As personal budgets become overstretched during the ongoing financial turmoil, even students are turning to pay day loans to help make ends meet, a new survey shows.

According to the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, at least five per cent of freshman at the University of Arizona obtained a pay day loan last year, Arizona Republic reports.

This is almost double the number of students making use of such loans a year ago, according to a similar survey which questioned university students of all ages.

Pay day loans offer access to credit on a short-term basis. The amounts borrowed typically range from between $100 and $1500 and are repaid once the borrower receives his or her next pay check.

KLAS-TV reported recently that pay day lenders are seeing an increase in business as the credit crunch puts a strain on consumers' personal finances.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart said it had witnessed a shift in shoppers' buying habits, claiming many people are now living from pay check to pay check and purchasing essential goods at the beginning of the month when they have more cash.

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