Loan Choices
There are a lot of loan choices out there, although some are more useful than others. You have to be cautious and not let the urgency of your situation lead you into making a bad decision. Here are some choices to consider.
Installment Loans
Even with less than perfect credit, you may be able to qualify for an installment loan and we can help with this. We can give you access to a loan network made up of lenders used to working with all credit types. We can even get you a free quote on a loan and it takes just a couple minutes with only some basic information.
Benefits Of Installment Loans
The benefit of an installment loan is chiefly, that it can be paid back in monthly installments. Unlike payday loans, which you may be familiar with, these loans allow you to stretch the payment period out. The benefit to that is of course that the payments become smaller and much more manageable.
Another benefit is that the loans can be issued in greater amounts than other cash loans. You can get a quote for a loan as high as 50000 dollars, although you probably do not need that much.
Finally, you do not have the insanely high interest rates of an online cash advance. Since those loans have high fees and short terms, their interest rates can be well above 400%, not good.
Negatives Of Installment Loans
Like everything else in life, there is a flip side. As a single mother you know that and installment loans are no different.
The main negative is that although the interest rate is usually lower than payday loans, you will be paying the interest over a longer period. This means that with the interest and loan fees, you could potentially wind up with a higher loan cost.
Payday Loans
We just hit on payday loans a little bit but they deserve a bit more conversation. If you are a single mom, payday loan companies have probably advertised to you. You are one of their primary demographics. If they are available in your state, they might be able to handle your emergency, but are they a good choice?
Benefits Of Payday Loans
The big benefit to this type of loan is the speed at which you can apply for one and get your money. If you use a local service, where you actually go to the store, you may even be able to get cash the same day. That makes it potentially one of the fastest loans to get for single moms.
Negatives Of Payday Loans
The benefits to these loans runs out rather quickly. You will see that they have more negatives than good aspects.
The big negative is the cost of the credit. Lenders charge fees based on the amount that you borrow. An example of a loan fe might be somewhere around $20 per 100 dollars borrowed. That doesn’t sound like much to many but if you work that into an APR, the rate can exceed 400 percent. The short term is what does it.
Which brings us to negative number two, the short loan term. Loans are due to be completely repaid on your next payday or 10 to 14 days in most cases. This is a huge problem because it gives you little time to get caught up on bills. The result, a great deal of people wind up rolling the loan over and paying a whole new set of fess to do so. You could end up paying back over double what you borrowed in fees, maybe even more.
Title Loans
A very dangerous loan type for single mothers but one that remains popular. You have probably seen the title loan stores in or near your city. It is a big and very profitable business.
Benefits Of Title Loans
The only real benefit to a title loan is that it gives you quick access to high dollar amounts of money. You are allowed to borrow a percentage of the value of your vehicle, which can be quite a bit.
Negatives Of Title Loans
Title loans have a lot of negatives. The first of which is the fact that it is a secured loan. If you do not pay back the loan and go into default, they can and will take your vehicle and sell it. The stress of needing money is bad enough, try adding the stress of being without a vehicle.
Another disadvantage is that you are still paying high interest and fees. They can be significant which makes less sense on a secured loan. On a collateral loan with bad credit, the lender has much less risk since they have a way of recouping their money. Why then still charge the high rated of an unsecured loan?
Improve Your Credit Profile
If you do not like the bad credit loan options above, your best choice is to improve how your credit report looks. Credit scores might seem like some big mystery to you but there is not real secret to getting a good score. It is just a formula with two parts that make up the majority, your payment history and your available credit.
Payment History
Paying your bills on time is one of the biggest factors in your score. As a single parent, this can be difficult at times and as a result, your score may suffer. Try your best to make your payments on time by utilizing payment reminders and automatic payments when possible.
If you find that you must be late on a payment, contact your creditor. They may be able to work with you so that you can avoid a 30 day late strike on your credit report.
Available Credit
Also known as credit utilization.
It is all too easy to put charges on a credit card. Before you know it, they are all charged up and your credit score drops. Paying the minimum payment does little more than pay off the monthly interest plus a few dollars of principal.
Start working on your card debt by paying the minimums on all but the highest interest card. Pay as much as you can on this one until it is paid off and then continue with the next.
Ideally, you want to be using less than 30 percent of your available credit.
Other Factors
The two factors above make up the majority of your score. There are other things that you can do though. Credit inquiries play a small role in your score, so keep credit requests to a minimum. Also you want to have a good mix of different credit types but this is something you can work on once you master the top two factors above.
For now, concentrate on paying your bills on time and paying down your revolving debt.