Imagine this: you get paid once a month, at the end of the month. But three weeks into the month you find you've been invited to a great weekend bash at a friend's cottage. Do you say no because it doesn't fit into your budget? Or is there something else you can do to help you get a bit of extra cash in order to enjoy the party?

Payday loans are a highly convenient way to get money if you find yourself short of cash before payday. Payday loan companies can operate like retail stores, which you can probably find on a busy street, and, more conveniently, on the Internet.

How does it work?

Say you need an extra couple hundred dollars to tide you over until payday. Just go online and search for a payday loan company. Their web site will take you through a quick and easy process that will give them all the information they need to get the process started. For example they'll need information such as your name and where you live and who you work for.

From there, you just sit back and wait! These payday loan companies go out in search of lending institutions who want to lend you money. Some lending institutions will request you to fax information to them while other lending institutions won't require it at all. In many cases, you can choose whether you want to fax your information to a lending institution. If you are willing to fax your permission to a lending institution, your options will be much more open than if you choose not to. However, by choosing not to fax your information, that does not necessarily mean that you won't find a lending institution.

Within a very short time, just a couple days at the most, the money will appear in your bank account for you to spend on that party!

Then, come payday, the payday loan company will extract the principal (the amount they lent you) plus interest from your bank account.

While the interest you pay maybe higher on these types of loans then on a traditional loan or on a credit card, this is an excellent way to get money quickly if you need a bridge loan for an emergency or for that great party that only comes around once in awhile.