No matter who you are and how carefully you plan, life just has a way of throwing curveballs at you. Maybe your daughter needs a new pair of glasses. Or you son needs one of his fillings replaced. Or the roof will suddenly start leaking out of nowhere.
While for some, these might only be minor issues, for others, this could be enough to put them on the brink of disaster. However, the last thing you should do is despair; there may still be some solutions to your issues and ways to get over this rough patch. Here are a few things that you can do to deal with unexpected expenses.
Look at Alternative Financing Options
If you have available credit, and your utilisation rate is not too high, then you can always use them. But this isn’t something everybody can do; unfortunately, too many have very limited credit options at their disposal due to a variety of reasons.
This is when you should be looking at alternatives. Do you still have a regular source of income? Then you should consider going for a payday loan. You can apply for payday loans online in minutes on sites like LoanPig, and as long as you can prove your income over a set period of time, you should be eligible. These services will make the money available quickly, sometimes in as little as 24 hours after approval.
However, it’s very important that you go with a service that will compare prices for you. Some will be both direct lenders or brokers – you can compare your options here. These are great options as they’ll be able to find the best deal for you, and will often have very competitive deals themselves.
Pull from Your Emergency Fund, or Build One
The notion of an emergency fund is something a lot of people are familiar with, but only get to when it’s too late. Ideally, you should have around three months of living expenses saved up at the very least. If you have an emergency fund, great – now is the time to put it to use.
But if you don’t, make sure that you make it your responsibility to build one as soon as possible. Reduce your expenses, and put your savings towards this fund. This could be by entertaining at home more often, buying in bulk and investing in a chest freezer, or learning how to cook to avoid dining out and overspending on prepared foods. Also, make sure that you have a savings account set up that will automatically deduct money from your pay checks if you need extra help.
Borrow from Your Family
Sometimes, you have to swallow your pride and ask your friends or relatives for money. This may be difficult to some, as you may have burned bridges with some of them, and haven’t talked in a long time. Make sure that you are straightforward with them however, and don’t try to sugar coat anything. If they reject you, fine, but you have nothing to lose by asking.
These few tips should help you get out of a tough situation and get back on your feet. Once you are, however, make sure that this doesn’t happen again, and start building a solid cushion that you can fall back on.