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Today's guess · Sat, Oct 24

A $400 payday loan, rolled over four times.

Each time you pay only the $60 fee and the due date moves two weeks. After ten weeks you pay it off.

How much have you paid in fees?

$150
$0$800
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The real number

$300

It comes to $300.

Your guess—
The real figure$300

And you still had to repay the $400: $700 in all, for ten weeks of a $400 loan.

Why so much?

Why

A rollover buys two more weeks. It does not touch what you owe.

What you paid, $700
  • $300 fees
  • $400 the loan

Five fees of $60. The balance never moved.

How common

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that most payday loans are renewed or followed by another loan within two weeks.

Show me one move

One move

Ask for a payment plan before the due date.

Rolled over 4 times

$300fees
$700paid in all

Paid off at two weeks

$60fee
$460paid in all

Each rollover costs another $60.

Some states require lenders to offer an extended payment plan at no extra cost. Ask, in writing, before the loan is due.

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Now yours

Your loan, renewed.

The fee is $60.00; you repay $460.00 in 14 days. As a yearly rate that is 391.07%. Renewed 4 times: $300 in fees, $700 in all, over 70 days.

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The whole story, as text

A $400 payday loan, rolled over four times. What did it cost?

A $400 payday loan, rolled over four times. Each time you pay only the $60 fee and the due date moves two weeks. After ten weeks you pay it off. How much have you paid in fees?

The answer

$300. And you still had to repay the $400: $700 in all, for ten weeks of a $400 loan.

Why

A rollover buys two more weeks. It does not touch what you owe. $300 fees, $400 the loan. Five fees of $60. The balance never moved. How common: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that most payday loans are renewed or followed by another loan within two weeks.

One move

Ask for a payment plan before the due date. Rolled over 4 times: $300 fees, $700 paid in all. Paid off at two weeks: $60 fee, $460 paid in all. Each rollover costs another $60. Some states require lenders to offer an extended payment plan at no extra cost. Ask, in writing, before the loan is due.

Yours

What does this payday loan really cost? runs these numbers for any loan. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Written and reviewed by Riverbend Crossroads Digital LLC, Saturday, October 3, 2026. Figures from the Show Real Cost engine, computed exactly and shown to the cent. Educational, not advice; your lender's disclosures are the authoritative figures. How we calculate · Corrections.