PAYDAY LOANS, these are incredible rip offs, DO NOT EVER use one of these services. I had a friend here in illinois who worked for one of these companies for a while, I jokingly asked him if they charged 200% interest APR, he told me in a dead serious tone, no, they charge 521% APR

I almost died!

This is legal extortion at its finest. DONT GO THERE!
This is the worst credit decision you will ever make if you sign their papers!

They will take a post dated check from you to cover this, if you don't turn up at their store with the cash on the maturity date they will hit your bank account, if the check bounces they can threaten criminal charges.

There are lots of alternatives out there,

Credit unions for a start can help you,
borrow from friends or relatives,
Ask the company you work for, for a cash advance.
Small consumer loans, I have been to a bank before and been offered $1000 they offered a 1 month term at a total repayment of $1100. (my circumstances are slightly different because I can pay that off in a month by getting it from an overseas bank accout!) Otherwise this could get you into a bank the same way as a payday loan APR wise.

Please DO NOT get caught like a little fly in a glue trap. It can cost you a lot more than the $30 to borrow $100.


DAN

Your so right. These loans can have many different names: Post-dated check loans, deferred deposit check loans,  cash advance loans.  Most people are so desperate they will sign anything to get the money. 
There is protection under the Truth in Lending act, the cost of these loans must be disclosed.  The person getting the loan must receive in writing, the finance charge-the actual dollar amount and the annual percentage rate (APR) the cost of credit on a yearly basis.

I’m pretty sure if I saw 200, 300, 400 % I would have some choice words for our friendly loan agent.  Unfortunately some people even seeing these numbers will go ahead with the loan anyway.

I have never done a pay day loan, but know of others that have.  One friend did it monthly, she would take a loan and pay it off ever pay day and run the cycle again.  She was always broke.  I sat down with her and she realized by this cycle she was in she was paying over $152 per month in interest charges.   

My neighbor is caught in this vicious pay-day loans cycle. I feel for her, yet she won't do anything to get herself out of it. She was leaning over my back fence telling me about it while she puffed on a cigarette and her two kids sat at the outside picnic table eating MacDonalds.

Funny how she can afford take-out three or four times a week and a pack a day on cigarettes, yet she complains she can't afford her rent.

I'll just eat my macaroni cheese in front of my computer monitor and remind myself that the sacrifice is my own fault for getting myself into the debt-trap in the first place.