It can be a confusing and frustrating time if you need emergency funds, especially if you’re trying to avoid racking up needless debt, so what should you do?

As much as we may hate to admit it, sometimes it’s both necessary and unavoidable to have to spend a massive amount of money on something in order to stave off an emergency. Sometimes it can be the cost of repairing a crucial fault in the family car or replacing an important home appliance that suddenly stopped working, but whatever the situation is it always seems to happen at the very worst moment, requiring you to turn to finding a way to getting cash in a hurry – and sometimes payday advance lenders suchas Wonga and Quick Quid seem the only way, but are there methods for getting emergency financial help without risking high interest rate short term lending?

Overdrafts can be your friend – sometimes

Many of us have current accounts, whether or not they mostly remain empty and devoid of cash except on payday, but you could use your bank account’s overdraft facility in order to access short term credit in a pinch. However, if you’re looking to avoid high fees for using such a facility,you should make sure that you are authorised to make use of your overdraft; unauthorised overdraft facilities can cost an arm and a leg if you’re not careful.

The overdraft fees associated with unauthorised use can be so severe that research has shown that daily fees and interest rates are so high as to actually compare unfavourably with even the most expensive payday lenders. In fact, it may actually be less costly to take out a payday loan for a comparable amount of time – an ironic turn of events indeed considering how many payday lenders are currently being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading for predatory practices and underhanded tactics.

Traditional credit sources could be helpful

If you don’t have access to an authorised overdraft facility, there are other options open to you as well, one of which being more traditional consumer lending sources such as a credit card. The total cost of the borrowing could be as little as nothing in certain cases as well, such as in the event that you have a 0 per cent interest credit card available to you, which can grant you lending that costs nothing in interest for the period of time that the introductory period runs, freeing you from having to pay anything in excess of the actual cash value of the loan.

However, this plan of action may not be applicable for all, as you need to either already be in possession of such a card or you can qualify for a 0 per cent interest rate credit card. The country’s current economic condition makes this a rather farfetched plan indeed, since so many Brits have done rather serious damage to their credit scores thanks to having to make ends meet with limited resources for such a long period of time.

© 2012 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Image: Empty Wallet by 401(K) 2012