I recently graduated with a phd, moved to a new state to start job... now I find out that I am going to have to wait until Nov. 1 before I can start my job due to employee enrollment screw-up. Now I'm freaked out, need to pay bills on Nov. 1, but have no income until near end of Nov. I'm thinking I might need to get a personal loan of some sort, do you think I can get this type of loan with only an employment contract? what bank, company is best for this type of loan? can someone spell out the differences b/w an unsecured personal loan and a personal line of credit?
Do you have any credit cards that will do a balance transfer into your checking account? Citi and BofA both offer this occasionally. That would seem to be the best bet, since you don't have to qualify for it, you already have the card. After that, if you belong to a credit union, I'd go there and talk to them. Or a small town bank, someplace that they'll actually sit and talk to you, not just look at the application (no employment) and scores. The difference between the personal loan and unsecured or personal line of credit is that the loan is just that--a loan of a certain amount of money to be paid back in a certain time. It is a one-time loan and the payments are set for a certain number of months. A line of credit is like a credit card in that it revolves. You usually get approved for a certain limit, and you can write checks as you wish up to the limit. Your payment is based on the balance each month. As you pay it off, the credit becomes available to be used again, and you can write another check for a new expense. That's why I say it's like a credit card--you can borrow money at any time, the payments are determined by the balance, and of course the term is determined by how much you borrow and how fast you pay it back.
