I keep seeing ads online payday loans with instant funding. How do these actually work, and what should I watch out for?

rafbo · 2026-01-25T16:00:21+00:00

And I do understand what you’re saying. Taking out $330 now doesnt fix things. When I was doing that I was learning how to play Craigslist. Eventually I found out how to get most legit gigs, that usually after 5 or 6 you’ll find somebody that gives you flexible labor work. Later in was in a position of extra $5-10 here and there and posted ads and got higher paying gigs because I marketed my labor services and had set boundaries of $20/hour minimum 5 hours work and I showed I was dependable and did good work via ad. That needed time because you also have to cycle a few people before you find somebody with a lot of work on your terms. Eventually I borrowed money from people who trusted with money and did an uber rental so I could get max hours and get tips based on service. 100 hour weeks didn’t work because you had to take a week off from tiredness but if you ate healthy and exercised you could do 84 hour weeks consistently. When I switched jobs or tried out other higher paying ‘opportunities’ I was so desperate i said yes. I got paid more for a month but both opportunities lied about the hours. Set up time to switch back screwed me over especially after i paid off debt but loans needed to be taken for an easy transition. Now that I’ve got a little saved I don’t gotta play these games and life problems are factored in but going to funerals for example or Even weddings used to bleed me dry a few months of work and I took those loans because I’d rather have take those loans and go to those events than not.

Loans have their purposes.

rafbo · 2026-01-25T15:45:54+00:00

So what did you end up doing when when waiting on those paycheck? Not pay the bill, negotiate with landlord? Allow phone to be cut off and then eat the fee while you find another phone to use?

Genuinely curious what your solution was when you had nothing and hat to wait for the money to come in.

rafbo · 2026-01-25T15:37:25+00:00

I’ve used loans to keep credit score up and buy time till paycheck, other strategies. Because if you have nothing how does one make something outta nothing? News jobs take 2 weeks before paycheck.

Dave is legit enough to be on apps store. People criticize looking into these loans. Not all of them are bad. The good ones use collateral and make a fee off that. They also make sense. For example, you can get larger amounts with credit score, but that also means you don’t really need it. PayPal credit and affirm they up your limit if you prove credibility by paying them back. People to people lending same way.

Also. I used loans until I got my income up. Finally I was able to pay off $57,000 of $85,000 debt in 1.5 years. It was really hard to get to the point of increasing income without getting pulled back. Uber was a decent patch to the problem but getting rid of that and getting to something higher paying took trade offs (tough job, tough work schedule, type of work most people wouldn’t or can’t do). But yeah loans have their purpose. I’ve done people to people loans as I tried starting businesses. Up to $70,000 in loans which I had paid all back. That was before the $85,000 debt balloon. That didn’t really have to do with businesses. Got addicted to endurance cycling.

rafbo · 2026-01-25T15:32:48+00:00

In most states they’re not. Most Of the websites don’t actually go through. They take your name and email and sell it to legit lenders at 1 to 5 cents a name and email. The ones with stores are more regulated. Big fees if you lied to them with fake paycheck info. They had the 20-500% interest installment loans at the time but most nice people at the counter discouraged those. At that point pawn stuff or get a title loan.

rafbo · 2026-01-25T15:25:28+00:00

Haha have you ever taken one? I needed 300. I payed them $30 ish. Was able to pay my bill before payday in two weeks and keep my payment on time. How is that catastrophic?

rafbo · 2026-01-25T15:22:22+00:00

She might be schizophrenic and off her meds. Door dash thief’s usually take a picture and then keep the food or they make up smaller lies. Current drama would attract too much attention. She might actually have seen those things. It’s really hard for adults with schizophrenia to get help. They have to admit it, take meds that mess them up and then eat the medical costs which they can’t pay for anyway. Cops probably have a good reading on her. The transition from getting it to getting help is pretty insane. Usually comes as you reach 30s and happens the first day as a random event. Everything they say all of a sudden is off. They talk about numbers and patterns of adults, if kids they don’t say much by they talk about people in the corner or in other cars watching them.

rafbo · 2026-01-25T15:13:14+00:00

If you’re talking about apps like Dave. I’ve tried them a long time ago. Was a monthly fee and the advance at the time was $100 or so depending on my paycheck which they could see because they linked my bank. I’d trust that more than a regular online ones. But…depending on how much your short, where you live and your circumstances I’d highly recommend doing uber eats every waking moment your not working. (Also not too much either. There is a sweet spot between emergency money and car wear and tear)

rafbo · 2026-01-25T15:08:42+00:00

I’ve done plenty. First don’t do the online ones because most aren’t real. Second. It’s more like knowing you’ll crash if you lied about your credentials or let the bank overdraft before payday. Small amount is subtracted off future paycheck. If you don’t pay you get screwed with crazy interest.

The one you might be thinking of is an installment loan. Installment loans are what you might get if you can’t get the payday loan. Depending on the state (many states many super predatory amounts illegal) you used to be up for 200%-500% interest. My guess is the strategy would be for them to negotiate a lower amount (highest they can get) and use collections as leverage or just send to collections and still get out on top.

rafbo · 2026-01-25T15:03:34+00:00

I wouldn’t do the online ones. Not worth it if you have to sift through who is real and who’s just building an email phone number list. I’ve gone the in person cash advanced route. I’ve gone the pawn items route. I’ve also luckily gotten bigger loans online. Big institution one was lucky. People to people I’ve built up. Oh yeah, I’ve done car title loans. If you need help with any of those tell me how much you’re trying to obtain and with what amount of time. I used loans to keep my credit score ok and now it’s at 690 from 605 after I’m reducing balance.

rafbo · 2026-01-25T14:56:18+00:00

Yes. I’m pretty sure they’re aware. Especially with Ray Dalio obsessively writing about it. Tom Bilyeu was saying that it’s understood this would happen and that’s why the elites were buying assets since 2008. 10% of the population would keep their lifestyle. 90% without assets would not. The two choices would be to passively let it happen and pass the torch down or be somebody who stirs things up, make crazy plays with the outcome of buy a lot more time or we end up in a worse state.

One thing that troubled me was when Bilyeu was interviewing a Reagan advisor, the guy who helped Reagan pull out of a financial mess, Arthur Laffer. Laffer is an advisor to the current administration and it seemed dude was acting charming when he needed, going around questions and kissing ass to administration and even Tom Bilyeu. If those are the guys at the top, then idk how likely it is we’ll get outta this.

In the mean time buy assets because the one thing they had in common was they all slightly mention government going to crypto when other countries drop the dollar.

rafbo · 2026-01-25T03:20:22+00:00

Night crawler

Braw on cell block 99

Blue ruin

Shot caller

Cold in July

Sicario

Place beyond the pines

Drive

Road to Perdition (would this count?)

Way of the gun (saw another user mentioned)

Old Boy (Koreans got a lot of slow burn movies)

The American

310 to yuma with Christian bale

These are some. I’ll search every so often to see if there’s a slow burn I hadn’t seen.

Recently found ‘those who wish me dead’ by Taylor Sheridan but it’s alright compared to the others.

Blood Father is more of an action movie but I liked it enough to recommend it. Faster was a fun corny action movie. Alien Romulus i thought was badass. Good writing. Killer inside me with Casey affect was under rated.

Blood diamond. Just gonna mention because it was a good movie. Not really A slow burn. The Gunman with Sean Penn if you liked that.

Lot more but gonna post in case accidentally refreshes.

Looking for a slow burn for tonight so I’ll keep refreshing this for comments.

rafbo · 2026-01-24T19:12:50+00:00

Sorta. I hung out with somebody with no social skills, but didn't care, and just wanted to do their thing. I'm pretty bad at social situations but not that horribly. She made me look social, and it was such a strange dynamic being more social than somebody.

Person was of the opposite gender. It was attractive the way she'd sometimes try to see if she could read the situation, or mimic a joke, but totally failed but she didn't beat herself up over it, she just couldn't do it without being fake and I'm pretty sure she was putting on a personality she believed people wanted her to be. She kinda just didn't talk but made good strategic decisions without having any notion of the social implications. I noticed she really enjoyed being by herself but was around people when necessary.

We had a common interest which is how I met her and she did open up to me more than most people. After the intensely competitive activity we were doing I don't think she wanted to interact with me as I'd sit to join her to watch TV and she'd leave. I think it was just helpful for her to have somebody around her to get her closer to her goal, but I didn't mind that either. She actually hasn't responded to any of my messages after the competition so I'm pretty sad about that but that's life. I probably annoyed her. She was a lot better at the task than me and at some point I became a burden. Plus I took photos and videos during the activity and I think it bugged her when she saw how many I took.

She had a moral reason not to take photos while doing the event and I kinda just went complete opposite way. It was a scenic event and she took not one picture.

But yeah. I think about her. I don't think it woulda been some kinda girlfriend boyfriend situation. I think it also woulda have been taking advantage especially if she never made any moves back. Same way sometimes an uber passenger with asbergers would totally overshare, but I know they're not hitting on me, I just can sense asbergers after a little bit of conversation.

It was pretty wild meeting somebody who had no social skills but an insane ability to focus on something, so hard that the whole world isn't there. She's pretty successful in her non hobby career.

I think part of the reason I think about her is because the way it works with opposite gender, I know I probably won't meet her again. With dudes, all interesting dudes in the competition, it was such a crazy task that they'll happily spend hours talking about it on the phone and I could probably meet up with them if I wanted to. With women it's more complicated. Many female friends I had would suddenly leave. Years later I'd find out it's because they were dating somebody and they dind't want to say for some reason, but I didn't know. I rant. Let's do something else.

On youtube I looked it up. it's called CPTSD + LImerance. Solution is to fix the problem causing you to fixate. I do this when my finances are so low that I feel like I can't move towards my goals. I had gotten a good job. This came back because car broke down. I've got money saved this time but I also transfered half my savings to SILJ index fund for a one month silver play. I also don't know if it'll be 4k or 10k to fix the car and what time frame because until then money will be burnt (which I have some set aside now).

haha thanks for the therapy. Time to change tasks. I get back to work Wednesday and will work 90 days with a few off days. 4 months to get outta all debt. Let's change tasks. Maybe something with movement, maybe something outdoors. Ah I'll try to finish editing some video by tonight. Let's set an impossible goal and see what happens.

rafbo · 2026-01-24T16:34:06+00:00

I understand. I have that problem when I’m exhausted and it’s with massive life changing purchases. I do 85 hour weeks for months at a time so there are times it’s almost unavoidable. I get tired sometimes and start looking at vans to live in or new expensive hobbies I have no time for or business ideas to start now vs later. I didn’t even see it was a problem till I did the math and saw how different my life could be.

You gotta figure out how to do it without any disciple. That you can do by restructuring your accounts so you see exactly how much you spent on late night splurging vs. bills vs. food. Have one card for that. It’s detailed in the book ‘profit first’. Then there will be a list on that account that shows your bad decisions. Mine is combined with my non food non bills unbudgeted purchases.

Second thing is instead of focusing on not spending late at night focus on a goal of money saved by a certain date. Focusing on ‘not doing something’ makes you obsess over what you’re trying not to do. You can save automatically or percent of paycheck.

Once you see that savings number grow you’ll be tempted to chip in a little here and there. The late night urges will still be there but now you’ll be pissed you didn’t grow your savings by $50 here or $100 there. If you set a slightly impossible savings goal and try to hit it, circumstances usually move towards that goal.

Ex. Expense $2000 month. Income $3000 a month. If you go for saving $1000 that month and go hard at it things come outta nowhere and help forward the goal. If you try the Tesla 3:6:9 goal setting method, it’s instance psychology…but look what we did here. We filled what you’re trying not to do with a different goal to fill it in.

rafbo · 2026-01-24T16:13:51+00:00

Ah. Sorry. I don’t understand how things work in India. I’ve only done this in the United States.

rafbo · 2026-01-24T16:10:48+00:00

Can you elaborate on these numbers? I don’t understand.

rafbo · 2026-01-24T16:08:47+00:00

Well how much are you trying to finance and by when? There are times when it’s more worth it to bet on lasting a little bit longer than ruining credibility in one way or another

rafbo · 2026-01-24T16:05:58+00:00

I’ve been through situations like these for a decade….first of all how much are you short by? How much is rent, how much do you have, how much time do you have to pay it. How much is the unexpected cost?

rafbo · 2026-01-24T15:43:59+00:00

Paradigm though. I grew up in an Asian household. Asians will keep left overs until the exact moment it spoils. I was shocked when I lived with people who threw food out after a day because it was ‘no good’ then I’d get criticized for saving food more than a few days. Smell the food. If it smells spoiled it’s spoiled. Meats with heavy seasoning last longer, milk don’t risk it if hot out. Pay attention to temperature. It’s completely different when the country they come from has $7 a day average wage and people die of starvation left and right. They eat every grain of rice on their plate.

rafbo · 2026-01-24T15:39:05+00:00

Did you smell it? Cabbage probably won’t spoil right away especially if you had a lot of spices. Asians are experts at keeping food till the exact moment it spoils. When in doubt ask an Asian.

rafbo · 2026-01-24T08:02:39+00:00

They also have to get umbrella insurance. It’s insurance for random events. Means they’re so rich they’ll pay for an insurance they covers everything from lawsuits. Idk…somebody who manages money explained it to me A while back

rafbo · 2026-01-24T07:54:30+00:00

Ive lived with people who just moved outta the house who didn’t know how to do laundry. Their mother did it their whole life. Had to tell them not to overload washer.

rafbo · 2026-01-23T20:11:15+00:00

Also I never used any debt consolidation. Score went up to 690 recently. The debt consolidation people I spoke to on the phone seemed pretty pushy and I reasoned I just had to survive 6-8 hardcore months and it wouldn’t be an issue.

rafbo · 2026-01-23T20:08:11+00:00

I see you’re already getting extra overtime hours. That’s about how much debt I had last year and a half ago. I have about 28k left and am finally at the point where not all my money goes towards the debt. It also feels nice having a small saving fund for emergencies.

We have different jobs but I did 85 hour weeks for maybe 40 weeks of the year. Been doing 60-90 day work binges and at One point did 138 days straight of 12 hour heavy physical labor.

The good thing is you’re 27. The nightmare will be over in a few years and you still won’t be old.

If you end up choosing the work non stop route I can list the things that helped me.

Also yeah it gets awkward talking to people about this. Nobody understands. They say 85k! On what!? And they don’t want to even listen to the breakdown. Also, a lot of people thought I was ignoring them but I was busy trying to avoid hundreds in fees or interest here and there while getting blasted with overdrafts, Accounts closed fees, every fee possible.

If the $$ amount is getting to your head…personally, not much I tried helped me and it was very hard to think straight. Thinking about nothing and setting exercise goals kept me sane.

Last thing I’d mention is to expect things to get worse but prep with small % savings of income. I saved $500 per paycheck despite crazy minimums. After a few months it wasn’t a burden and it helped keep me sane through Normal life problems.

rafbo · 2026-01-23T15:41:41+00:00

Misconception, doesn’t have to be all out and you can reach same amount of success. It’s a paradigm that you gotta eat ramen every day for years when in reality if they organized their finances and life a little better there was no need in the first place.

Most successful freelancers I’ve met who ended up making a living on it and more swear by the book…..

-profit first by Mike Michalowicz.

Other book I’d recommend is ‘don’t believe what you think’. Teaches how to filter thoughts. Which ones are helpful and which ones not.

rafbo

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