Saturday morning I woke up to a dead cell phone. I left it in the charger so I knew it wasn’t the battery. My first thought was that my cell phone company went bankrupt. Three months ago this idea would have never entered my mine. Only today company bankrupts are so common, you expect them. Like most of you, I don’t have a home land line, but when you don’t have access to something is when you need it the most.

This got me to thinking about money and lending.

As the credit crunch continues to tighten no one is going to be able to get traditional bank loans. Americans won’t be able to get money to fix the roofs on their homes, let alone get a new mortgage. What options are available?

If you’re thinking pay day loans. My advice? Skip it. These places are bad deals for several reasons: Outrageous interest rates (think above 20%), market saturation in economically strapped communities, and they don’t facilitate good money or debt management.

If you need a loan for a business start up, new car purchase, or for home repairs your best bet for a loan might be peer-to-peer lending. This is an arrangement where you borrow from groups of people rather than traditional financial institutions.

In some cases the lending process is faster. For instance, instead of filling out a long application, you might be asked to put together a profile that includes information on why you’re seeking the loan and your financial history. Not bad considering the interest rates are better than banks.

Where can you find out about peer-to-peer and social lending organizations? Start here:

Lending Club (request personal loans, refinance high interest loans, pay for one-time events weddings, cross country move)

Prosper (list and bid on loans)

Fundable (groups of people put their money together for a purchase or raise money for a cause)

Virgin Money (manage lending between friends and relatives)

Popularity: 56% [?]

Technorati Tags: lending, Loans

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