How to get money in an Emergency

If you are desperate for money, it can be difficult to know where to go for help. Many people will just go online and get a short term loan and although these can be useful, there are many options available which could be worth considering as a short term loan may not always be the best option.

Although a short term loan is great as it does not require a credit check, can let you have money very quickly and if you make the repayment on time means you are out of debt very quickly, it does have drawbacks. It is expensive and if you do not pay it back on time there are high charges. It is therefore worth only using in an emergency, when you have no other options, which is what it was designed for.

If you have the time, then it could be worth trying to apply for other types of loans. Something like an overdraft or credit card could be cheaper. However, you do need to be very wary of these as the interest rate on an unauthorised overdraft can be higher than a payday loan and if you only pay back the minimum on a credit card then you will end up paying a lot of interest in the long term. Consider which you think will be the best option for you, knowing what you are likely to do with regards to repayments.

Asking friends and family can be cheaper. They may even allow you to borrow money interest free. However, you need to be careful as you may find that you will affect your relationship with them if you cannot pay it back when they need it. Consider whether you think that it is worth the risk. It may work better if you have a formal agreement of when you will repay them and how much and as long as you stick to this, it should work out well for you.

It is worth considering whether you have any way to earn a bit extra money. You might be able to sell some things or you could do some extra hours work, see if you can pick up some freelance work or things like that. If you look online you can find genuine work from home opportunities that might enable you to make some money quickly.

It can also be worth seeing whether there are things that you can go without so that you can use that money rather than borrow. Perhaps you have enough food in your larder or freezer to save you shopping for a week and that will save some. You might be able to cut out drinking alcohol, smoking or buying take-aways to cut back. Perhaps reducing your television package, mobile phone package or other subscriptions could reduce your outgoings enough to allow you to gain the money that you need. Even if it is too late to get the money you need now, doing these things could help you cope more easily with repaying a loan and mean you are less likely to need a loan in the future.