CashWise Blog

We recently included a link to an article that posed a tough question: Namely, “Are you living within your means?” Hopefully, you were able to answer “Yes!” If not, that’s ok. There are plenty of ways to get there—including reigning spending to add a little more cash to our wallets. The following article comes from The Miami Herald and outlines 5 action steps you can take now.

Among the best? Check your wants vs. needs: i.e.-- Stop spending. Read the full article here. 

While economic woes headlining the news day after day can be worrisome, they also serve as a “friendly” reminder  to take a close look at our own finances, where they’re at and where they can be.

While more and more Americans continue to live beyond their means, in most circumstances there are areas we can conduct a financial sanity check to get back to where can have some measure of financial peace. Yahoo Finance is featuring a great article that may help you identify some benchmarks on whether you’re living beyond your means or not.

 To read the full article, click here, then tune in as we offer another article with some great “How To” tips .

 

 

 

George McGovern isn’t the type of public figure you’d expect to find as an advocate for payday loans. The 1972 Democrat Party Presidential candidate has some interesting things to say about the Payday Loan Industry- things we’ve been saying all along, but things many misguided politicians seem to ignore in an effort to win a few pats on the back. 

While the article is a few months old, and can be found in it’s entirety here, his points remain valid and are worth repeating here at CashWise: 

Economic paternalism takes its newest form with the campaign against short-term small loans, commonly known as "payday lending." With payday lending, people in need of immediate money can borrow against their future paychecks, allowing emergency purchases or bill payments they could not otherwise make… Anguished at the fact that payday lending isn't perfect, some people would outlaw the service entirely, or cap fees at such low levels that no lender will provide the service. Anyone who's familiar with the law of unintended consequences should be able to guess what happens next.

Researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York went one step further and laid the data out: Payday lending bans simply push low-income borrowers into less pleasant options, including increased rates of bankruptcy. Net result: After a lending ban, the consumer has the same amount of debt but fewer ways to manage it.

His conclusion?

Why do we think we are helping adult consumers by taking away their options? We don't take away cars because we don't like some people speeding. We allow state lotteries despite knowing some people are betting their grocery money. Everyone is exposed to economic risks of some kind. But we don't operate mindlessly in trying to smooth out every theoretical wrinkle in life.

The nature of freedom of choice is that some people will misuse their responsibility and hurt themselves in the process. We should do our best to educate them, but without diminishing choice for everyone else.

The truth always seems to have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? You can read the full article here.

 

What's not to love about the Fourth of July? An opportunity to celebrate Independence and Liberty: Want a Hot Dog? Grill 'er up! Prefer a burger? That's OK too! Is grilled tofu your thing instead? Have at it! Even the backyard BBQ is rife with the possibilities of freedom.

And while you're hopefully enjoying a summer day off, bank employees are as well, which means banking services (specifically electronic funds transfers) across the nation will be out of commission until the following Monday, the 7th. Requests for changes to loans due on July 7th must be received by 5:45 MST on Thursday, July 3. All loans approved on July 3rd should fund on July 7th. 

If you have loan changes you'd like to make, please give us a call or login to the Members Section to make those changes. In the mean time, we hope you have a wonderful Fourth of July holiday!

With election season in full swing, there will invariably be (and currently is) political talk surrounding payday loans and what to do with them. Politics being what they are, exaggeration and baseless accusations can be the name of the game. In the face of baseless and exaggerated criticism, it’s important to have a few defenses when opponents trot out favorite bullet points like “APR” and “predatory”. Let’s call them The Right Hook of Truth and The Uppercut of Reality.

The following article from Paydayfacts.org exposes the misleading "Shock and Awe" rhetoric naysayers of the payday loan industry regularly employ while revealing what's conveniently missing from  many their arguments: Truth.

"Five years ago, the term, “Shock and Awe” became a well-known term pertaining to our military’s strategy in the Middle East...The same strategy is a cornerstone to any propaganda campaign and is alive and well in the sensationalist strategies implemented by the CRL and other opponents of the Payday Loan industry. These strategies are implemented in such a way that they appeal to well-meaning citizens and politicians who, instead of taking the time to understand the dynamics involved, are broadsided with sensationalist statements that seem to be legitimate, but are merely sound bytes proliferated by special interests...." Read Full Article...

 

Since we're a little over a week into the first leg of the CashCentral.com redesign, we'd like to share some of the kind words we've been receiving from our users. We appreciate the feedback we've received on the new design so far and have been making subtle changes to the things we can change in an effort to make your experience even better.

Bethany writes:

I recently became a loyal customer of yours and I have to say how impressed I am with the way you do business. I was a little adamant about giving my personal information online and trusting that I would get the best service possible, but so far, this is so much more easy and convenient than going to a payday loan business myself. I just can't believe how easy this is to do when you're short of money!!! Keep up the good work.

Thank you, Bethany. With our new design we hope to make your online transactions even easier. Expect even more in the coming months!

Edward says:

We just wanted to say Thank you! We just got off the phone with one of your representatives and are beyond happy with the results. This is our first loan with you, and we hit an unexpected snag, short work week, and needed to refinance. This was something we were dreading having to go through, but your representative so sweet and helpful, and made it all so easy. We're just amazed. She helped us set everything up in just a few minutes and now we can relax and not worry about how we're going to take care the payment with half a paycheck. I don't think we've ever been treated so nicely by a lending company, not even our own local bank. Again, thank you very much!

Thanks for trusting Cash Central with your financial peace of mind, Edward. We're happy to hear we were able to help!

Richard writes:

 

Your company has and always will have my Highest Respect-I have had no problems at all with you folks, and believe me when I say Thank you from the bottom of my heart...I will always recommend your Business to others. Thanks Again.

 

We appreciate the recommendation, Richard. In the coming months, we'll make it even easier for you to refer others to CashCentral.com. We promise a win-win for everyone involved!

R.S says:

I would like to thank Cash Central for your wonderful service and best of all the fees. You keep it low and affordable... It has been great for me as I have slowly paid off some of my medical bills that had overburden me and getting back to catching up. I like your service and how you handle the accounts.

 

Thanks for sharing your story, R.S. Medical Bills always have a way of showing up in the mailbox at the least convenient times. We're so pleased we were able to help you back to your feet during what was certainly a difficult time. Best of luck moving forward!

Terry called with this to say:

I want to thank you, Cash Central, very much for helping me. It was due to a heart attack, but I have bailed myself out and you have been very, very good to me. I just wanted to let you know. Thank you very much.

 

Terry, it's calls like these that give us a sense of purpose to what we're doing. We appreciate you allowing us the pleasure of hearing your experience and, even if small, how we were able to assist you.

 

Welcome to CashCentral.com's CashWise blog. This blog is dedicated to providing our members and visitors with meaningful and relevant financial information that not only interests you, but also offers help, advice, information and ideas.

We've divided the blog into a few sections to help you identify topics of interest:

• The Lowdown (Industry News): What's happening in the payday loan industry? What changes/new developments affect you? Find out here.
• Update Central (CashCentral.com News): Upcoming Holidays? New states? Great news? Anything happening here at CashCentral.com calls Update Central "home".
• Just the Facts (Opinion): So what's our reaction to the latest industry news and events? Whatever it is, it'll be served on a hot plate of honesty and maybe even a side of snark.
• Customer Corner (Customer Feedback): Have something to say? This is the place we'll address it. Good, bad or indifferent, we'd like all voices to be heard.
• Penny for a Thought (Tips & Advice): We run across a lot of great tips, advice and other items worth sharing. From ways to save money, firm up your budget or even how to make the best chocolate chip cookies since Gramma, tips and advice is meant to be not only useful, but fun as well.

We hope it's clear we'd like this blog to reflect your interests. If there's ever anything you'd like to ask, respond to or pass along, drop us a line and we'll do what we can to get it posted. Again, welcome to the new blog and as always, thanks for choosing CashCentral.com.