Declutter with a Payday Loan

For some people, decluttering is free

Some people are so overwhelmed by the clutter in their homes that they need guidance and advice to tackle the problem. They don’t know where or how to start, so they focus on baby steps. They spend just five minutes a day tackling a randomly chosen mountain of stuff. Cleaning out a closet or clearing off a desk is considered a victory. These people can declutter for free. They don’t need payday loans to achieve their laudable goals.

For others, decluttering is a financial issue

But other people have clutter problems that extend beyond the sanctity of their homes. These people – and I am one of them — pay to store their clutter in off-site storage units. The irony for some people who store their clutter offsite is that they’d like to get rid of the stuff, but they can’t afford to. I’m thinking that a payday loan may be a sensible solution for this kind of madness.

My friend has a problem

I have a friend who has been paying $100 every month for over five years for a storage unit. She got the unit when she downsized after her oldest kid went off to college. The unit is just a couple miles from her home, and she’d like to get rid of it and stop paying. But she works two jobs six days a week and still has two young kids at home. Finances are tight, and she could be making much better use of that $100-a-month payment she’s been making to the storage company. She wants to get rid of most of her stored stuff, but there are a few sentimental items she wants to sort out and bring home. It would take her two full days to do this. She’s fairly new at both her jobs and has not accrued any vacation or personal days.

But here’s the saving grace: both of her employers will allow her to schedule personal days off without pay. And that’s where the payday loan comes in. I suggested that my friend could save money by getting a $250 installment loan and taking two days off to clear out her storage unit. After making two or three installment payments instead of storage unit payments, she’d be in the clear and saving $100 a month. And she’d have the added benefit of being “decluttered.”

And I have a bigger problem

It’s easy to give advice like this to a friend, but harder to accept it for myself. I need to do the same thing. I have a storage unit 350 miles from my home. I pay $60 a month for it. I’ve had it for over 12 years. Yes, I’m ashamed. But I can explain. Twelve years ago, I made a cross-country move from Boston to Seattle. I sold or gave away all of my household possessions except what would fit in a small storage unit. I moved to Seattle, as planned. But circumstances changed, and I only stayed a few months. Then I moved to Wyoming, and from there to Utah. Then to California, and from there to Idaho. And that’s my excuse. I’ve been fickle.

I’m going to consider saving money with a payday loan

I own a house now and don’t need the storage unit. I’d like to go get my stuff and bring it home, but like my friend, I have a new job.  I have not accrued any days off, but my employer is flexible about unpaid days off.  Like a lot of people right now, I don’t have credit cards and I live pretty much hand-to-mouth. I need to rent a moving truck, go get my stuff, bring it home, and start saving that $60 every month. It would cost $350 to do it, and I can’t quite afford that. But if I could get rid of the $60 a month rental payment, I could afford to get a $250 cash advance and pay it off in a two or three installments. I’m going to consider the advice I gave to my friend. In the meantime, I’ve got to go write another check to the storage company.