Not everyone in America lives with a flexible budget that can accommodate surprise expenses. Senior citizens who are dependent on monthly social security checks are just one of the many groups of people who can be blindsided by emergency repairs or unforeseen medical bills. When seniors are saddled with a bill a few weeks before their check is deposited, they might not have enough money on hand to pay their balance. For those seniors who need a little extra help, small dollar loans can be a blessing.

Short-term loans provided by reputable lending companies don’t require complex financial analysis. They provide a fast and convenient alternative to your bank, which can take weeks evaluating your current finances and credit score. Simply head to your computer and fill out the online application form to see if you instantly qualify. Not too tech savvy? Don’t worry. A direct online lender will also have helpful representatives waiting by the phone should you find it easier to apply that way.

An online lender should take a complex and bureaucratic process and make it simple and understandable. The company you choose should also encourage responsible borrowing habits. The loans they provide should only be considered a bridge between your social security checks, and you should never rely on your loans to make long-term goals. Like any other loan, the money must be paid back according to the contract that you signed. Always remember that you will need to pay back what you borrowed plus additional fees, so never borrow more than you can afford. While most states have Uniform Small Loans Laws (USLL), it’s still up to your discretion to ensure the lending company you choose follows them.

One way direct online lenders can follow these laws is to be a member of the Community Financial Service Association of America (CFSA) and the Online Lender’s Alliance (OLA). Their commitment to lending responsibility should provide you with options regarding your loan. Rather than force you into the same small dollar loan that every one of their clients receives, there should be flexibility regarding the term of your loan. Flex-play installment loans are an example of this. Instead of paying the loan back in one lump sum, payments are made over time according to an agreed upon schedule that fits your financial situation. You can link your payments to the days you receive your social insurance check, so you never spread yourself too thin. To make sure a direct online lender can offer these flexible payment schedules, do some research. Either search their website for information or speak with a representative on the phone. You can get installment loans from MoneyKey and a number of other small dollar lending companies. As a state licensed and secure option, they can provide healthy and responsible loans to seniors.

There are many reasons why you might take out a short-term loan. Being dependent on your social security checks is just one of the reasons why so many Americans are turning to small dollar installment loans. When borrowed from the right company, you can responsibly pay your bills (on time) without consequence.

The Dangers of Excessive Credit

An increasing number of people have come to rely very heavily on a bank overdraft in order to finance their current lifestyle. The problem with such a situation is that it is more expensive, and a considerable amount of money has to be paid in interest to the institution with whom that overdraft has been arranged.

The simple fact of the matter is that it is far better to manage your finances responsibly in order to avoid additional costs which are ultimately only limiting the benefits which could be derived from that income. It is not easy to be in business today because there are millions of businesses that are vigorously competing for the support of the consumer and they will use absolutely every trick in the book such as clever marketing strategies in order to brainwash the consumer into supporting them.

This is why it is so important for the consumer to carefully analyze their own needs and to make wise decisions about the things which are purchased in order to ensure that their money goes as far as possible.

Cultivate a Habit of Saving

Most young people have only one objective, and that is to enjoy their lives as much as they can and to spend all of their income on various kinds of fun activities and inexpensive goods, thinking that they have a lot of time to cultivate the habit of saving. The problem is once someone has conditioned themselves to spend everything they earn, it becomes very difficult to break that habit and therefore, these people will find saving very difficult.

This is exactly why it is so vitally important to cultivate that habit as early as possible in your career. The same thing applies to a comfortable retirement, and so many people think that there is a very long time ahead of them and therefore concerns about retirement are totally unnecessary.

However, it is exactly these kind of people who are very rudely awakened and who suddenly realize that their safety buffer has been wiped out and they still have not made sufficient provision for their retirement. These people are then forced to consider other more radical options to finance their way of living in retirement.

The Safe Haven of Real Estate

Millions of people have this notion that an investment in real estate is a wise and a safe option in order to ensure that most future needs could be sufficiently met. That notion has been comprehensively disproved by the recession of 2008.

In only three years, over 4 million homes have been repossessed, leaving those homeowners with very large financial debts. What does a person do when he has several creditors contacting him frequently in an attempt to collect payment on outstanding debts?

An increasing number of debtors are turning to debt consolidation as a viable option to deal with the many pressures associated with large debts. The one ultimate benefit of debt consolidation is that you are no longer required to deal with 5 or 6 creditors simultaneously, instead, you now have only one creditor who will contact you in order to request payment of your debt.

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Financial Wellness Requires a Plan

A successful business owner may spend months and in some cases, even years on the design of their business plan. Such a business plan will consider critical factors such as risk management, the target audience of the business and startup capital to mention only a few vital factors. That startup capital is not unlimited and when too much is borrowed, the business may simply not be able to generate sufficient profits in order to allow the business owner to repay such debts.

Likewise, any person who possesses basic financial acumen will never borrow more than they can afford to repay. Doing so will always result in tremendous financial problems and such a person will remain a slave to his creditors as long as he lives. So many people have this notion that retirement is something which is an undeniable right and that all they have to do is to stick it out for 30 years and once they reach the age of 60, they will receive their dues and their pension will take care of them till the day they die. The problem is that a very large number of people have suddenly come to the realization that their assumptions were childish and foolish.

Use Common Sense

Just suppose that you have three outstanding debts, one for a $100,000, one for $50,000 and one for $20,000. However, the interest on the $20,000 debt is very high while the others are substantially lower. Which one should therefore be paid first?

The $20,000 debt should be paid first because of the high interest which are charged on that debt, which is costing you a lot of unnecessary money. There are many greedy people who are so desperate to qualify for large loans to allow them to purchase expensive articles which they cannot really afford. Therefore, when they budget for something, they foolishly work on their gross income instead of their net income.

This is not a wise thing to do because there are many deductions which has to be accounted for and this is why many people find themselves in all kinds of problems and they continually have to contend with creditors who are determined to recover their losses.

The Golden Rule of Personal Finance

The ultimate and the most important rule of personal finance is to never spend more than your income. This is the absolute golden rule of personal finance and those people who live by this rule will never run into financial problems.

For those people who do not abide by this simple, yet cardinal rule, they will always find themselves in one kind of financial turmoil or another. They will never achieve true financial well-being.

Never try to solve your own financial problems and especially if you have already tried many options without success. It is much better to obtain professional assistance from people who have experience in financial matters. One option which could be considered is a debt consolidation loan which could be used to repay all of your other outstanding debts so that you are no longer accountable to many creditors but only to one ultimate creditor. Many consumers have found that debt consolidation loans is a certain way to relieve a tremendous amount of financial pressure, allowing the debtor to change the way in which they look at their financial situation.

It Provides Greater Control Over Finances

Throughout history, it has been comprehensively proven that having some simple, yet effective personal financial rules can truly make a very large difference to your financial well-being. This has, however led to many financial rules which had an appearance of wisdom, but which ultimately has proven to be totally worthless.

There have been many people who have been abiding by a set of rules for many years and eventually, they have come to realize that those rules have provided them with no benefit or in some cases, extremely limited benefits and they would have been in the same position if they had not used those rules. Therefore, any person who is making use of a set of financial rules should constantly analyze those rules in order to determine whether they are truly effective and whether they are really making a significant difference to their financial well-being.

If it is found that a specific financial rule does not generate a substantial benefit, then it might be more beneficial to discard that rule. One financial principle which has been advocated for many years is the fact that leasing a car is more expensive than purchasing. There are many people who have come to doubt that assumption for various reasons. There are many people who are choosing the option of leasing a vehicle because it allows them to deduct such an expense from their taxes and this allows them financial benefits which could be invested in other critical areas.

Discarding Those Bad Rules

Another financial rule which has been advocated rather aggressively for some time is the supposed need for people to allow for at least six months of emergency funds in order to deal with a possible crisis situation. Once again, although this sounds like a critical necessity, the reality is that this rule may not be equally suitable for all people.

Some people may find in a specific financial situation that they may require substantially more resources while there may be other people who could get away with a lot less without drastically affecting their way of life. Every person therefore has to carefully analyze their financial expenses and cost of living and they will have to determine for themselves what will be a comfortable buffer in order to help them to deal with a possible emergency.

Eliminate Foolish Financial Rules

Most average consumers assume that investing in some lucrative scheme requires a large amount of money. The truth is that many successful financial investors have started with almost nothing, but they have reinvested every little profit until that investment has grown into a substantial profit. There are endless opportunities available to consumers and there are financial experts who will be more than willing to provide you with outstanding advice which may enable you to make very profitable investments.

Unfortunately, regardless of whether you are making use of well devised financial rules or whether you are following some that are not as effective, it still happens that people encounter financial difficulty at some point during their life. This is always a very uncomfortable situation to be in and how you respond to that situation is very important in order to ensure that you get through that situation in the best possible way. One financial option which has proven itself over and over again is the option to consolidate. It simply makes a whole lot of sense to put all of your bad debts in one basket which makes you accountable to only one creditor and doing so can relieve a whole lot of unnecessary financial pressure.