Well, the emergency that caused you to have to go to the payday loan is over. Now you find that you keep having to reloan just to keep even. The fees for payday loans are very high. Here are a few tips to help you see daylight.

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[edit] Steps

Don't panic. You have to quit beating yourself up for getting in this 'mess'. It happened. You weren't prepared. The best thing you can do now is to recover, and then make sure you are prepared for next time.
Make sure that you buy back your check or ensure that there is money in the bank when the check clears. Allowing those checks to bounce will make a less than good situation a WHOLE lot worse. Some of the businesses want you to pick up your check in person, and others will process it through your bank if you don't with no penalties.
Figure out how much you owe, and how much you will owe over time. Set up a table in a spreadsheet and list the principal (the amount you originally took out), the fees or interest, and the total at the end of each loan period.
- While getting a payday loan is much better than bounced check charges, they are still quite expensive^[1].
Pay as much as you can, as soon as you can. Even if you have set up a payment plan, do your best to pay more than that. Any bit more you can pay will shorten the loan duration and the total fees.
Set up a payment plan. Most, if not all, businesses have a way to set up a payment plan after you have reloaned a few times. Find out what the requirements are for that option and make sure you do what you need to do to set it up.
- Calculate how long this plan will take to pay down the loan and how much this payment plan will cost you over the life of the loan.
Start 'loaning down'. This refers to another way of making your loans smaller each time.
Make up a budget. It can be simple. Start with a blank piece of paper and write all your monthly income in one column. Write all your monthly expenses in a second column. Consult last month's bills and make your best guess if there are things you don't know. Then, look for places you can cut back. The difference between your income and expenses is what you will be able to apply to your loan.
Raise extra money if you can. If you can work overtime, do so now. Hold a garage sale, do odd jobs in your time off, cash in your penny jar, and do anything else you can think of, so long as it's legal. Ask for a raise at work if you haven't lately. Apply all the extra money you can towards paying down the loan as quickly as you can.
Cut expenses. Cook your own food at home, and choose spaghetti rather than steak. Bag your lunch. Turn off the lights and the computer whenever you aren't using them. Cancel your cable TV. Shop around for insurance and cell phone plans. Put off large purchases. Shop with a shopping list. Read the article Save Money for many more ideas. Again, apply any extra money toward paying down your loan.
Build a cash cushion. Pay off the loan first, then set aside at least a little bit of money to make sure you never need to take out a loan again. Start putting some money in a savings account and paying down other debt. Even $10 per week could be $520 in a year, but try to go beyond that if you can.
- Use the new budgeting and savings techniques you have learned from paying back the loan.
- If you still have other expensive debt, such as credit card debt, now is the time to start paying that down. You can still set aside a little savings so that you don't have to go further into debt should something unexpected arise.
- Set a savings goal. Your initial savings goal may be equal to the amount you borrowed or equal to some number of paychecks. Put a specific time on it based on how much you can set aside each month or pay period.
Pay yourself back. If you "borrow" against your cash cushion, increase your savings rate until it is paid back at least to its previous level.
Avoid having emergencies. Not all emergencies can be foreseen, of course, but can a larger purchase be put off until you have saved some extra for it? Can you keep your routine car maintenance up to date so that you're less likely to have to pay for major repairs?

[edit] Tips

Learn your alternatives^[2]

[edit] Warnings

A typical rate for payday loans is US$7.50 for every 50 dollars, so a loan of 500 dollars would cost you $75. Continuing to 're-loan' for a year will cost you $1950 plus the principal of the loan which is a total of 2450 for a 500 dollar loan. Basically, you are paying 390% APR for the use of your own money. Look for other alternatives before getting or renewing a payday loan.