My water heater is on its last legs just when I have lost my job and am already gotten behind in my bills. With bad credit, where will I find the fast cash to buy a new one?

Complicating things, I had hoped to buy a tankless water heater, the energy- and water-efficient models that instantly heat your water on demand.  They take up less space, save 34% of energy costs with every monthly bill and save about six gallons a day on water use (you don’t have to run the tap so long waiting for the hot temp water to arrive).  If I install it in 2009, I get a federal tax credit of $300.  Our local hardware store is offering these heaters now in a pre-purchase sale.  You sign the contract with a $300 down payment today, you get the water heater at 15% off and the tax credit next year.

I hate missing out on deals like this, especially since it will pay me back over time.  So I went to Houston Car Title Loans for a simple $900 against the title on my old 1999 Honda.  The online application allowed me to avoid going to that storefront car title place on Bellaire Boulevard here in Houston.  It was a 20 minute investment of time and I got the loan the next day in my checking account.

An automobile title loan in the right place and right time can translate into major home energy improvement savings – even for me, a guy with no job and nowhere else to borrow from.

My goal is to be as environmental as possible.  In a place like Houston, that may seem like a lonely and ill-fated pursuit.  Just hear me out.

For the purpose of reducing me energy use, I was thinking about getting a new refrigerator for the last three years.  I had read that old refrigerators use more electricity, and mine was from the 1970s, the harvest gold color.  My wife hated it, but we have bad credit and not a lot of spare cash.  Getting a loan to buy one just wasn’t in the cards.  

But I own my truck, having finished the payments in 2007.  And I heard you could get money from a title loan, no credit check necessary.  Great. And then I went on Craigslist and found all kinds of things at fire sale prices (well, actually from unsold condos out in Oak Lawn).  Would you believe they had Energy Star rated, stainless steel refrigerators that originally were $3000, now available for $1000?  Well, they did.

The refrigerators were being sold the next day, so I needed fast cash.  I went to Houston Car Title Loans, where they told me I could get up to $4000.  All I needed was the $1000 so I filled out the online application and in about 15 minutes.  The money was in my checking account the next morning, and I was able to get the refrigerator/freezer the next day.  It’s beautiful, and my electricity costs went down by 25% the first month.

I never borrow money for frivolous things like TVs or vacations.  But this is to save energy, and it was an automobile title loan that made it happen.

- Caleb D.