Helping you find the nearest payday loan center to you http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
"Your check is in the mail" is widely known as one of the top lies people tell. But in this case it's true.

Passed by Congress, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 directs the Internal Revenue Service to give taxpayers rebate checks to spend. They are intended to help get the economy get back on track.

It's no fortune, but every little bit helps these days.

So how much are supposed you get? $600 if you're single, $1,200 if you're a married couple, and another $300 for each eligible child under 17.

So, Where's My Check?

By now, most of the stimulus payments have been electronically deposited or mailed as checks. So what if yours is missing in action? Here are the steps:

• Verify that the IRS has your current address. If you've moved since you filed your 2007 return, you'll need to notify them of the change.


• Check to see if you ever received a notification that your payment was being processed. If not, you may have a problem.


• Check the IRS schedule for sending out money. It's based on the last two digits of your Social Security number.

If the IRS has your direct deposit banking information on file from your 2007 tax return, you should have received your stimulus check by May 16th.

If you don't have direct deposit information on file, then you probably should have gotten a check in the mail. Here is the schedule:

00 through 09: May 16
10 through 18: May 23
19 through 25: May 30
26 through 38: June 6
39 through 51: June 13
52 through 63: June 20
64 through 75: June 27
76 through 87: July 4
88 through 99: July 11

Okay, so you've confirmed that you should have received a check, but none has arrived.

Now what do you do?

Go to http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=181665,00.html and click on the link called: "Where's My Stimulus Payment?". And be prepared to answer a few simple questions such as:

• What is your Social Security number?
• What is your filing status (Single, Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately and so on)?
• How many exemptions show on your 2007 tax return?
• The IRS site warns you not to fall for e-mail scams about your stimulus payment because says the IRS never initiates e-mails.

Bridge Loans

Some people are turning to payday loans to bridge the gap. A payday advance is a small short-term loan without collateral usually repaid on the borrower's next payday.

Typically, a customer uses a payday loan to cover small, unexpected, expenses between paydays to avoid expensive fees on bounced checks, penalties on late bill payments, overdraft charges and other less desirable short-term credit options.

According to Cypress Research Group, nearly 65 percent of payday loan users are women and most are married. Six out of 10 payday loan customers are middle class homeowners and 65 percent have household incomes between $25,000 and $75,000 a year.


Industry analysts estimate that more than 22,000 payday advance locations across the United States extend about $40 billion in short-term credit to millions of middle class households that experience cash flow shortfalls between paydays.

Credit conscious young people new to the workforce are also discovering payday loans. Faithful repayment of cash advance loans can help those with limited credit histories — recent college graduates for, example — establish their credit worthiness.]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
PayDayFinder.com, the leading Web site for payday loan lender information, is expanding today by including exclusive content and information about personal loans, banking and financial matters. This new service features informative articles, advisory alerts and encourages user feedback and interaction.

Let your voice be heard!

PayDayFinder.com's new blog features user interactive feedback that allows anyone to comment on an article. We encourage you to be a part of the dialog, to submit stories of interest and to express your views. So, feel free to leave us your feedback for everyone else to read and respond to! Our focus is personal finance and economic issues, but as you can see we include a wide range of related subjects, too.

If you have an article or something you consider news-worthy, feel free to send it our way by submitting it here

About PayDayFinder.com

PayDayFinder.com is a national online directory where consumers can find and choose among a wide range of brick-and-mortar payday loan centers, get directions to them and access other helpful information. ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/

Is the nation's economic stimulus package working? It's hard to tell.

The idea of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 passed by Congress you may remember is that the Internal Revenue Service gives taxpayers money and they spend it on stuff — iPhones, Guitar Heroes and vacations. That helps the economy get back on track.

So how much do you get? It's $600 if you're single, $1,200 if you're a married couple and another $300 for each eligible child under 17.

Nice.



But, again, is it working?

According to the National Retail Federation it is. The trade group says retail industry sales for May jumped 3.8 percent unadjusted over last year and 0.9 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month. And, these numbers don't include automobile sales, gas stations and restaurants, so you can't blame soaring gas prices.

According to the NRF, many consumers are focused on groceries and other necessary items while others did splurge. Sales at electronic and appliance stores increased 0.7 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month and a solid 4.4 percent unadjusted year-over-year. Clothing and clothing accessory stores sales increased 0.5 percent seasonally adjusted from April and 2.4 percent unadjusted from last May.

It may be less scientific, but if you pick up a daily newspaper in cities across the country you'll find story after story about people who are using their stimulus checks to pay bills, to reduce credit card debt and to buy gas or food.

And, there's another indicator that may be even more telling even if it's more difficult to verify.

An informal poll of some people in the payday lending business shows a 10 percent decline from April 24 through May 15 this year as opposed to the same time frame in 2007.

Payday or cash advance loans are considered an economic life-preserver for many people with sub prime credit ratings or those recovering from mortgage foreclosures or other money problems.

A payday advance is a small short-term loan without collateral usually repaid on the borrower's next payday.

Typically, a customer uses a payday loan to cover small, unexpected, expenses between paydays to avoid expensive fees on bounced checks, penalties on late bill payments, overdraft charges and other less desirable short-term credit options.

Industry analysts estimate that more than 22,000 payday advance locations across the United States extend about $40 billion in short-term credit to millions of middle-class households that experience cash-flow shortfalls between paydays.

Sites like PayDayFinder.com allow people to find nearby brick-and-mortar locations so they can comparison shop for the best payday loan rates.

Whether or not you chose to pay bills with it, go on a spending spree or save your stimulus check, you should know when to expect it. The chart below explains.

Checks
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are:	Your check should be in the mail by:
00 – 09	May 16
10 – 18	May 23
19 – 25	May 30
26 – 38	June 6
39 – 51	June 13
52 – 63	June 20
64 – 75	June 27
76 – 87	July 4
88 – 99	July 11

]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
Hollywood fiction would have you believe that most criminals are evil geniuses who mastermind their plots with fail safe logic and clockwork precision. Bunk. As a cop once told me, "If crooks were so smart, our jails would be empty, not full."

New evidence points to the possibility that criminals are getting even dumber than in previous eras. And it seems that technology is probably dumbing them down faster than ever before. Here are some examples from an ABCNEWS.com story ("Dumb criminals caught on tape"):

• A 15-year-old girl allegedly posted a video of herself viciously beating another girl on MySpace.com.
• A young man allegedly posted a video of himself busting church windows and harassing people at a drive-through window on YouTube.
• A man broke into a surveillance camera store — and got caught on (duh) a surveillance camera.

One thing criminals might want to consider: It seems that the police have caught on and are starting to post their video-captured crimes on YouTube. They say it's taking on a life of its own and is giving people a chance to view the tapes repeatedly at their leisure, making it more likely that someone will ID the person who committed the crime.

None of this tops my favorite true story, though, about the wannabe bank robber in San Francisco who handed a "Give me your cash — I have a gun" note to a teller. Not so slow on the draw herself, the bank employee said, "I'm sorry we don't honor these. You'll have to take to the bank across the street." Naturally, when Einstein showed up there, police were waiting for him. ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
With gas and food prices spiraling higher, more middleclass American are coming up short between paychecks.

Many are turning to payday loans to bridge the gap. A payday advance is a small short-term loan without collateral. It's repaid on the borrower's next payday.

Typically, a customer uses a payday loan to cover small, unexpected, expenses between paydays. The money is often used to avoid expensive fees on bounced checks, penalties on late bill payments, overdraft charges and other less desirable short-term credit options.

Industry analysts estimate that more than 22,000 payday advance locations across the United States extend about $40 billion in short-term credit to millions of people.

A new report by the Center for Financial Service Innovation — a non-profit affiliate of ShoreBank Corp. that facilitates financial services industry efforts to serve underbanked consumers — says payday lending is going mainstream.

Credit unions and banks are beginning to recognize the need for payday loans and the size of this underserved market.

Several individual credit unions, the report says, have begun to offer cash advance loans. These offerings acknowledge the growth of payday loans and aim to give credit union members a valuable service.

According to the report, one of the largest credit unions in the nation, the North Carolina State Employees' Credit Union, now offers salary advance loans. This cash advance features a savings component with 5 percent of the advance placed into a credit union cash account as collateral.

Dating back to 2001, the North Carolina cash advance loan program has served nearly 100,000 members with loans totaling more than $1 billion.

The Savings Bank of Wakefield, Mass., has a small-dollar loan product it offers as a payday loan alternative — and makes it available to non-customers as well as current customers. These are closed-end, simple interest loans ranging from $300 to $1,000. They are available at an 18 percent APR interest rate, the same as their unsecured overdraft line of credit. Repayment terms range from 18 months for a $300 to $500 principal to 36 months for a $501 to $1,000 principal. A credit report is processed for all applications.

Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank now offer cash advance loans. Both charge borrowers $2 per $20 advanced, equivalent to an APR of 120 percent. Wells Fargo's Direct Deposit Advance service allows account holders who receive a monthly direct deposit exceeding $100 to access the advance line of credit through an ATM.

In offering small-dollar loans to non-customers, banks and credit unions hope to gain access to new client prospects]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
It used to be that home schooling was a rarity. No more.

According to a Harris Interactive Poll of 2,435 U.S. adults surveyed online, one-third of Americans know someone who is home schooling a child.

Eight percent of the households who reported having children who were old enough to attend school said that their child had been home schooled at some point. Here are some of the study's findings:


• U.S. adults that say their main reasons for home schooling their children are dissatisfaction with academic instruction (65 percent), to provide religious or moral instruction (60 percent) and concern about safety at school or on the bus (53 percent).
• Forty percent of Republicans report knowing someone who home schools their child; Democrats report 29 percent.
• More Republicans (69 percent) than Democrats (56 percent) cite religious or moral instruction and student behavior problems (Republicans 50 percent, Democrats 43 percent) as the main reasons behind home schooling.
• Democrats were more likely than Republicans to cite schools being too crowded to provide individual attention (44 percent vs. 35 percent) and educating special needs children (42 percent vs. 33 percent) as the main reasons for home schooling.
• Twenty-five percent of adults rate home schooling as excellent or very good as compared to 17 percent who rate public schools this highly for elementary education; secondary education was rated 23 percent vs. 14 percent respectively.
As economic factors like skyrocketing gas prices put increasing pressures on businesses and families, home schooling, like telecommuting, may see more growth in 2008 ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
A startling new report from The Commonwealth Fund, "Gaps in Health Insurance: An All-American Problem," reports that one in five working age adults is paying off medical debt, that nearly 60 percent of uninsured adults skip medication because they can't afford it, and many are ending up in emergency rooms and require hospitalization.

Forty one percent (that's two out of five) working-age Americans whose incomes are between $20,000 and $40,000 were uninsured for at least a portion of the past year. Working families constitute the vast majority of the uninsured. There was an estimated 48 million working-age Americans uninsured during the year—67 percent of that number was families in which at least one person was working full time. Here are some other findings:


• More than 44 percent of all working-age adults with medical debt reported that it was $2,000 or more.
• More than 82 percent of uninsured adults had been without insurance for one year or more.
• Sixty-three percent were solo business owners or working for firms with fewer than 100 employees.
• 51 percent of uninsured adults reported medical debt or bill problems. Of those, nearly half (49 percent) used up all their savings to pay their bill, and two of five were unable to pay for basic necessities.
• Just 41 percent of uninsured adults had a regular doctor or other health-care professional compared with 86 percent of insured adults.
With soaring food prices and gasoline averaging well above $4 a gallon, more and more people are likely to find they can't afford health insurance.
]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
You see them everywhere: in bustling big cities, in suburbs with manicured lawns and in the rustic small towns of rural America. They are neighborhood financial service centers and some 11,000 ??" that's almost triple the number of Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. ??" dot the landscape from coast to coast, cashing more than 180 million checks a year valued at around $55 billion.

Serving the nation's 75 million "underserved" or "unbanked" consumers, these centers have proliferated as many of these people chose to bypass banks in favor of faster cash transactions.

Financial centers offer a broad range of other services including money orders, electronic bill payments, money wire transfers, cash advance loans, automatic teller machine access, government benefit and payroll payments, deferred deposit services, electronic tax preparation, prepaid debit cards, deposit acceptance services, public transportation fare and token sales, motor vehicle license plate and title distribution and postage stamp sales.

Bearing witness to the burgeoning growth of this industry is the Financial Service Centers of America, or FiSCA for short, a professional trade organization representing these financial services providers across the country.

Founded in 1987 as the National Check Cashers Association the group changed its name in 1999 to reflect the evolution of the business.

According to the group's Web site (http://www.fisca.org/), the financial service center industry started with a simple idea: "Provide an easy way for hard working people to convert paychecks into cash within a short walk from their homes or jobs."

FiSCA members are continually expanding the roster of services offered to meet customer needs. Just as the services offered by the industry have expanded over time, the markets we they serve have broadened.

Traditionally FiSCA members were concentrated in lower income neighborhoods, serving and hiring residents of these communities. More recently as middle income consumers have demanded more convenient financial services, financial service centers have expanded into their communities. Indeed, the greatest growth of the industry can be seen in the suburban market.

FiSCA reports that while financial service center businesses touch the lives of millions of Americans, misconceptions still exist about the industry, its services and the consumers it serves.

A sign that progress is being made at overcoming these myths is in the growing number of partnerships between FiSCA members and banks and credit unions, the group says.

These partnerships create a cost effective way for traditional deposit services to be made available in underserved communities. FiSCA says it supports these ventures and is working to educate state and federal regulators about opportunities that these ventures open to consumers. ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
Think Fast! You're CEO of a Fortune 1000 Company;
Where Are Your Top 10 Places to Give a Speech?

According to PR Week Magazine and global communications firm Burson-Marsteller, CEOs at top U.S. companies say the "most-valued podiums" are at conferences staged by leading business publications, prestigious business schools, economic forums and trade shows.

The top-10 rank as follows:

1. World Economic Forum
2. The Wall Street Journal
3. Forbes
4. Fortune
5. World Business Forum
6. Detroit Economic Club
7. Economist Conferences
8. CFO Magazine
9. Consumer Electronics Show
10. Wharton Business School


These conferences, CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies say, draw the most-influential executives and are the place to be when delivering a speech on economic issues.

While CEOs may want to be at these venues, the places most consumers want to avoid today are gas station and grocery lines.

As gasoline prices seek new highs each day and food prices continue to spiral upward, more and more middleclass Americans are finding it harder to make ends meet. Home mortgage foreclosures are also setting new records in many states.

At the same time, payday loans ??" once the private domain of the underbanked consumer ??" are becoming increasing popular with middleclass homemakers.

According to Cypress Research Group, nearly 65 percent of payday loan users are women and most are married. Six out of 10 payday loan customers are homeowners and 65 percent have household incomes between $25,000 and $75,000 a year.

So why are these people turning to payday loans in a down economy?

Cypress Research says most are taking loans to help with unexpected expenses. And, no surprise, to avoid late charges on bills also ranks high along with avoiding bounced checks.

Not surprising considering that the fee on a typical two-week payday cash advance is $30, according to the Consumer Credit Research Foundation, while a single bounced check usually will cost you $45 ??" and we all know they come in bunches. As the consumer group also points out, credit card late fees can be the equivalent of 5,292 percent in interest.

ATM fees are another matter. ABC News reports that some banks are charging fees as high as $3 for non-customer transactions. Add to that your own bank's fee and on a $30 withdrawal you could be paying around 20 percent just to access your own money. Banks generate about $10 billion a year in these types of charges according to ABC News.

A payday advance is a small short-term loan without collateral usually repaid on the borrower's next payday. Typically, a customer uses a payday loan to cover small, unexpected expenses between paydays to avoid expensive fees on bounced checks, penalties on late bill payments, overdraft charges and other less desirable short-term credit options.

Industry analysts estimate that more than 22,000 payday advance locations across the United States extend about $40 billion in short-term credit to millions of middle-class households that experience cash-flow shortfalls between paydays.

Search sites dedicated to finding payday lenders allow people to find nearby brick-and-mortar locations so they can comparison shop for the best rates.

Faithful repayment of these cash-advance loans can help those with limited credit histories ??" like recent college graduates ??" establish their credit worthiness. ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
Do you live in one of America's most expensive cities?

Check the list below to find out. According to rankings from the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association, New York is king of the hill, top of the heap. But a few others might surprise you.

Cost of living comparisons are based on an average of $100,000. So if you live in San Diego, you'll need $129,000 to achieve an average lifestyle.

What about New York? At $208,000, you need more than twice the average.

10. Seattle $116,000

9. Ann Arbor $121,000

8. Fairbanks $127,000

7. Los Angeles $127,000

6. Philadelphia $128,000

5. San Diego $129,000

4. Anchorage $129,000

3. Juneau $133,000

2. Boston $142,000

1. New York $208,000

With skyrocketing gasoline and food prices, anywhere you live can feel like the most expensive city in America.

That might explain why payday loans are becoming so popular. According to Cypress Research Group, nearly 65 percent of payday loan users are women and most are married. Six out of 10 payday loan customers are homeowners and 65 percent have household incomes between $25,000 and $75,000 a year.

So why are people turning to payday loans in a down economy?

Cypress Research says most are taking loans to help with unexpected expenses. And, no surprise, to avoid late charges on bills also ranks high along with avoiding bounced checks.

Not surprising considering that the fee on a typical two-week payday cash advance is $30, according to the Consumer Credit Research Foundation, while a single bounced check usually will cost you $45??"and we all know they come in bunches. As the consumer group also points out, credit card late fees can be the equivalent of 5,292 percent in interest!

A payday advance is a small short-term loan without collateral usually repaid on the borrower's next payday. Typically, a customer uses a payday loan to cover small, unexpected, expenses between paydays to avoid expensive fees on bounced checks, penalties on late bill payments, overdraft charges and other less desirable short-term credit options.

Industry analysts estimate that more than 22,000 payday advance locations across the United States extend about $40 billion in short-term credit to millions of middle-class households that experience cash-flow shortfalls between paydays.

Sites like PayDayFinder.com allow people to find nearby brick-and-mortar locations so they can comparison shop for the best payday loan rates.

Faithful repayment of these cash-advance loans can help those with limited credit histories ??" like recent college graduates ??" establish their credit worthiness. ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
Las Vegas - May 21, 2008 - Nearly half the people in the United States say buying gasoline for their cars is their chief economic problem - more so than getting a high-paying job or purchasing health care - according to a survey out this week.

Some 44 percent of those surveyed say gas purchases are a "serious problem" as the average price topped $3.50 a gallon this week.

In what is alarming to health-care providers, nearly three in 10 people surveyed said they put off or postponed getting medical care they needed in the past year, while nearly 25 percent skipped a recommended test or treatment or didn't fill a prescription.

No wonder then that payday loans are increasing in popularity across the country. According to Cypress Research Group six out of 10 payday loan customers are homeowners and 65 percent have household incomes between $25,000 and $75,000 a year.

So why are homeowners turning to payday loans?

Cypress Research says most are taking loans to help with unexpected expenses such as medical bills. And, no surprise, to avoid late charges on bills also ranks high along with avoiding bounced checks.

According to the Consumer Credit Research Foundation, the $30 fee on a typical two-week payday cash advance is 391 percent when expressed as an annual percentage rate. While that's no walk in the park, it?s a far cry from the 585 percent that a $45 charge on a bounced check will cost you.

Convenience is another reason. Sites like PayDayFinder.com allow people to shop for the best rates and find nearby brick-and-mortar locations.]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
As college graduates walk down the aisles this month carrying new diplomas, they have something else to smile about according to a Careerbuilder.com report.

Average starting salary offers for 2008 graduates are up 4 percent over last year. A study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers also shows hiring, too, is expected to increase by 8 percent, the employment Web site reports.

Salary increases as high as 9 percent are being seen for some jobs.

Computer science majors, for example, are seeing their average offers rise 7.9 percent to $56,921. With average offers of $43,459, marketing graduates are seeing a 5.2 percent increase.

Offers to engineering majors are up 5.7 percent to $56,336, while chemical engineers are seeing gains of 6.2 percent with average offers of $63,749.

Despite healthy salary gains, recent college grads face other real-world challenges such as skyrocketing gasoline and food expenses with additional downward economic pressures often characterized as recessionary.

Establishing credit worthiness for young people new to the full-time workforce is always a challenge. The burgeoning popularity of payday lending is in part being driven by the high cost of bank and credit card fees. Savvy young consumers are doing the math.

According to the Consumer Credit Research Foundation, the $30 fee on a typical two-week payday cash advance is 391 percent when expressed as an annual percentage rate. While that?s not cheap, it?s a far cry from the 585 percent that a $45 charge on a bounced check costs. Nor is it anywhere near the staggering 5,292 percent a $29 late fee on a credit card represents.

A payday advance is a small short-term loan without collateral usually repaid on the borrower?s next payday. Typically, a customer uses a payday loan to cover small, unexpected, expenses between paydays to avoid expensive fees on bounced checks, penalties on late bill payments, overdraft charges and other less desirable short-term credit options.

Industry analysts estimate that more than 22,000 payday advance locations across the United States extend about $40 billion in short-term credit to millions of middle-class households that experience cash-flow shortfalls between paydays.

Faithful repayment of these cash-advance loans can help those with limited credit histories ? like recent college graduates ? establish their credit worthiness. ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
Silver Springs, Nev. - May 16, 2008 - Which costs less: a payday loan or bounced-check protection? The answer's obvious, right?

Not so fast.

A study released last week says overdraft protection on a bad check can cost you an interest rate of more than 4,000 percent on average or some 20 times more than a payday loan.

Conducted by East Carolina University Assistant Professor of Economics Mark Fusaro, this independent, first-of-a-kind study finds that while payday lending attracts attention for its interest rates, overdraft protection loans are much more expensive.

To make matters worse, in his study called "Hidden Consumer Loans: An Analysis of Implicit Interest Rates on Bounced Checks," Fusaro says: "A person who has a three dollar overdraft that is outstanding for one day pays an implicit interest rate of 260,245 percent." He adds that frequent over drafters can pay fees exceeding $3,000 a year.

No wonder then that payday loans are increasing in popularity across the country. According to Cypress Research Group, six out of 10 payday loan customers are homeowners and 65 percent have household incomes between $25,000 and $75,000 a year.

Cypress Research says most are taking loans to help with unexpected expenses such as medical bills. And, no surprise, to avoid late charges on bills also ranks high along with avoiding bounced checks.

According to the Consumer Credit Research Foundation, the $30 fee on a typical two-week payday cash advance is 391 percent when expressed as an annual percentage rate. While that's no walk in the park, it's a far cry from 4,000 percent.

Convenience is another reason. Sites like PayDayFinder.com allow people to shop for the best rates and find nearby payday loan or cash advance stores in their neighborhoods or when traveling. ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/
HOUSTON ? May 19, 2008 ? A third of Houston residents are Hispanic, so it comes as no surprise that the city will host the Annual Latin GRAMMY? Awards. Broadcast live from the Toyota Center, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, the event marks the first time Houston will host the premier international showcase of Latin music.

What may be surprising is a recent survey showing Hispanic-Americans, in Houston and elsewhere, as power users of electronic media, including the Internet.

The report says online Hispanics ? ?independent of their language preferences and acculturation levels? ? are heavily engaged in online technology.

Hispanic-Americans over the age of 11 spent more time online than watching television, according to the Terra Networks-sponsored "Hispanic Syndicated Study," conducted by comScore Media Metrix.

More than half - 56 percent - of Hispanic-Americans surveyed said they spent at least an hour online, which was slightly more than the 50 percent who spent an hour or more watching TV.

Terra reported that Hispanic-American Internet users - 30 percent - spent 13 or more hours online weekly, which is more than the 23 percent who watched TV for the same amount of time.

At the same time, Social Compact, a nonprofit coalition that promotes investment in low-income communities, reports that cities with large underbanked populations have massive cash economies - Houston's $443 million represents 13.1 percent of the city's overall economy.

Internet savvy consumers in Houston and across the U.S. who seek cash advances, payday loans and other online fast cash services can find help fast are finding help through an innovative new Web site called PayDayFinder.com.

Launched this year, PayDayFinder is a comprehensive searchable directory of brick-and-mortar payday loan stores throughout the country offering directions, maps and more - along with informative articles and advice on payday loans.

Recently upgraded for easier navigation and to include more locations and content, PayDayFinder now also features a "popular cities" index showing areas with a great selection of payday loan stores.

A payday advance is a small short-term loan without collateral usually repaid on the borrower's next payday. Typically, a customer uses a payday loan to cover small, unexpected, expenses between paydays.

Industry analysts estimate that more than 22,000 payday advance locations across the United States extend about $40 billion in short-term credit to millions of middle-class households that experience cash-flow shortfalls between paydays. ]]> http://www.paydayfinder.com/category/articles/