According to a Google Trends report of the keyphrase “loans,” over the past 12 months, the most searched categories of loans in Alabama are: student, home, direct, bad credit, and payday. With the top 3 searched categories, student, home, and direct loans, individuals with poor credit history will find it extremely difficult to get approved. A bad credit loan is a term that can refer to several different sources of financial aid. A payday loan is a type of bad credit loan and is also the 5th most searched loan category in Alabama over the past year. However, a type of loan that seems to be relatively unknown in Alabama is a car title loan. Commonly referred to as “the cousin of payday loans”, a car title loan allows a borrower to obtain cash with no credit check and the amount they can receive is based upon their car’s value.

Car title loans are commonly mistaken for auto loans. An auto loan is when a lender provides a borrower with cash in order to purchase a car. A title loan is when a borrower uses the car they already own to acquire funds for whatever expenses they may have. When first hearing about title loans, many potential borrowers worry that they will have to give up their car for the loan. This is not the case – with an auto title loan, the borrower is able to continue driving their vehicle throughout the duration of the loan. The lender simply holds onto the automobile title and when the amount is paid back, the lender returns the title. It’s a very simple concept.

As far as getting a car title loan in Alabama , there is not much information out there about the best companies. From personal research, I recommend using AL-CarTitleLoans.com as they have been involved in the title loan industry for 10+ years and have helped thousands of people with cash needs. They serve the entire state so you don’t have to worry about a long drive to their location – they most certainly have a store just minutes from where you reside.

I took my kids to a state park in Mississippi last summer and asked them about what they thought when we finished a day of hiking.  Here’s what my angels said:

• Chairlifts need to be in some places so that we can get to the top without having to hike to them.
• Need more signs so we know what to look for in nature.
• A McDonald’s would be nice at the middle.
• Too many rocks in the mountains.

So this year we’re staying home. Money is tight as it is – I didn’t have much to spare and then last month the car broke down. I wasn’t sure how to pay for it, but then I found I could pawn my car, with Car Title Loans in Millbrook. I kept the car, of course, but used the money for the mechanic shop. I don’t like borrowing, but it was something I knew I could pay back over a few weeks.  It was a perfect answer to my problems, my own mountain to climb, but we got it done.  I called friends all around, in Autaugaville, Billingsley, Booth, Prattville, Marbury, to let them know about well this works.

My sister is crazy. We took a trip to Georgia to a state park there, and she left them a note in their suggestions box: “Too many bugs and leeches and spiders and spider webs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the area of these pests.”

She was being serious! I told her that was the spiders’ home and we were just visitors. Not sure if that sunk in.

But she’s a little smarter about money. Sometimes when I’m running short, I ask her to borrow some. She loans it to me when she can, but the last time she gave me a better idea. She said go to Car Title Loans in Midfield.  It’s car pawn shop, a place to get fast cash on your car title.  So I did, and it worked! I called me friends all around — in Brookside, Kimberly, Morris, Mulga, North Johns and right here in Midfield –– to tell them how easy it is.

A woman wrote a letter to the newspaper with a complaint about the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge.  She said: “Trails need to be wider so people can walk while holding hands.”

That gave me a laugh. I wouldn’t go near that place – there’s alligators everywhere just waiting to eat a tourist.

I take my vacations in Chicago. I love it up there – no alligators, no snakes, no southern gentlemen just going for one thing. And I go in the winter, when they practically pay you to be there. Well, that’s an exaggeration, but prices can be cheaper then.

I had to take an emergency trip to Dallas a few weeks ago to tend to my sister, who is ill. It was not a cheap trip — about $800 for airfare at the last minute. So I went to Car Title Loans in Eufaula, where I got cash in a day, in time to book a flight. I tell all my friends in Bakerhill, Blue Springs, Louisville, Elamville, Clio and Clayton about this — its a smart way to get cash fast.

CAR-TITLE-LOANS-IN-EUFAULA.INFO

There is no shortage of lunacy on this earth. My brother is a forest ranger in Georgia and says they get crazy stuff in their inbox.  One was something like this: “A small deer came into my camp and stole my bag of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed? Please call.” Another one was “Escalators would help on steep uphill sections.”

I think it speaks in part to a sense of entitlement that a lot of people have (they get a lot of weekend naturalists from Atlanta, no surprise).

I never had that. I always had to work for my money, and don’t expect the government or family or friends to provide. Lately I’ve had a hard go of things, with unexpected expenses that usually arrive when you can least afford them. My solution now is Car Title Loans in Clanton.  I own my car outright, so I can borrow against its book value when I have to.

My motto is there are no free elevators for most of us in life. But I take the stairs just fine, thank you.

Just so you know, Clanton is near Calera, Jemison, Maplesville, Thorsby and Verbena, Alabama.

The strongest muscle in the body is the TONGUE. You can make what you want of that fact, but I think it has more to do with the power of words, good and bad.

Center Point is a small town in the overall scheme of things. But with the internet, it’s the center of the universe, just the way places like Birmingham, Bessemer, Midfield, Cardiff, Sylvan Springs and Graysville are too. You go online and say what you want and that’s it — someone in New Guinea might be reading it two hours later.

But all this ability to communicate can come up and bite you in the ass.  Turns out I got nailed with a defamation lawsuit for something I said about someone on the web. I didn’t know it could happen, and in fact the case was thrown out of court. But that wasn’t before I spent $3800 on a lawyer to help me fight it.

And that was NOT money I had to spare. So I did what my father taught me: use your resources for the problems at hand. That was the first time I considered a car title pawn store. Except this one is online — I used Car Title Loans in Center Point to get me that cash.  It was fast and convenient, a great way to find money when you need it.

I just read that Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined. And we certainly see that with so many of our famous Tigers who’ve made it into the pros. It’s where our society places its values.

But I was an English major, and stuck around town after college long enough to get a job in a bookstore, then as a librarian. It’s the life I love, but it comes with economic challenges.

First off, you have a lot of expenses being literate. You want to travel to the places you read about in books. And it’s possible to travel on the cheap – I drove to Mississippi to Eudora Welty’s home, and have walked the steps of Faulkner, and even hung out in Monroeville to catch a glimpse at Harper Lee. Other times, I just travel to estate sales in nearby towns – Beauregard, Beulah, Loachapoka, Opelika, Roxana – where it’s possible to find rare old books for something like 50 cents.

But even that kind of travel takes money. So what I’ve worked out is a plan for travel cash. I borrow money from Car Title Loans in Auburn at times when I want to go somewhere but don’t have the funds. It’s a car pawn shop, of sorts, and it is fully civilized on the Internet.  You get your cash in two days, which satisfies my own instincts to act impulsively. I guess a car is freedom in many respects.

I think if you read the newspapers or watch CNN these days, this should come as no shock: The most common name in the world is Mohammed.  But here in Alex City or anywhere along the Tallapoosa River, anyone 30 years and older, the top name is Ralph. Because Shug (Ralph) Jordan was the best coach EVER for the Auburn Tigers before he retired in 1975.  Some of the kids born in the last ten years are Tommys, but I haven’t heard of anyone naming a kid Gene yet (too early, let’s give Chizik a chance).

Sports heroes always get kids named after them. Not business people (we have a few Russells but that name is dying out). If we named our kids for where all our money goes, then yeah, we would have Mohammeds all over kindergarten.

My sad story is how I had to drive every week to Houston where our son was getting treatment for a heart ailment.  He was there for six weeks.  And don’t think for a moment I didnt’ go into debt with the time off work and all the gas for driving there. I personally financed a lot of Mohammeds during that time. And I accumulated some debt during that time.

My wife says I need a smaller car, not a Chevy Surburban. I point out to her that it’s paid for, and that the truck brought me cash that we needed.  This came from a car title loan from Car Title Loans in Alexander City. They give you cash if you hold title on a vehicle. It’s a great way to pay for transportation costs, as was my problem.  Pay off the loan and you can go back for more, which I probably will have to do.

I told my friends all over the place about this — in Dadeville, Tallassee, Camp Hill, Daviston, Goldville — because they have need for cash too, sometimes.

I guess the richer you are, the more you pay for fuel. I heard that the cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns. Then again, the hybrids use less but they cost way more than they should.

But cars can be good for money, regardless of whether they’re old or new, Chevies or Lexuses. That’s because if you’re like me, once in a while you need more cash. It can be for an emergency, or an opportunity, like to buy something on sale. I use my five year old Honda for car title loans all the time. I used to go to a car pawn place, but now it’s easier than ever on the Internet.  I use Montgomery Car Title Loans, the best place I’ve found for convenience and time and rates. It takes about fifteen minutes max to fill out the form, then you get approved in less than an hour, then you get your money as early as the next day. It’s perfect.

I believe in it so much, I tell all my friends – it doesn’t matter where you live, they are in Prattville, Millbrook, Wetumpka, Hope Hull, Elmore – and they’ve all found it to be a good back up for cash crunch times.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

I read that on the Internet. And I think the billing department at my dentist’s office was designed by the IRS.

Seriously, the last bill for my wife’s cosmetic dental work was $6500. This did not come at a good time. She’s out of work, interviewing for new jobs, and the rationale is good looks get you hired. I agree and understand. So the question was, where’s the money coming from when my salary is covering everything right now and the credit cards are near their limit?

I got creative. I looked at the Toureg and figured it was good as collateral. Sure enough, went on the Internet and found Car Title Loans in Vestavia HIlls. It works — you get the money in a day or two, and you pay it off on your schedule. I called around to friends and family everywhere – Birmingham, Alabaster, Indian Springs Village, Meadowbrook,  Westover – and they all knew about this method. Several people said it’s pretty much just like a home equity loan. Both my wife and I are smiling.