. Usually people that do not have good credit can benefit from this situation. Most buy here pay here car dealers will not even run a credit score on their customers and require a small amount of money down on the purchased vehicle. One problem is that their inventory tends to be a bit on the older side. You usually do not have access to later models and you could end up swapping out your older paid off car for a car that you now owe money on and still has some problems.

Another instance with these types of dealerships is the amount of money you are actually paying for the vehicle. They will charge you quite a bit more money than the car or truck is actually worth. They know that you may be in a desperate situation and they have the upper hand. You could be paying 20%-25% more than the vehicle is valued at just to able to use their easy, no credit check method of getting you into a car.

Another problem is that they take “low” weekly payments. This sounds enticing at first. When you are trying to figure out your payments and they present a low weekly payment of $75.00 this sounds like you should have no problem making that payment. Who can’t afford $75.00 a week? Well, a lot of people can’t afford that payment. That’s a $300.00 per month payment. You can buy a brand new Mercedes for that amount of money. Add on your car insurance and you end up with a hefty car bill each month.

Taking out a personal loan gives you many advantages when it comes to buying a used car. The dealership will haggle the price down quite a bit because you are essentially paying them cash at the deals end. You will also gain a positive credit score when the loan is paid off. At the buy here pay here places, you can only achieve a negative score if default on your payments, they usually don’t report to the credit agencies.

Just be weary of a deal that sounds too good to be true. If you can obtain a personal loan for your newer car, then take it. It’s easier to afford and will actually save you money in the whole scheme of things.

Personal Loan vs Payday Advance

When times are tough financially, many people need a little bit of help to get them through. Many circumstances come up in everyday life, where some extra cash is necessary. Personal loans and payday advances are a few of the tools that are commonly used. Let’s take a look at both of these options and weigh the pros and cons of each choice.

Things come up every once in a while that require money that you just don’t have. Car repairs and medical bills are just a few to mention. Many people live paycheck to paycheck and just do not have the extra money in their budgets to cover these unforeseen expenses. Using a payday advance is one option that many people utilize to cover these charges. This is a good solution in many incidences, but it can strain your bank account tremendously. A payday advance is exactly what it implies. You are in essence borrowing money from these types of businesses with the promise to pay back the money the next time you get paid.

In reality you are not adding extra cash to your financial profile, just receiving it earlier than normal. The unexpected expenses are still eating up a good portion of your monthly income and a payday advance can get you behind on all of your bills, which can take you months to catch up and hurt your credit score. Plus, these types of businesses that offer payday advances usually charge large fees for this service. Many places will charge up to forty percent of the advance. That is quite a bit of interest to be paying for an extremely short loan.

Taking out a personal loan to help with these unfortunate bills could be the smartest choice in the long run. If you can obtain a personal loan with a reasonable interest rate you are already saving money over the payday advance. The loan also helps your budget by adding money, not just shifting accessibility to it in your overall financial situation. It is easier to pay back the personal loan over a longer period of time and it will not put you in a major bind when it comes to paying your other expenses. Another benefit to using a personal loan is that it will help your credit score, the only thing a payday advance can do is hurt your credit, if you cannot pay it back when due.

Overall both forms of financial help can be beneficial, but in the long run a personal loan is usually the better choice.

Paying Off High Interest Rates

Is it a good idea to take out a loan to pay off other loans? If you have the intentions of paying off a higher interest rate loan with one that you can obtain with a lower interest rate than the answer is yes. You must make sure that there will not be any penalties for paying the first loan off early to make it cost effective.

When you took out the first loan there are conditions that you are going to want to review before you pay off the balance. Many companies will charge penalties for paying off the loan before the terms of the loan end. This insures that they will be making the money on the interest of the loan that they expected to make. If you have this clause tied to your original loan than you must make sure that you will actually be saving money by paying it off with another loan at a lower interest rate.

If you do not have the clause tied to the original loan then it is definitely a good choice to obtain the loan with the lower interest rate. You just have to make sure that you use that money for that purpose and don’t end up carrying to loans when you only intended on having one. This will also help your credit rating as the first loan has been paid off, but you still are developing credit by having the second loan still outstanding.

This is also common practice when it comes to credit cards. There are always offers to transfer balances from one credit card with a higher interest rate to another with a lower one or even no interest for a small amount of time. Be sure there are no transfer fees tied to this action or you may be paying more in the long run. Also make sure that you can pay off the balance on the card before your initial lower interest rate expires, usually a year. Otherwise you may not be saving any money.

Transferring balances and paying off loans can be a smart way to save money and build some credit history. When you transfer credit card balances, make sure you do not cancel the first credit card as long as it does not have an annual fee. Keeping the account open will build your credit; just make sure you don’t use the card unless you absolutely have to. Lower interest rates are the way to go, just make sure you are saving money in the long run.

 

 

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Taking a Personal Loan While Unemployed

So, bad financial times have fallen upon your life. Your company decided to make cuts and you were in the mix of the people being let go. You are finding yourself out of a job and the bills still keep coming in. Is it wise to take a personal loan to help you through this rough spell?

If you have to ability to secure a personal loan while you have a lowered or non-existent household income then you may want to jump on the chance to obtain that money while you have the opportunity. It is very hard to acquire a personal loan if you have diminished your income. If you qualify now, consider taking the loan to have some extra money as a cushion while looking for a new job, if you wait, you may not be able to get that loan down the road.

Whether or not to take on more debt while unemployed is a tricky question to answer. If you do not have any significant savings in the bank, you will probably need some extra cash. Counting on unemployment is not going to fully pull you through these hard times. Unemployment will help, but it will only be a fraction of your previous income.

The most important thing to do during this time is changing your spending habits. You must cut way back on everything during this crisis. Many people make a huge mistake and think they are going to be re-employed right away, if that’s the case then great, in reality it will take longer for most people. Cutting all of the luxuries out of your lifestyle is imperative when you are experiencing a financial crunch. No more satellite TV, going out to dinner, even going to the movies; you must cut back on all of your extras and focus on paying the bills.

If you have some savings in the bank that can pull you through then this is good thing. Why would you need to take a loan? One of the most common answers is that “I don’t want to touch my savings”. Well if you think about it, you are actually hurting your overall financial profile by taking on more debt with the personal loan. If your situation lasts longer than you planned, you will be tapping into your savings at some point, but now you will have to use some of it to pay off that loan.

If you know your time off work is going to be temporary, by all means, secure a personal loan to help you through. If you are uncertain about your next job then it is time for major lifestyle changes and time to go into a major spending freeze. Pinching every penny can be a big difference in the long run. Adding on another monthly payment of a personal loan may not be the wisest decision.