Fast Cash

What do you do when you need some cash fast? You know the story ... you get to the end of the month, and you're short a couple of hundred bucks. When you can't depend on your fairly oddparents to gift you with some fast cash, you can turn to the Internet. Yes indeed, anonymous strangers can come through, when those relatives turn down your plea for a fast cash loan. But you must be careful ...

You'll find a legion of companies that promise fast cash loans (often referred to as "payday loans" or "cash advances".) These companies are eager to loan you money, not because they are philanthropists, but because they stand to make a whole lot of cash from your misfortune.

I can't give you any company recommendations if you're at the end of your rope and are considering a payday loan or the like. I can only (strongly!) suggest that if that's the avenue that you must take, that you take extreme diligence in checking out the terms of the loan provider.

Look closely at those cash advance companies and figure out exactly how much that fast cash will cost you. Some lenders will put those terms right up front. Others will bury them deeply. It's almost like a game in some cases. "Guess how much this loan will cost!" Curiosity might have killed the cat, but careful consideration (and comparison) could save you some serious dough.

And while these firms love to crow about how fast you can get your $500, if you're a day late paying, watch out ...

Of course, the Internet brings us a wonderful alternative to payday loans. One that can not only help you scrape up that extra cash, but can also help you clean up your clutter.

That alternative is eBay.

If you're short on cash, you can quickly turn a bunch of extra stuff into a rent check. Take a look in the garage, basement, attic, and closets. No doubt you have things that you don't want or need anymore. Like the saying goes, one man's junk is another man's treasure.

The light went on here at ranchero indebto a few years back. I was cleaning out the garage when I unearthed a complete exhaust system for a Suzuki Samurai 4x4 (that we sold way back in 1992). Now I'm not sure why I held onto that stuff, other than the fact that I knew it was worth something. For ten years I couldn't bear to part with it. Or something like that. And then, on that magic day, I thought ... why not put the stuff up and see what happens.

And it did. Quickly. Within a couple of days, I had the cash in my PayPal account (which I quickly used to pay a bill). I didn't have to resort to borrowing any money. And I freed up a tiny bit of space in the garage, to boot... :)