Archive for July, 2008

As Chief Marketing Officer at Upromise from 2002 - 2004, I had the good fortune to meet Michael Bronner, who founded the company, and to work with Senator Bill Bradley, who sat on the Board of Directors.  Both shared my passionate belief in the right to a college education and saw the impending shortfall in funding coming a mile away.

Bronner founded Upromise with the mission to make a college education more accessible and affordable. Senator Bradley has a long track record of support for higher education and continues to put the issue at the top of his agenda, as he did once more in his recent Salt Lake City address. The two were a perfect match and an inspiration to work with. They both care deeply about preventing young people from being forced to choose between work and education.

The Upromise business model is brilliantly simple:  Every time a member buys something from a participating company, that sponsor company contributes part of the purchase price to the member’s tax-deferred college savings account.  Not only is Michael Bronner an impressive brand loyalty pioneer, he’s fundamentally changed the way families save for college.

I now work for Prosper, but I’m a still a member of Upromise and look forward to being prepared when I send my son to college. I also have a Citi MasterCard that puts dollars into our college savings account every time I use it.  And use it I do!  Lest I forget, my son is sure to remind me-he wants to go to college as much as we want him to.

Prosper is also committed to helping people get loans to assist them in their endeavors.  Founded by Chris Larsen and John Witchel, both believe in the philosophy of letting people help people by being able to determine how and where their money gets allocated and at what price.  Prosper is based on an auction-style system which allows a person with funds to commit to select borrowers that are suitable for their degree of risk tolerance.  It’s important to me that we, the people, are stepping up to help those students put education first when banks are closing their door to funding.

American families today are more worried about being able to send their kids to college than they are about their own retirement. Three cheers for innovative tools for college funding like personal loans for students on Prosper and college savings networks like Upromise. Three cheers for people like Michael Bronner and Senator Bill Bradley, and Chris Larsen and John Witchel, who bring them to fruition.

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Catherine Muriel is the Chief Marketing Officer of Prosper.

I had the pleasure of attending a 4th of July celebration in Sonoma, CA. The town pulls out all the stops to put on an old fashioned 4th of July celebration. From the parade, to the carnival in the town square, to the fire department sponsored fireworks everything was incredible… I hope everyone’s 4th of July celebration was festive and safe.

Here are some of my favorite posts from around the blogosphere…

Personal Loan Portfolio hosted the 10th Edition of the Carnival of Peer-to-peer Lending. Here are my favorite articles of the carnival that have not already been highlighted in a previous roundup…

• A Borrower’s Guide to Using Prosper by Earthlier Happy is the Rose Distilled
• P2P Lending/Borrowing on Prosper.com

The Digerati Life says she is Proud To Be An American Says This First Generation Immigrant

Rich Credit Debt Loan shows 4 Easy Ways to Raise Your Credit Score

Lazy Man had these Budget Fourth of July Activities

Cash Money Life offers The Other America - Commentary on Food Stamps and the Economy

My Two Dollars hosted a post concerning The Difference $10 A Day Makes.

And given the need for safety this weekend and to provide at least a little humor (see the picture on the post). SFBoater presents Boat Trailer Safety — Always use Backstraps

Want to be a part of this round up in the future? It is easy… leave a relevant blog comment and/or link to a Prosper blog post in a relevant way from your own blog. Then, when I stop by your blog to see who you are, be sure to have fresh content as most of the posts that will be highlighted here will have been published in the last week.

Plus blogs that send trackbacks that are approved will be featured in the sidebar while their trackback remains one of the last 5 received.

While this will not guarantee that you will be included it will certainly get my attention… The blogs featured here already have my attention. Will you be next?

Photo Credit 1

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RateLadder is a Prosper lender and has been since July, 2006. He has a passion for p2p lending. He owns RateLadder — My Prosper.com Journey and other P2P Lending Adventures, P2P No Bank the P2P Blog Aggregate, and ProProsper — Professional Tools for Prosper Lenders featuring SQL access to Prosper data.

The Fourth of July is up there with Halloween as one of my favorite holidays. I love it so much that I have a Thomas Rebek water-color of the Boston Esplanade hanging in my bedroom. The weather is usually perfect, you often get a four day weekend of freedom from work, and the food… doesn’t everyone love barbecues?

There is only one problem, it can get expensive. As WCCO TV reports, food, fireworks, and travel are going to be more expensive this year. Everyone knows about the food and the travel expenses, but I was surprised to learn that fireworks are up 30%. I think you should skip the fireworks and leave it to the city. No only are they illegal in many states - why would you pay 30% for the privilege of losing a finger?

How can you lower the cost of the Fourth of July and still have fun? It helps to get creative. Here are a few tips:

Look to the Community
I noticed that a neighboring town is having a full day of activities starting at 8AM and carrying through to the 9:30PM fireworks. Activities are family friendly and this one includes a pancake breakfast, parades, dog shows, four concerts, and of course a barbecue. I’m sure the barbecue and pancake breakfast are going to cost a nominal fee, but they are for good charities. Chances are you live near a community that has similar activities.

Throw a Pot-Luck Barbeque
My mother always said that many hands make light work. When it comes to the Fourth of July, many wallets make for a cheap party. Get a bunch of friends and throw a party. Everyone should bring something. If you get enough people, each person can take advantage of bulk purchases at warehouse stores such as Costco. You can save a lot of money by buying 40 hamburgers at one time. If you are looking for some cheap foods, here is a great list of frugal Fourth foods (say that five times fast). As a final tip: Don’t get stuck as the guy who has to buy the beer if invited.

Try not to Travel, but…
If your plans involve traveling and it’s too late to change your plans, you can at least look to travel cheaper. Look for some ways to save on fuel. While on the road, keep your eyes open for cheap eats along the way. I recommend Taco Bell’s Fresco Menu - for around a dollar you can get a choice of a few options that are high in protein and low in fat. Lastly, please don’t add to any credit card debt to celebrate the Fourth of July. Credit cards can charge more than 20% interest, which compounds extremely fast.

You can skimp on a number of things; just don’t skimp on the fun.

Photo Credit: 1

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Lazy Man has been a lender at Prosper since February 2006. He is the author of the personal finance blog, Lazy Man and Money (where he wonders Is MonaVie a Scam?) and the health and fitness blog, Lazy Man and Health (extolling the virtues of Beer as a Healthy Drink).

Although peer-to-peer lending has been around since the earliest recorded civilizations, it was not until recently that it became a recognized phenomenon. The birth of the Internet changed the face of peer-to-peer lending, giving an old concept a new name and a new focus. Throughout history, peer-to-peer lending has been responsible for building cities, keeping farmers solvent, and allowing for the expansion of cultures that are still in existence today.

Social networking has had a significant impact on peer-to-peer lending. Previously, when someone needed funds, the sources for funds were usually limited to close friends or family, or possibly the local bank. The main problem with this model was that, sooner or later, friends and family won’t have money to loan, and a bank may want to charge too much interest. Today, thanks to peer-to-peer lending, when someone needs a loan, they have access to individuals willing to commit funds from all over the world at their fingertips.

Kiva was one of the first non-profit peer-to-peer lending sites to come onto the scene, allowing people from all over the world to connect with investors. Prosper joined the peer-to-peer ranks in the US, and quickly took off from there. Their model was so successful, in fact, that they recently announced a new expansion into Japan. The UK-based company Zopa is also growing, and will now be available to residents in Italy.

In ancient times, most sought peer-to-peer loans because there was a lack of organized lending institutions, and because it was just easier. Today, consumers are interested in peer-to-peer lending because they have far more options than they normally would with a traditional banking relationship.

Instead of being forced to accept standard terms and often high interest rates, peer-to-peer lending allows consumers to set the maximum interest rate they are willing to pay, and in some cases, their own terms. Studies have shown that interest rates for peer-to-peer lending can be much lower than those charged by banks, with terms that both borrowers and lenders frequently prefer.

Peer-to-peer lending in the 21st Century has become more efficient with the ability to instantly check credit criteria and with access to a much larger borrowing and lending community. Peer-to-peer lenders are able to spread out their risk and borrowers have new ways to get the funding they need.

As payday loans become more expensive and consumers struggle to make ends meet in the current economy, peer-to-peer lending stands as a favorable solution. The current economic outlook has also forced many banks to rethink their lending practices of the past few years, and standard loans are currently much harder to procure. However, through peer-to-peer lending, prospective borrowers now have a viable alternative to get the money they need.

Throughout history, each society and culture has played a role in shaping peer-to-peer lending. From ancient Mesopotamian farmers to today’s social network users, the demand for new loans has remained steady. Thanks to these new online options, consumers now have access to peer-to-peer lending in far greater numbers, and it is likely that p2p lending will continue to thrive well in the future.