In recent years, many people have incurred dangerous levels of debt. In part, this is due to aggressive marketing on the part of creditors. You may have worked hard to build and maintain your credit. But especially if you have good credit, you may not be able to trust the creditor to tell you it’s time to quit incurring debt.

And too many people believe that “as long as I can make the payment, I can afford the purchase.”

But there are some easy tools you can use to check up on your situation. First is your debt-to-income ratio.

As a rule of thumb, your rent or mortgage payment should be no more than 25% of your income. This should include taxes and insurance. If both you and your spouse work include both incomes only if both are permanent and stable. In recent years, some mortgage lenders and real estate salespeople have suggested that this percentage could be raised to 35%, but that can be a recipe for disaster in today’s uncertain economy.

Credit card debt and auto financing can safely equal 10% of your annual income. While you *can* count bonuses and overtime as part of your income, it makes more sense to only count your base income and set aside additional income as “special” funds to take vacations, make home improvements, pay down debt or finance emergency savings funds.

While debt levels higher than these may be “normal” in today’s society, they are not safe. Most Americans are within two paychecks of serious financial trouble, especially as total debt levels approach 50% or more of income.

And no matter what society considers normal, or experts consider “safe”, if you don’t feel comfortable at your current level of debt, begin immediately to take proactive steps to reduce debt.

There are online debt planning calculators you can use to devise a payoff plan to reduce or eliminate debt. Most people choose to pay off high interest credit card and auto loans first; while others focus on building emergency savings or home equity.

You can also sign up for debt management plans, where a professional credit counselor will help you by devising a payment plan and working with creditors to reduce interest rates and penalties. You make one payment to the plan, and the plan administrator allocates it to creditors. As these services become more prevalent, quality varies widely. Before signing up for credit counseling research the company’s reputation.

You can get the credit monster under control and come out even better than “normal”.

If you are in a financial fix and need urgent cash in hand, payday loans are a sure way out; but there can be certain situations when the loan may get delayed in coming or in getting approved, due to various reasons. This will only aggravate your frustration. So that your payday loan is approved really fast, you have to always follow these steps:

Don’t make blind applications at the same time to several lending companies. This is pretty important, as every loan application gets reflected in your credit report, and the creditors may get the impression that you are so desperate for money that you are trying for money from everywhere. Moreover, in case you were turned down a few times, this will look bad on your credit report. So first research and compare among the lending companies thoroughly before submitting your application.

Be sure to fill out the application form fully. Whether it is an offline or an online lender you are applying to, be absolutely sure to fill out the application completely. Don’t rely on your own judgment and skip certain fields because you think they are not important. For example, if you fail to put down your office number, your lender will just be having a difficult time trying to verify your employment status. So the approval time will get longer, or what is worse, you may be disqualified for the loan because of the ‘incomplete information’ you provided.

Have all the supporting documents that you will require (most recent bank statement, salary slips) ready at hand. Even the No Fax Payday loans will require certain information to be electronically sent, so you have to make sure by submitting the required, correct documents so that your application is approved immediately.

You can have a co-borrower or co-signor. If your credit report is OK but nowhere near excellent, you can consider having a co-borrower or co-signor in your loan application. You have to ask someone who has an outstanding credit record, and moreover, someone who is willing. Remember, this involves a great responsibility on the part of that person, because he/she might have to end up paying for your loans; so ask this in the nature of a favor and answer any questions he/she might put to you regarding the loan application.

You have to display stability as regards your job, income, tenure in your home. Some applicants make the mistake of not disclosing their job titles etc, in an attempt to hide their payday loans. This should be avoided at all costs, and if you enjoy some sort of a fairly good position in your firm, you should put that in your application. This will enhance the lender’s confidence in your ability to pay back the loan.