June, 2009

Cyberpsychology

We stumbled across this post about us on a blog called Cyberpsychology last week. We got a pretty good write up, and particularly love they way they describe the website - 'bright colours, round bouncy writing – basically a website that you enjoy looking at'. Well we always thought so...

Summer Holidays

Summer holiday time is upon us and this year it’s all about the best of British. Now don’t assume that means sitting around on a dirty beach trying to get a sun tan in between the rain clouds, there are many more things to do on our little island than most people are aware of. These are just a few of my favourites: Wimbledon Tennis – White clad players on green grass, a large glass of Pimm’s No. 1 in my hand and I’m in heaven. A Music Festival – Doesn’t matter which one and it usually doesn’t matter if it rains or not (it most likely will rain!) you’re still always guaranteed an amazing time and you can master the art of making welly’s look cool. Chatsworth House – Surrounded by beautiful countryside in the Peak district, this is perfect if you want to get out of the city. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit by having cream teas and drinking copious amounts of the local ale. The Isle of Wight – Feels like you’re going abroad because you have to get on a boat! There are also a surprising number of activities and events from carnivals and concerts at Osborne House to the steam railway. There’s even a Morris Minor Rally! Or you can just head down to the local pub and enjoy the Isle of Wight lobster. Yum!

Budget better online

Do you think you’re generally quite organised with your money, but can’t quite work out exactly where it all goes each month? Same here – even when we think we’re being frugal, the Starbucks habit really adds up. But never fear – there are online tools designed specifically to show you where your cash goes. They’ll help you find out where you’re spending – and you don’t even have to fill in all the details manually. Not only do these tools automatically add each expenditure to your list, but they also categorise it for you so you can start to see exactly where you could be cutting back. You can even set up alerts to stop you from going over your overdraft limit. The first one we’ve found is called Kublax. They say that it's secure and it's free to use, so have a look and let us know what you think!

Post Consumerism

No, apparently it doesn't mean the lull you get after lunch - or is that just us? Zopa feature in the recent article entitled Post-Consumerism: Emerging Needs and Market Opportunities - and they use us as one of their examples of a so called 'Collaborative Networked Business Model'. Apparently this mean we "put citizens at the core of value creation and are actors in the delivery of the service itself." Well, we do try. You can have a look at the whole article here.

The Big Idea

Ever wondered who came up with the idea of Zopa? Think on it no further, because this clip of Giles speaking at a recent event gives an insight into how Zopa was dreamed up, where the idea came from, as well as the general history of the company.

Love Money love us!

We clearly started a trend when we asked our members to make videos about us - now everyone is at it! Love Money have recently published this independent review about us on their website, and we're pretty pleased that we get their 'Love It' vote. Why not sign up and leave your comments about your own Zopa experiences?