Get a Payday Loan

In an ideal world, people who want to get a loan would be able to really easily - they'd apply for the money, the lender would give it to them and then they'd pay it back in a timely fashion with no fuss or problems. Of course, while some people can find the process that easy, the truth is that getting a loan takes a bit more effort than that... especially if you want to find yourself the best deal for your circumstances.

Basically, how much work you need to put into getting a loan depends mainly on what you're looking for and your own personal situation. If you're lucky enough to have a completely (or mostly) clean credit history, then it really can be as simple as going into your bank or building society and asking for a loan; it's generally easier to go with whoever you bank with since they'll already have a good idea of how well you can control your finances, although it's not essential. Since banks are easily the biggest lenders around, it's also likely that they'll be able to offer some of the best interest rates around as well as the sums of money that you might be looking for. That said though, the recent recession has seen banks seriously tighten the purse strings with regards to who they lend to - unless you're pretty confident of your credit rating, which you can check by requesting a copy of your credit report from someone like Experian or Equifax, it might be wise to avoid applying to a bank for a loan.

Interestingly, one rather unexpected loan market that's cropped up in the last decade is that of the big-name supermarkets - the likes of Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda all offer their own loan products and even more remarkably, they're all incredibly competitive and can sometimes even beat the high-street banks for deals. That isn't to say that a supermarket with turn more of a blind eye to you if you've got a poor credit rating, since they all use external loan providers to do their lending for them. If you've got a solid credit base, however, it's worth checking out the supermarket rates to see if they can offer a better deal than the regular banks and building societies.

If neither of these options suit you - most likely because of a bad credit rating, County Court Judgement (CCJ) or other financial problem - then searching the internet for good offers may be the next best option. The problem there, of course, is that entering the word 'loan' into Google brings up so many companies all promising to give you the best deal that it's almost impossible to know where to start. And even then, an initial promise doesn't always transform into a solid loan offer that'll be the best for your circumstances, so you need to be wary of just jumping in feet first with a company you've found on the internet. However, smaller specialist lenders and payday loan providers are usually the only ones with the ability to offer loans to you if you've got a bad credit history, so sourcing them through the internet allows you to find firms from all over the country instead of just ones around your local area.

Of course, all these options seem like a lot of hard work, especially if you have to visit places in person to get the best deal available. Thankfully, there's another option that can do all these things at once: talk to a loan broker. There are many loan brokerage companies around that have large numbers of lenders at their fingertips and they can often find a wide selection of loan options for you just by comparing your personal details to the criteria that each lender has regarding its products. Much like loan companies though, brokers vary greatly so it's wise to shop around when trying to find a good one. Ideally, you'll approach a broker that not only has the greatest number of lenders on its books, but also doesn't charge you a fee for its services until you have the loan you want; some demand money even before they find a single loan for you, so be aware of what your obligations will be to them before you ask for their advice.

• Visiting your bank or building society and talking to a loan adviser
• Seeing what offers the supermarket chains are offering (seriously!)
• Checking on the internet for cheap loan deals
• Searching for Bad Credit Loan options if you have a poor credit rating
• Approaching a Payday Loan company if you don't mind paying a higher interest rate
• Talking to a reliable loan broker with no up-front fees