One of the recurring arguments in favor of payday loans is that the fees are cheaper than bounced checks. (See the May 14 letters to the editor section in The Toledo Blade regarding the payday loan debate in Ohio.)

Yes, a bounced check is a big problem. The bank fees, which are nasty, are problem enough. The businesses to whom you wrote the check can also take action.

I had a high school classmate who, as a 20-something, was banned from writing checks at one business after writing two bad checks to them within a year. Much to his annoyance, when other businesses learned his name was on a blacklist, they wouldn’t take his check either. He had to use cash for a lot of transactions.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, you do have another choice than payday loan or bounced checks:

Figure out another way to stay within those paychecks.

Need some new ideas beyond what you’re already doing? Well, given the economy, there’s more information than ever in the media and on the Internet about personal finance and frugal living.

If one idea doesn’t work for your family or circumstances, go to the next one.

Once you figure out how much time and effort it takes to shave $15 or $30 off your normal monthly expenses, you’ve given yourself a really big incentive to use any means possible to avoid the fees of a payday loan or bounced check.