Gymnastics gold, silver, and the fabulous one two of Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson inspire this week’s roundup.

To start off CNN Money writes 17 ways to raise fast cash; of course there is a catch. This is a list of the 17 worst ways to raise the money even though each item does include a pro except number 17. Borrowing from mom and dad is the only one without a hard con.

Eat out like you used to and still save money at restaurants. Lazy Man and Money shows you how with these ten tips.

Rich Credit Debt Loan writes this week on what you need to know before buying a foreclosed property.

Would you prefer a four day work week? Cash Money Life explores the pros and cons of this new schedule. What say you?

Generation X Finance posts two-thirds of corporations don’t pay taxes - nothing more than political hogwash . The post goes into depth explaining business operations and taxes associated with companies.

Digerati Life looks into the best company to work for: money and perks like no other. Can you guess the name of this company? Hint: You access this company everyday.

Brip Blap blogs on the truth about passive income—it’s more humorous than anything else.

My Dollar Plan goes over 7 Sneaky Ways Your Health Insurance Can Save You Money.

Photo Credits: 1

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.

Within the vast billing network of your various goods and services, fees are affecting everyone these days. Banks, credit cards, mobile phones and even your retirement fund, for example, can siphon funds from you without your oversight. Make it a resolution now to look for the following hidden fees and gain extra money in your budget. There are many books about this topic, one of which is written by Bob Sullivan called Gotcha Capitalism.

Checking Account
The old checkbook is going the way of the horse and buggy, but not yet. Now is the time to scrutinize the monthly statement for service fees, ATM charges, even insufficient balance penalties.

Often with either comparing other types of checking accounts that your bank offers or looking into competing institutions, there can substantial savings.

Credit Cards
Take all of your plastic out and do a survey. Which one has the highest interest rate? What are the fees on late payments or cash advances?

This is a time where the intense competition between credit card companies can work to your advantage. Transfer funds to a lower interest account or begin to pay the highest one off first are two ways to tame the plastic beast. Compare fees from other companies and give your business to the card that serves you best.

Going Mobile
That super convenient mobile phone also conveniently sucks money out of your pocket. An assessment of your phone plan is necessary especially if you are consistently exceeding your monthly talk minutes. An upgrade to a new plan may be in order, and even if your monthly cost goes up slightly, the additional minutes may cover your overage fees. More importantly, get rid of excess add-ons that you don’t use. Text messaging is the mobile phone company’s best profit friend. If you don’t use it much, it’s an easy savings. And if you still find the costs too high check out alternatives such as Skype Mobile.

Fund Follies
The 401k plan can be your best ally for retirement savings. But first you have to interact with it beyond monthly contributions. Get together with the advisers that either your company provides or get in touch with the persons who sold the fund to your company: you can also do your own research through several websites including the Department of Labor’s employee benefits site. No question is too stupid and understanding the allocations is not difficult if you have the basic explanations. These advisers can also help you allocate your investments within the fund and provide knowledge on fees.

It should not be so hard to find out about the fee structures of your accounts but somehow it is made difficult - not transparent. It is one of the reasons Prosper is so refreshing – all the fees are easy to find, nothing is hidden.

Knowledge has no fee… unless you go Ivy League!

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Steve McDonald is a freelance writer and Prosper member since October 2007.

This week has been interesting to say the least…  I am very much looking to see what the future will hold.  I hope you had a great week as well…

Financial Blogosphere…

Loan Chimp thinks Portfolio Plans are Growing Up

Lending Stats blog on Privatizing risk, socializing losses

Cash Money Life offers this guide on How to Become A Millionaire

Rich Credit Debt Loan reviews the phenomenal book by chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin: The Art of Learning (He was the boy on which the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fisher were based.)

Practically, The Digerati Life offers 15 Fire Safety Tips To Protect Your Home

brip blap says that work-life balance is a false choice

Lazy Man and Money reviewed Free Credit Scores from Credit Karma

Living Off Dividends says Help! I’m Losing My Home To Foreclosure (on his landlord)

Wealth Boy explores Why Drilling Offshore is a Bad Idea

Fishing Blogs

The weather outside is beautiful why are you indoors? 

You should be out fishing like I am a Bass Fisherman… maybe even catch a whopper (or simply relive a past catch) and get paid for your fish story.  Shanan Rosenberg entered the Russian River Steelhead…

 

Golf Blogs

Maybe golf is your thing. Average Golfer, like the rest of the golf blogs, is talking about the phenomenal Greg Norman and Padraig Harrington in Harrington Filets Shark.  Before heading out for a competitive round be sure to follow these 3 Tips for Getting Mentally Prepared to Play Golf.

Fitness and Health Blogs

Perhaps you are into fitness and exercise. Fit Bloggers has it covered, whether the 100 push up challenge or actually doing the 100 push ups.  If you can’t get into the gym here are 8 Easy Ways to Exercise Throughout the Day. For a little humor check out Decrease your Likelihood of Being Hit By a Meteor.

DIY Blog

If all forms of leisure fail, you can always rely on DIY projects…  Here are a few from the Handy Man: Installing Walkway Pavers, How to Make a Mosaic Tile Countertop, or even simply Choosing a New Flooring.

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?

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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.