If you know me, you know I'm against all sorts of debt (except those with low interest rates that you use to buy vehicles that generate revenue with a high degree of confidence, such as loans that are used to purchase a high income stream producing business or an unusually undervalued real estate property). But there is one type of debt that I strongly discourage over anything else... Payday loans. They are a special type of loan that preys on the poor and misinformed. At least with credit cards, they give the user the option to incur a 0% interest rate if they pay on time every single month and in full, and I have no problem with people using them responsibility to build a good credit score, but there is no such option with payday loans. If anything, their interest rates are through the roof! Who are the type of people that payday lenders target? The type of people with poor credit that cannot obtain traditional loans anywhere else. No banks or credit cards will lend to these people because they are such high risk. So payday lenders step in and offer a solution. They say "I will give you $1000 if you pay me back $1150 on your next paycheck date". Sounds like a dumb deal right? You'll be surprised how many people agree to these terms. There are many reasons I'm against these types of loans, but the top reason is that you should always have an emergency fund in place, and by having negative asset in your bank (basically being in debt), you have no chance of having any of this so called emergency fund until you pay off all your debt. Another reason I'm against payday loans is because the companies require access to your bank account. Did the check you write them bounce? No worries. They will just take that amount, plus a hefty fee directly from your bank account. Finally, many payday lenders have illegal or unethical collection practices. They will harrass you at your work place, call you nonstop, and send you letters after letters until you pay back your debt. But the top reason reigns all. If you have ANY debt at all, you cannot start investing (it makes no sense to do so since many interest rates tend to be higher than ROI on your assets).