Prosper borrowingI wrote last month about my initial experience with Prosper.com, getting started as a borrower on the site.

This month starts my monthly payback on the amount I borrowed. The monthly amount is split up over 36 months. This is actually a decent timeframe for borrowing. It allows the lenders a mid-range length of time on which to get their money back (with interest) and it doesn’t seem to long for the borrower, in comparison to a car, house, etc.

One thing that I was hoping to see was information on paying extra or paying off the loan early. The normal monthly amount is taken out automatically from the checking account, which is great for budgeting. You are also sent an email about 7 days before the money is to be taken out as well, also very handy. And, you can pay extra or pay off the loan by logging in to your prosper.com account and clicking on the pay now option for your loan. This also is taken out of your checking account (or you can add a savings account), usually within 3-4 business days.

Though no debt really is good in my opinion, curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to check it out. Once this loan is paid off in the next few months, then I will take you through the lending portion of this site. Until then, you can check out Prosper’s forums (sign up to post) for other information that you may want.

If you should decide that you want to borrow as well, here are a couple of points:

1. State the facts of who you are and what you want with the money
2. Give a couple reasons why you are good for the money, be open.
3. If you have any trouble in your past, own up to it
4. Join a group — you will get a better interest rate and a better chance of being funded
5. Be personable, write like you are talking to a friend. But leave off the slang.

Pretty simple really. These lenders are people like you and me, yet they hold the money, so keep that in mind if you borrow