While cash advance loans cannot be cheap by definition and are normally given at very steep fees … there are some cash advance online shops that occasionally offer 50% discount loan fees or even no fee loans (free advance loans) to first time customers. These loans require you to have a job and a checking account or a savings account with the direct deposit option set up, and most won’t require you to fax anything. These days, if you don’t have a job, you’re pretty much screwed from getting any cheap cash advance. Also, from January 1st, 2010, some states have new laws limiting the number of cash loans per year to 2 only, so in those states you’ll be refused a loan if applying for a third time within the same year. We’ve listed some of the cheapest cash advance loans below, but before you try to get one you should be aware of the following:

- most online loan shops will charge full fees for the original loan term regardless if you paid the loan off earlier.

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US President Barack Obama yesterday introduced a series of proposals that would limit the size of US banks and prevent them from engaging directly in some of their most profitable lines of business. The highlights of the regulations should they be approved and adopted, would place a limit on the total size for each bank, proportionate to their position in the overall market. In addition, banks would be prohibited from operating or investing in a hedge fund or private equity fund. The proposals also call for an end to proprietary – or “prop” – trading.

US President Barack Obama

Prop trading is the catch-all phrase that describes the practice of a bank using its own funds to trade its own “book”, for its own profit. Prop tradin

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The more money you pay in finance charges on your credit cards, the less you’re paying towards principal.  And the less you’re paying towards principal, the longer it will take you to get out of debt.  Fortunately, it’s not overly difficult to get your credit card interest rates reduced, and you don’t have to pay some bogus debt-reduction company to help you do it.

Who’s Eligible To Get Their Credit Card Interest Rate Reduced?

Consumers who have a lot of credit card debt and are beginning to have trouble keeping up with their payments are actually in the best position to get their rates lowered.  It’s counter-intuitive, but at this point you represent a major risk to the credit card company.  Most credit card companies would rather sacrifice a bit of their profit in order to prevent you from defaulting on your debt, since in that case they don’t get squat.

If your current interest rates are already pretty low by industry standards, you probably won’t have any luck getting them much lower.  It’s not a charity, after all.  Also, if your outstanding balance is relatively small or you don’t seem to be having any trouble making the minimum monthly payment, you won’t be seen as much of a financial risk and probably won’t be granted a lower rate.

Before You Call…

Gather your most recent credit card statements, paying close attention to what you’re currently paying in the way of interest and finance fees and how much your minimum payments are.  If you’ve missed any payments lately on any credit card or loan you’re taken out, make a note of it.  If you’ve been approved for any 0% balance transfer offers, keep those around too.  These may all come in handy when negotiating your rates with your current credit card company.

Make The Call

Dial the customer service number on the back of one of your credit card statements.  When the customer service representative takes the call, ask them if they have the ability to change interest rates on the account – chances are the first person you talk to won’t have the authority to make this type of change.  If they say they don’t have the authority, ask to speak to someone who does.

When you’ve gotten through the gatekeepers to the people who can actually make a decision, explain that you’re having a hard time keeping up with your payments and that you need to reduce the interest rate you’re paying to save yourself some money.  Let them know you’d prefer to keep your balance on their card for convenience but that you have another offer (low interest or 0% balance transfer offer) available that you could use if they can’t reduce your interest to 5% or so.  Make it clear the status quo isn’t an option:  you can’t afford the interest payments and you’re in danger of declaring bankruptcy if you don’t get something worked out soon.  Offer them three choices:  lower your rate, transfer the balance to another card, or declare bankruptcy.  Their choice.  Most times, lowering your rate will be the most financially rewarding for the company.

Then, sit back and listen to their response.  They’ll almost always offer a lower interest rate, but not necessary as low as you’ve asked for.  Thank them for whatever rate reduction they offer you.  If you’re happy with it, go ahead and accept it.  If not, your best plan of attack is to focus on paying down the debt as quickly as possible to reduce the interest you pay over time.  You can seek out balance transfer offers with lower interest rates or maybe get a personal loan to pay off the high interest credit card debt.

Then, start an emergency fund so you don’t find yourself in this situation again

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This one should fire you up one way or the other. I’ve been in many a heated debate about this very topic before. So let’s have some fun with it. I’m going to come out and say it – I HATE GRADUATE DEGREES. My hatred for them can be boiled down into three main reasons:

1. I hate how much they cost.
2. I hate the implicit pressure that comes from corporate America for people to slave away to earn that piece of paper if they want to get promoted and have a future career in management (even though those with further hands on experience typically excel in comparison).
3. I hate that I have seen those in management positions with an MBA perform at levels far below their much less numerous sub-MBA peers. Seeming

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Many consumers are lured into losing loans with a promise of no down payment, only to later find themselves in the treacherous and stressful position of being “upside down” in the loan. While paying nothing down – especially in today’s cash-strapped economy – is a great idea, it does not work so well in the real world of consumer finance. Let’s take the common example of an auto loan to help illustrate why it is a bad idea to rely on a loan that starts with no down payment.

Everyone knows that when you buy a new car, it starts to lose value or depreciate as soon as you drive it away from the dealership. But the auto loan does not shrink. So if you pay nothing down for a $20,000 car, for example, and once you get it home it is only worth $18,000 you just lost $2,000. Drive it fo Read more…

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