Americans use loans for these surprising expenses

Forget credit cards, more people are taking out loans to pay for their regular annual expenses, a new study shows.

In fact, there are cyclical trends emerging monthly based on individuals’ financial priorities, according to a report from financial tech firm LendingPoint.

For example, in August, individuals request the largest number of loans for moving and wedding costs.

Meanwhile, in September, borrowers are about two and a half times as likely to use the loan money on emergency expenses. During this month lenders also see an uptick in requests by borrowers looking to finance their vacations.

As tax season approaches, February is the month that consumers are most likely to borrow for related expenses.

Around the holidays, more people are likely to take out a loan to make a major expense or purchase, with December being the most popular month for this request. This also happens to be the month when people turn to lenders for elective medical costs.

In May, more borrowers are looking to take out loans for their businesses.

Personal loans are increasing in popularity, and, as a result, Americans are continuing to pile on the debt. The value of outstanding personal loans ballooned to about $120 billion as of March, according to TransUnion, as reported by Quartz.

Here is LendingPoint’s complete list of cyclical, monthly loan trends:

January- N/A

February- Taxes

March- Auto

April- N/A

May- Business

June- Home improvement

July- N/A

August- Moving/Wedding

September- Emergency/Vacation

October- Medical

November- N/A

December- Elective medical/Major expense, purchase

LendingPoint analyzed 100,000 personal loans it made to individuals between 2015 and 2017 to create this study.