May was indeed a Merry Month for me here in the Home Office. I hope everyone’s May was as abundant as mine, but from the statistics, it is clear that the recession is still dragging on for so many people. On the last day of every month I take an hour off working and run my business figures across my mental screen to see if I am still ahead of my creditors. The rest of the world is having a rough time and the number of small, medium, large and giant corporations going belly-up is still on the increase. General Motors has gone from the world’s largest corporation to the world’s largest failure.

My personal record for May

Loans

Number of applications to the Personal Money Store for a Personal Loan or a Cash Advance: 0

Sales

Article writing

Gambling articles: 4

Insurance articles: 35

Financial articles: 30

Translations

Assembly instruction page for gadget: 1 – (Hated every minute of it.)

Painting department

Watercolors: 1 started and finished

Acrylics: 1 completed

Income

When it is all paid it will get me through the month of June as long as there are no major surprises. These could range from a car break-down to a washing machine explosion, both designed to wreck any household budget drastically and immediately.

The client who ordered the translation probably won’t pay - I delivered the work in 2 days by email and I have received no response. This is one of the risks of taking work that comes from an unknown source –

• you are offered the work,
• you are excited at the prospect of a new client,
• you do the work in a rush to impress,
• you do a great job to impress even more,
• you send the work,
• you never receive a response,
• emails sent to the same address come back from the Daemon Mailer with a note that says ‘uh-uh, this email address doesn’t exist.’

Expenses

A home-based writer has few expenses. All the usual household expenses apply and unless one prints work, there is no need to buy ink or paper. I splurged and bought a new 22 inch computer screen and I am enjoying it. I figured that if sitting in front of the computer is my life, I may as well make it as comfortable as possible. On the painting side, I made the mistake of using my favorite watercolor brush to work in acrylics and that ruined the brush. So I bought a new one and an extra one in a different size. Buying good brushes is no joke-they’re expensive. I want to write it off on my taxes but I’m not sure if the IRS has me down as an Old Master or a Sunday afternoon painter.

June

Well, Hi June! Let’s take a look at the prospects. On the article writing front I hope everything will remain stable and maybe even increase. Some months I receive orders for extra gambling articles and news items but this sector is having a very bad time. I am psyching myself up into starting a new painting which requires some energy, time and small amounts of money in photos, prints etc. and getting my main model, a grand-daughter, to sit still for a few minutes while I take pictures.

I hope the recession numbers improve so that all will have a good June.

Age

I added 1 month. We all did.

Years back in the mists of the computer age, I came across, or someone told me about Yahoo, then the latest buzzword in hi-tech, whatever that meant then as well. I investigated Yahoo and discovered that I could design my own home page on my computer, meaning that every time I switched the computer on, my own page with its personal and private information would be there containing everything that I wanted to see. So I went to work on it.

My homepage

It has my small stock portfolio which is supposed to update automatically every 10 minutes but has been stuck for the past 6 months. It has the latest world headlines, saving me from visiting the newspapers. It has the weather in case I don’t know if I’m blowing hot or cold and lets me check the weather in any city in the world; it has the lotto results which I don’t need because I never win, something on the latest books and the movies, and so on.

The horoscope

At the time I put my homepage together, Yahoo offered a link to a Horoscope site and I thought why not? I added it and have almost never looked at it since. When it comes to things like horoscopes, I prefer to take a Payday Loan and go to the bookstore and buy the most reliable reference book I can find on the subject. It is usually the most expensive one as well.

Pisces (2/19-3/20)

Yesterday, for some unknown reason, I read my horoscope on my homepage. Yes, I know what all you guys are yelling – there is a reason! Here’s what I read:

“Add some personal touches to any and all writing you do today otherwise, your creative writing skills are in danger of rusting away! Even a little flourish to your signature on that check to the phone company says something about you. Don’t wait until you are asked to write a novel or wedding speech. You have to try to integrate your creativity in absolutely everything you do, including emails and form letters.”

That’s it.

Questions

First of all, how does this horoscope – or its writer – know that I write?

Second question, why did ‘it’ pick that day? Isn’t today’s writing also in danger of ‘rusting away’?

I hope you know what you are doing with all these messages you are sending me, I depend on my creative ability in many ways, and here you are saying that if I don’t this or that everything may fall apart. Thanks you for your advice. I assure you that I work very hard on ‘integrating my creativity’ into absolutely everything I do, including emails and form letters. I hope I’m getting better at it all the time.

I was thrown

I have to admit that the short horoscope threw me in many ways. It came as a surprise and as a shock. It did a great job on me and I immediately deleted 3 articles that I thought were not up to my personal level of satisfaction.

The home page

Now, how do I inject a little creativity into my home page and get things, mainly the stock exchange, moving again?

Depending on your personal circumstances, funds these days can be tight. We are going to discuss whether payday loans are an appropriate choice in different circumstances. Primarily, most Americans have access to credit like credit cards, and some even have access to small loans from family or friends to get them through a tough spot. If this is you, then payday lending websites are likely not on your favorites list. That is typical for most people who do have other sources of short term credit and loans.

What about those who do not have the privilege of credit?

Many people, especially in this economy, are having a rough go of making ends meet. Are the families of these people any less deserving than those who have the privilege of accessing credit when their normal income fails to cover the budget? Some people actually think so, which is a real shame and somewhat of a shock to the conscience. Why would those with great incomes want to limit access to short term installment loans and payday loans?

Big business plays a major role in the media’s negative reporting on payday loans

If you are an average family you are likely very appreciative that gas prices have gone down in recent weeks. It is a relief that you don’t need to scramble to come up with gas money. For many, the high gas prices did not even touch their lives except when they heard others complaining about it. Most of the people who have control over what the media and the news report about the different lending options are influenced by large banks. Do banks have any influence in your personal opinions? Unimaginable, but those who seem to be living a decent life are usually in a job position where banks have a direct or indirect influence on their “official opinion.”

How banks and the media get into your home

Again, there are two types of people we are talking about here. The first is the average family that struggles from time to time with bills and the other family who didn’t even notice that gas prices were outrageous except in observation only. Those who make decisions about what goes in the news and what is on TV are paid by someone. Large banks control huge advertising budgets and therefore can influence what makes it into the news just by simple the principle of conflict of interest. The media has to balance the interests of their readers or viewers and their own pocket books.

Media favors the industries with the largest advertising budgets

As the average family, how is your perception of the payday loan industry shaped? Have you directly ever gotten a loan to avoid a budget emergency? Is your opinion based on direct experience or based on what you have heard. We all know where “they” got their expert opinions. Most people repeat pretty much everything they hear in person, on TV, radio, or what they read in the paper. The sad fact is that most opinion is influenced one way or another strongly against payday loans by the competitors of the payday loan industry.

Why are banks against the payday loan and short term installment loan industries?

Have you ever gotten 5 overdraft fees in one day? Have you ever been late on a car or house payment? How much did you pay? How long did you borrow the money for? I seriously doubt you paid less than a payday loan would cost. Banks rake in billion of dollars every year on these types of crazy fees on top of fees. Here is an interesting statistic, 60% of credit union profit comes from fees. The banking industry is one of the most powerful influences in the world on government policy and media opinion.

It is just competitive business tactics

The banks are not actually sicking the media on the payday loan industry because they are trying to stop a certain class of American’s from retaining their rights to short term borrowing options. They just don’t want you borrowing from anyone else besides them. Making sense yet? Big banks know that those who try to balance check books but also use debit cards are highly likely to mess up and overdraft their account every so often. They count on overdraft fees for existence. As a matter of fact, without these fees almost all banks would immediately go bankrupt and close down. The threat from payday loan companies is a matter of life and death for many big banks, especially those who wasted billions in bad investments and all the other garbage you hear in the news that they have been up to.

Now that you know the truth, are payday loans appropriate for you?

What choices you make about your private financial affairs is up to you. If you have read this far then you are likely an informed consumer anyway. It is important to weigh your needs and determine if you need extra cash to get by or if you can do without it. In the end, after time passes, doing without rather than getting a loan usually works out for the best. Payday loans are not really meant for convenience shopping or instant gratification purchases. If you are serious about protecting your family’s best interests financially, you will avoid unnecessary use of credit no matter what type it is. However, there are many situations where online payday loans can save you tremendous grief.

Payday loans can prevent family tragedies

There is nothing worse than having your family suffer unnecessarily. That is why the payday loan industry exists today. When you are going to have to go without food due to unexpected emergency bills or for some other reason you become short on funds, it is a huge privilege to have access to getting money directly deposited to your account in just a few hours. No questions asked! Your car could get impounded right after you paid all your bills, you could have a medical emergency, or any other situation you can imagine. If it were up to certain people you would only have access to 100 times more expensive forms of lending from them exclusively.

Everyone knows that using credit should be done responsibly

You know that money is to be used wisely. Common sense should let you know if payday loans or cash advances are right for your particular family budget. Payday loans are not drugs that make people sick if they don’t keep using them. Big banks would have you believe they are close though. The point is you know the truth and if you have read this far, you now see payday loans in the correct light. Keep the media from controlling your view point on matters of personal finance and credit. For those of use who have avoided emergency financial situations with these type of short term loans, we are happy to enjoy the privilege of accessing payday loans online.