A: There are several options out there.

Payday loans are only one option out of many that are at your disposal when you find yourself facing a large, possibly unexpected bill. Even those who have a structured budget that they use faithfully will find themselves in need of extra funds from time to time. There is just no way to plan for the furnace to die or your car to breakdown. When you do find yourself facing one of these emergencies, however, you should exhaust all your alternatives before applying for a loan.

Savings

This is the best way to avoid ever needing to apply for a payday loan. If you don’t already have an emergency fund, you should start one today. An emergency fund is just what it sounds like; it’s a savings account (hopefully one with a decent interest rate) where you keep some cash to use on a rainy day. It is recommended that you keep enough money in your account to cover at least two months worth of living expenses.

If you are worried that you don’t have a lot of money to be hiding away in a savings account, you might want to consider setting up an electronic transfer that happens automatically every month when you get paid. People who use direct deposit to receive their paychecks often are given the option of having a set amount of each check deposited into a second account. Setting aside $50 from each check will allow you to start saving without even thinking about it. If you never see the money in your main bank account to start with, you probably won’t even miss it.

If you’re still worried, consider this: If you are paid weekly and put $50 a week from each paycheck into a savings account, after 3 months of saving you would have $600 and that’s before interest! Creating an emergency fund for yourself and your family is the best way to avoid having to apply for a payday loan.

Salary advances

If you find yourself really struggling, talk to your employer. Your boss is human too, and might be willing to advance you a week or two of salary to help you out of a pinch. However, be careful that you don’t become too dependent on salary advances as your employer will more than likely stop giving them to you if you ask for too many.

Talking to your creditors to set up special payment plans

You might think that this would never work, but if you are willing to spend the time finding the right people to talk to, you might be pleasantly surprised. Creditors want you to pay them back. If you call and are completely honest about your situation, you might find that they are willing to create a payment schedule that you can meet. Don’t be afraid to call, the worst thing that will happen is that they will tell you that they can’t help and then you will be back where you were to start with.