Sometimes it can seem like life is getting out of hand, and you might need some extra money to get through it... at other times, though, you might find that your need for additional funds is motivated more by want than need.

In many cases there is nothing wrong with this discrepancy, but in those instances where there is a concern as to whether or not you can afford the additional expense of a monthly payment it can be quite important.

Below you'll find some questions and general guidelines designed to help you determine whether or not you actually need the loan that you're contemplating, or whether it's simply a matter of something that you want.

Can you afford the loan?

One of the first things that you should ask yourself when trying to determine if you actually need the loan or not is whether you can afford the monthly payments that the loan will incur. If you're not sure, then you might want to take the time to itemize your bills and other payments and create a simple home budget.

Once you've listed all of your expenses and determined approximately how much money you have left over after everything has been paid, compare the approximate monthly payment for the loan to the average amount that you have left over.

If the loan payments would go over the amount that remains (or even if it just gets really close), you might want to do some further investigation as to whether the loan is really needed because you'll be stretching your finances really thin with the new monthly loan payments.

Is the loan for something important?

Taking a moment to look at exactly what the loan money will be used for might help you determine exactly how important the loan is. Ask yourself whether the subject of the loan is something that is quite important to get right now, or whether the loan could be put off for a little longer.

Consider how delaying the loan might affect your day-to-day life in comparison to how it would be if you went ahead and applied for the loan now would there be some drastic difference, other than being able to purchase the subject of the loan?

If you find that the loan could be delayed and you can't really afford the loan payments without stretching your finances, it would be best to put off your application until a time when you have more money available.

Do you really need the loan?

After you've considered both the importance of the loan and whether or not you can really afford it, you should be getting an idea of whether you truly need the loan or if it's just something that you would like to have.

Of course, if you can afford to make the monthly payments to repay the loan then it isn't as important whether you need or simply want the subject of the loan.

If you find that the loan isn't something that you absolutely need and your finances would be stretched to the point that you might not be able to make all of your payments on time, however, then you might be best served by putting aside some of your money for a while to build up savings until you can better afford to apply for the loan.

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