Understanding apr

How to Get That Expensive Item You Want, With Minimal Risk

Most of us will admit to living outside of our means from time to time. There are probably at least a couple of things you could identify right now that you would like and there’s a good chance that some of them will be outside of your price range.

Perhaps you’d love a new computer? Maybe you need a new car?

Maybe you’re dreaming of a holiday somewhere truly exotic!
Unfortunately, if you don’t have the cash flow, then you can’t make the purchase! There’s the option to take out a loan of course but that means hurting your credit score and making it harder to get future loans (like a mortgage for instance!) and it means paying a large APR in many cases. Often, this will just seem like too big a risk to justify and we just won’t be able to buy the item we want with a clear conscience – it would be irresponsible.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way. If you really want the item that you’re dreaming of, then there is almost always some method you can use to get hold of it on your current budget and without risking your house being repossessed. Here are some tips to help you get the cash you need…

Try PayPal
If you regularly use PayPal for your business, then you might be applicable for a PayPal loan. These are intended as business loans of course, so you should technically only be using them for business expenses – but that can include fun things like laptops!

PayPal loans are structured rather differently from most loans. These will allow you to borrow a set amount of cash and won’t charge you any APR. Rather, you pay a single fixed fee that you agree right at the beginning. There’s no late payment fee and all of your repayments come out of the income you receive via PayPal itself. To do this, you first choose a percentage that you’re happy to pay back and then let PayPal deduct that amount from each of your incoming payments.

When you compare the fee to the amount you’re borrowing, it’s actually a high ‘APR’. But with no actual interest and no fees, it’s very safe. Best of all? It doesn’t involve any credit check.

Use an Argos Card
Argos is a store that sells practically everything and it has a great card system that allows you to ‘buy now, pay later’. Sometimes this will involve a fee, in which case you should steer clear as the fee will often be quite high APR. But if you can do the pure buy-on-finance option, then this is a very good way to manage your cash flow while still getting what you want!
Of course many stores offer ‘buy now, pay later’ options, so well worth considering.

Credit Card With 0% APR
Finally, why not use a credit card that offers 0% APR for the first year? Countless cards do these days as an incentive to get more people to do business with them. As long as you make the repayments on time, then this is a genuine way to get money upfront with no catch.