Loans for Everyday Bills
Evaluate whether you have a temporary timing gap or an ongoing shortfall before adding a loan payment to your everyday bills.
Can a Personal Loan Help With Everyday Bills?
Loans for everyday bills, or living expenses, are typically considered personal loans for paying bills such as utilities, groceries, and other household-related expenses. While these loans may help with a temporary shortfall, the bills continue coming. This makes the reason for the shortfall important, not the amount of loan funds you may qualify for.
SlickCashLoan's personal loans page outlines the overall loan request process. This page outlines whether another payment may be accommodated in your household budget.
Separate a Timing Gap From an Ongoing Shortfall
A timing gap occurs when you have a bill due before receiving your paycheck. An ongoing shortfall occurs when your regular income does not meet your basic obligations and regular payments. A loan can move a payment into the future, but a loan will not address your ongoing shortfall.
Make a list of your projected paychecks and cash inflows and cash outflows over the next two months. Focus on the lowest account balance over the cash inflow gap. Consider asking to move a due date to address a timing gap without loan costs. If expenses exceed income every month, focus on assistance, payment arrangements, and budget changes first.
Contact Providers Before Borrowing
Contact the company you owe for options before you take on any debt. They may offer extensions, payment plans, or a different due date. Confirm any fee and how the arrangement affects service. You need to be sure the smaller payment will not put you in the same situation the next month.
USAGov offers great utility bill resources that include ways to get help paying bills for energy or even bills for phone and internet. Their benefit finder can help you locate more services that can help. Resources are different for each program. It is different for each person and changes often.
Work Out the Amount You Actually Need
| Write Down | Include |
|---|---|
| Bills that need to be paid before your next paycheck | Amount, due date, penalty for late payment. |
| Money already accessed | Cash you can use without leaving other vital bills unpaid. |
| Confirmed arrangements | Any agreed extensions or assistance, date, and cost. |
| The remaining gap | The amount still needed after adjustments. |
| Future loan payments | Payments you will need to pay in addition to your regular bills throughout the period of the loan. |
A borrowing average is not a useful target for your household. Asking to borrow more than the remaining gap can result in added interest to your loan. A fee that is deducted from your loan can leave you short, so be sure to confirm the amount that you will receive.
Test the Payment Against an Ordinary Month
If your take-home pay is $2600 and your essential expenses and debt payments are $2450, that leaves you $150 to cover possible loan or unexpected expense payments. If loan payments were $120, you would only have $30. If you were able to pay the loan in a perfect month, there is not much leeway there for any other expense or paycheck reduction. These are hypothetical budget numbers. They are not loan offers.
A loan payment calculator can give you an estimate for a fixed-rate payment. However, actual payments will be determined by the lender's payments and fees. Make sure you enter all information requested by the calculator. Remember that the stated interest rate and the APR can differ when fees apply.
Lenders may review your income, credit history, and existing obligations. Approving a loan does not take the place of your checks and balances budget. Think of additions to your budget such as insurance, maintenance to your vehicle, school expenses, etc.
Compare Costs and Collateral
Read the documents and notes thoroughly. Understand the APR, the total finance charge, the amount you will receive, the payment frequency, the total of payments, and late payment and early payment provisions, if any. When comparing different proposals, don't just base your judgment on the monthly payment; compare the total cost of the repayment.
Check if your offer is secured or unsecured. A secured loan means the asset you pledged is at risk if you default on the loan. When you are borrowing to cover your bills, you should pay particular attention to the secured loan.
Using SlickCashLoan's Request Service
SlickCashLoan may send your info to third-party lenders for review, and SlickCashLoan does not give loans. One of these lenders may request more info, take a look at your credit and other financial info, and decide if they will make you a loan. There are no guarantees as to whether you'll get matched with a lender or if a loan will be approved and funded.
Look through the request disclosures and the terms of any offer you get before you accept it. You should also consider the impact the loan payment will have on your budget. If the payment you'll need to make to repay the loan will result in a shortage, you should decline the loan and try negotiating with your service providers. Repeatedly borrowing for the same bills is a sign that you should get help to create a budget and manage your finances with the help of a credit counseling service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a loan a good way to cover groceries every month?
If you have to repeatedly borrow for groceries, you'll inevitably have to repeatedly pay it back. You should consider different ways to reduce the cost of groceries or to get groceries for free each month so you don't put yourself in that position. A loan to cover one month of groceries still needs a repayment plan that leaves enough for future groceries.
Can a due-date change replace the need for a loan?
If it's only a matter of time and you have enough income to pay your bill, then it's possible. You should ask your service provider if you can change the due date, and if so, when it will be effective, and if you still have to pay under the current due date.
What if I already owe several loans?
Take into consideration every payment you currently have. Contact your lenders early if you think you'll have issues paying back your loans. A nonprofit credit counseling service may be able to help you decide on the best path for repayment.