How can you get stuck in a cycle of debt with dangerous payday loans? The answer is simple. It is easy money. It is easy money that you can get quickly with no credit check; and when you can’t pay it on time or when you need more, it is easy to get again, and again, and again.

You can apply for a payday loan in a payday loan store. Payday loan stores are usually found in poor and minority neighborhoods or around military bases. The reason for being located in these areas is that the payday loan stores are targeted toward lower to middle income customers who from time-to-time need assistance with making ends meet.

More conveniently, you can apply for payday loans online. You can have an answer to your application within a few minutes. You can have money wired to you or deposited directly into your checking account as quickly as within two days.

Your payday loan is usually for two weeks and the amount you borrow, plus a fee is written against your next paycheck or a post-dated personal check. If you are unable to cover that check at the end of your two-week loan, you can get a “rollover” of another loan and fee against your next paycheck. You could even establish monthly payments, at a high interest of at least 300 percent up to over 1800 percent.

Some people will get payday loans and then find themselves stuck in the cycle of debt because they get loans at several different payday loan stores, trying to keep ahead of the payments. This creates a debt that is impossible to get out from under. They find they are spending their entire paychecks on paying interest payments on all their payday loans. They are not able to get the original loan amount itself paid off.

Payday loans are intended to help the middle class and the employed lower class when an emergency arises and they need some cash right away and they cannot get it from a bank or other lender. Payday loans are meant to be short-term loans. If it is paid off immediately, then you have only incurred a fee of about a$5 to $25 which would be cheaper than a bank overdraft fee of $39 if you’d had to write a bad check.

If you mismanage your money and you are unable to pay off the payday loan right away; or if you make the decision to apply for several payday loans, then you will be caught up in that dangerous cycle of debt that payday loans can get you into. You may never find your way out. You may end up in bankruptcy court. You could lose your home, your car, your family and friends.

Those people who fall into the trap of payday loans where they have to spend their paydays going from one payday loan store to another, paying interest payments, are following an addictive path of credit abuse that is similar to those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. The payday loan addict needs help.

The first step to breaking the cycle of payday loan debt is to stop getting the payday loans. A not-for-profit credit counselor may be able to give some advice on what you can do to get yourself out of the cycle of debt created by payday loan abuse. You can cut corners, get extra work, borrow from a friend or family member, and pay more than the minimum payments. It could take you years to get all your payday loans paid off.

A payday loan should be used as a last resort. If you just want a little extra cash for a vacation or a wide-screen television, for instance, getting a payday loan is not a wise choice. If a close family member dies or you have a sudden illness, a one-time short-term payday loan might be your only option. Just make it a one-time thing and make sure you find a way to pay it off immediately. The fees and interest rates over time is what will get you on that dangerous cycle of the payday loan debt.