A payday advance can make sense as a short term arrangement to tide you over a financial rough spot. Say, you have to make emergency repairs on your car so that you can keep showing up at your office and continue to earn a salary.

Everyone has been in situations where cash was tight and there was no easy way of raising money immediately. That is where a payday advance can be of use.

However, you should try to avoid rolling over a payday loan. Why? When you first borrow from a lender, you agree to repay the original amount plus a fee when your paycheck arrives. If you choose to roll over the loan, you will be charged fresh fees. If you keep rolling the loan over, the fees accumulate. This can quickly pull you under.

There are companies that will give you cash in just a few hours or even just an hour. But in general, you will get a better deal if you opt to receive cash the next business day. The lender knows you are in a real bind and so the rates are accordingly higher. Plus, some of the standard checks can't be performed in one hour, so the company charges a higher rate to account for the higher risk they incur.

While the cost of a payday advance can be high, overdraft protection programs and bounced check fees can be even higher. This type of short term loan can be justified, provided you use it with caution.

Discover how you can get loans fast even if you have bad credit.