Cash advance loans are frequently touted as a speedy cure for a poor financial situation, helping you to get through the time between rounning out of cash and your next wage or salary coming in. Simply put, you can borrow a small amount of a few hundred dollars for a short period of a week or so, and pay back the debt next time you get paid.

This sort of service can indeed be really useful if you've run out of cash for living expenses, or if you're surprised by an unanticipated charge or expense that you just can't pay when you need to, but are payday loans always the good choice they're presented as?

First, we'll take a look at the undisputable plus points of pay day loans, before looking at the problems, and possible different options you may be able to make use of if you decide a payday loan isn't right for you.

The lending standards for wage advance loans are really quite lax, and nearly anyone who's in employment and has a suitable bank account will likely have their application approved. This means that even people with poor credit scores should be able to get a payday loan, even after being rejected for nearly any other form of finance.

They are also simple to arrange, and you can frequently get the funds in your checking account quickly. Some payday loan companies can even arrange an overnight deposit of the loan straight into your bank within 24 hours, which is obviously very useful when you need cash urgently.

Last, once you've been authorized for your initial loan, it's normally a very simple matter to 'refresh' your loan again if you find you need to make use of the facility if funds are again short in the future.

There are, nonetheless, two major downsides to wage advance loans which you seldom come across in the advertizements and web sites furthering them. Firstly, they're really overpriced compared to other forms of borrowing. Because the borrowing period of the loan is so short, a charge of 20% of the loan amount – which is about standard – will work out to be an eye-wateringly high APR.

The second drawback is related to the first: because they're so expensive, you can easily be left short of funds the month after once you've cleared the loan and paid the charges. In this scenario, it's simply too simple to refresh your loan again to cover the shortage, resulting in more fees, and a permanent cycle of borrowing.

And so, if you resolve that a payday loan isn't the right decision for you, what alternatives do you have? The first one is using a credit card, if you have one. While credit cards are usually also fairly pricey sorts of finance, they do allow you to extend the debt over a number of months rather than requiring it to be payed back immediately along with a charge.

Many banks now offer an overdraft facility, which can also be used to tide you over a short term lack of money. The interest rate on an authorised overdraft is probably going to be less expensive than that of a credit card, but your bank might not extend you the facility. Beware of going ahead and overdrawing without your bank's agreement, as the charges they will levy in this case will be very expensive.

If none of these options is open to you, and you have no other way of getting hold of money such as borrowing off family, then a payday loan may be the best alternative. Just be sure that you use it cautiously, and listen to the warning it's giving you about the longer term condition of your financial life.

Martin writes for a payday loans provider in the UK, and you can read more about the pros and cons of cash advances at his site as well as applying online.