Do you ever feel like you're too old for this? I do! I read an article and what the author said stuck out, "when my husband and I outgrew living paycheck to paycheck" I don't remember what the article was about but I remember that line. I thought wow, outgrew it, she is right. You go to college, struggle and then get on track. My track is askew. I did not go to college. I did everything too young, moved out, had kids, .... I lived in the projects for a few years. I was single with two kids and worked full time. I made $6.15 an hour in the cosmetics dept. Not a lot of money. HOwever I did get raises, but that didn't matter since you had to report your income to the housing authority and when you got more money you paid more rent. When I went to pay my rent I said to the woman, "these places aren't for people with jobs are they" and she said No. I at 38 still live paycheck to paycheck. I to have done the payday loan thing. I know you know the key is to pay it back asap. Okay fine so what happens when you can't? Everything snowballs and then you look around your house for stuff to sell, that is a joke too. Having things to sell is great but you always need a buyer! Most of my stuff is hand me downs. Control what you can. Cross that bridge when you come to it has been a good motto for me, it drives my husband nuts! He is a what ifer and a negative person. I don't think there are any answers for people that don't have any fall back on money, like 401k or borrowing from your life insurance. I guess it comes down to the one day at a time and see how many times you can rob peter, or just enough to keep the wolves off the porch. Good luck
