Just speading the word about good causes - Kiva

Kiva is a website where normal people loan money to other normal people in the developing world. Loans start at $25 and can go up as much as you want. Loans get paid back and then you can choose to take your money out or to then loan it to someone else.

You pick who to loan the money too out of the stories of all the people on the website. This is a loan so sometimes the money never gets repaid but they have a very low default rate (all explained on their website).

What is $25 worth to me?

It is 11 weeks of buying a tv guide when I can get the information for free on the internet.

It is 7 days of parking tickets when I drive my car to work instead of walking there in 20 minutes.

It is 6 days of buying lunch instead of getting up ten minutes earlier in the morning and making lunch at home to take with me for a fraction of the cost.

It is 2 books when I can borrow them from the library for free.

It is 2 dvds when I have too many already.

It is 1 computer game when I should interact more with people and less with electronics.

It is 1 take away pizza when I have food in the house that will probably go out of date before it is eaten.

It is 1 month of what I spend on chocolate.

I am lucky, I can buy the food I want, I live in a secure environment, I have a comfortable home. I can give up the above luxuries and invest the money in someone who has not had the opportunities, the advantages and benefits that I have had.

It will not alter my life that much, and it will make me a better, healthier and more sociable person.