Are you the kind of person who likes to spend time reading user manuals and “how to” documents before actually using a new machine or gadget that you have just purchased? Or are you the kind of person who prefers to learn by experience and just jump right in and figure out how things work on your own? To be perfectly honest with you, I love reading manuals. There are times, though, when I just become too excited that I do not even look at the manual; that is, until I absolutely have to.

When you are borrowing money however, it would be a better thing to read the lender’s “user manual” rather than to just jump into the water without taking stock of the situation first. You know how they say “the water is warm until you discover how deep it is?” If you do not find out vital information about the loan first, you might not find it to your liking. Worse, you might get yourself in a bind and you might not be able to do anything about it. And unlike with gadgets, the user manual will not do you much good in figuring out the loan once you have “bought” the product.

So when it comes to payday loans, it is very important that you take a look at some things before you sign on the dotted line. Here are some of those things that will help you use payday loans wisely.

Remember that payday loans are short term loans. This means that you will have to pay the loan principal plus the charges within a relatively short period of time. Unlike conventional loans, which can take years to pay off, you will only have a couple of months at the most for a payday loan. As such, you have to make sure from the outset what your options are, in terms of repayment period. You can also use this information to determine just how much you can afford to borrow from a payday loan lender.

Determine exactly how much the fees are going to be. This is actually one of the advantages of a payday loan. Since lenders charge fees in a different way as conventional lenders do, you can compute the exact amount you will have to pay, regardless of interest rates. Normally, you will have to pay anywhere from $10 to $30 for every $100 that you borrow.

Know what other terms and conditions may apply. While you do not want to think about NOT being able to pay for the loan (you should not even borrow money if you will not be able to repay it), it is good to have the information just in case. How much will you be charged if you make a late payment? What if you want to extend your repayment period (this is possible with most payday loan lenders)? How much will you be charged? Knowing this kind of information will come in handy in case you need to take another option when it comes to repayment.

At the end of the day, remember that you should only borrow what you can afford to pay within the prescribed period of time.