I spent a lot of time in the car on my vacation. The most depressing part was driving through a town with two major employers: an old steel mill and a paper mill. This town was a pile of junk, littered with liqueur stores, bad housing, and the types of shops we’re about to describe.

These “stores” are actually financial institutions, but they prey on the poor. Try and find one of these in a nice neighborhood, you won’t. They can’t make money off the middle class because they aren’t that stupid. Sadly, the poor are. So here are the 5 sleaziest looking ways to get money:

Pawn
Ever pawned something? Ever get what you expect for it? Nope! I called a pawn shop and asked what they would take for a new, in box, XBox 360 video game system. Retail Price: $350. They said they would give me $200 for it. Pass, I can see it on EBay, Amazon, or even a local Gamestop for more. Pawn shops have served many purposes over the years. Most notoriously, a no questions asked way to sell something you stole for quick cash. Pawn shops are never found in nice areas of town for two reasons. The people that live there steal less, and if they were to sell something, they’re smart enough to go elsewhere than a pawn shop.

TitleMax/TitleLoan
One of these companies I’m very familiar with, because at a previous job we handled their background checks. I never bothered to find out what they did though, until now. Here’s the premise: If you’ve got the title to your car, meaning you don’t owe any money on it, you can get a loan using the car as collateral. Maybe I should include that in my Liquid Worth () calculations once the car is paid off. You can get a better deal using an unsecured loan from a reputable bank, don’t get a loan from a company operating out of an old McDonald’s building.

Payday Lending
Check Into Cash? What’s Check Into Cash?” I used to live within an hour’s drive of a major military base. This base was in a town, similar to what I described before. It’s run down. All along the main strip of this town is payday lending. Payday loans allow you to borrow money, for a fee, and pay it back when you get paid. Check Into Cash says:

“A payday advance can solve temporary cash-flow problems without bouncing a check with another merchant or incurring late payment penalties from other creditors.”

They go on to explain how their fees are cheaper than the late fees on credit cards. Well not everyone makes late payments and their math is no longer justified if the credit card balance is over $100. Credit card fees are flat, pay day loans aren’t. You’re smart enough to stay away from these businesses, but again they prey on the ignorant.

JG Wentworth
If you aren’t familiar with JG Wentworth, check out one their “Its My Money” commercial. JG Wentworth provides lump sum payouts on all sorts of structured income. They mostly target individuals that have won settlement cases from civil lawsuits. Often times these payouts are in monthly or yearly sums, and the individual may be greedy and want it all now. They’ll also buy life insurance policies and annuities. How can they do this? Well let’s say you won $100,000 in a lawsuit and wanted the money now. JG Wentworth would take ownership of your payouts (they get the money) and in return give you a lump sum of $75,000. They make money on the difference. This practice in and of itself is not sleazy, however the commercials are. If you are in the situation where this is necessary, there are thousands of financial institutions that will buy these payouts from you. Don’t go through greasy old guys because you won’t get your money’s worth. On that note, don’t call any toll-free numbers that contain the word “cash”.

Gold
With gold schizo creating mass market fluctuations, its becoming a new popular investment, again. Gold is why America is so stupid. Only in America, can people make money buying gold from you and then again by selling it back to you. One commercial tells you to sell your jewelry while gold is still overpriced, and then the next tells you gold could go to $2000 and ounce making it a great investment. I think I’ll hang on to my class ring for a while. So what could very well be the same company operating with different fronts is buying your gold and then selling it back to you for a profit. Here’s a thought, don’t buy or sell your gold based on a TV commercial. If you have unwanted jewelry, don’t try and time the market, just sell it. But sell it to a local business. Go to your local jeweler and ask them to refer you to a dealer. If you’re the type that wants to have gold sitting around, buy straight from the mint. No markup, and the price doesn’t change every day.

Related posts:

  1. Simple Ways to Save Money
  2. Top 10 Ways the Government Can Help Our Economy
  3. The Future of Money
  4. Top 3 Craziest Ways to Save the Economy (And Why They Could Work)
  5. 10 Things Your Bank Won’t Tell You

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