How to Avoid Late Fees and Penalties
Turning to a quick, convenient cash solution is a great option for those of us who find ourselves in a situation in which we need money fast. Beyond borrowing responsibly, it’s important to set yourself up for success when it comes time to pay back your loan. If not, you could find yourself shelling out much more than you expected — in the form of late fees and penalties.
While LendNation is a great source for when you need a cash, we also want to provide helpful tips for getting the most out of your money and paying back only what you borrow. That’s why we’re breaking down these simple ways to avoid late fees and penalties.
Know Your Payments Ahead of Time
When taking out a loan — especially in an urgent situation — it can be easy to get wrapped up in securing the money as quickly as you can. Then, down the road, you’re met with a payment due date that sneaks up too quickly or a payment amount you didn’t budget for. That, of course, leads to missed payments, late fees, and penalties.
One of the simplest ways to avoid this situation is to take the time to know and understand every single aspect of your loan, like:
- How much you’re borrowing
- Interest rate
- First and all payment dates
- Payment amount
- How to make payments
- Late fee and penalty amounts
Make sure you have all your questions answered before taking on any type of loan. It’s also important to know who to get directly in touch with if you have any questions or hurdles in the future.
Make Sure You Can Afford Payments
In addition to knowing your payments ahead of time, you also want to be sure you can afford the payments. While this may seem obvious, borrowers can sometimes be taken by surprise. That’s because people often turn to a loan when they can’t afford something at the moment – like an emergency or unplanned expense – which typically means it wasn’t in their monthly budget or exceeded their savings.
However, to pay your loan back and avoid late fees and penalties, you might need to adjust your future budget to ensure you can afford to borrow the money in the first place. Take a close look at your monthly income and expenses to see how much room you have left to put towards a loan payment. That will help guide other factors such as your loan amount and loan term.
Set Up Automatic Payments
It’s an unfortunate situation: You get busy, you’re away on a trip, or you simply forget and you miss a payment. Then, on top of that, you get hit with late fees and end up owing more than you budgeted for. Once that happens, it can be hard to get ahead again.
The easiest way to avoid this is to set your loan payment to be automatically deducted from your bank account. If you’re hesitant to have an automatic withdrawal from your account because your payday doesn’t align with your due date, talk to the lender to see if you can change your payment date. Many companies are willing to work with you to ensure you can make your payments.
Another quick and easy way to make your payments on time is to set alerts and reminders in your phone, planner, or any other tool you use to budget and keep track of tasks. It doesn’t take long to set up, and a little reminder can go a long way when it saves you the cost of late fees or penalties.
Stay On Track with LendNation
When you borrow money from LendNation, we’ll set you up for success to ensure you stay on track and on time. When you get a loan from us, you can easily set up automatic payments based on which option you choose and the state you live in.
With fast approval rates, you can be on track to get the cash you need today with a title loan, installment loan or payday loan. Apply online today or stop by a location near you to get started!