Skint mates

[kingcook]

Skint relations is a more pressing issue for moi!

Brother just going through a painful divorce & his building business failing has cost me 4k in loans so far (doubt I'll get back)

Sister in Law was hospitalised for 8 weeks - bunged her 2k so she didn't have to worry about finding the rent (I know for certain it will never be repaid)

Kids who still think the Bank of Mum & Dad is the answer (they are quickly learning that this facility has now closed)

I lent money to a mate, £500 a couple of years ago, just before Xmas. We both agreed he'd pay back £100/mth, but repayments wouldn't start til after Xmas. Received the 1st payment in January but then i'd have to constantly phone or text him to remind him he was late paying on the other payments. At times he'd just go totally silent. Ended up dropping monthly payments by half and even then it went sour.

Eventually got the whole amount back but I will never do it again. I wouldn't have minded if he'd have kept in contact and kept me up to date, even £10/mth would have been ok!

[Troll]

Agreed! But it's not on when you give e.g. £5 tip, then someone else in the group see's that as a £5 reduction for their part of the bill

Agreed so what I usually do is leave my tip slipped into the waiter/ess hand as I depart - but I do despair when out with fellow contractors who are all earning £500+@day begrudging a fiver to someone who is probably on £6.50 @hour

[formant]

I lent money to a mate, £500 a couple of years ago, just before Xmas. We both agreed he'd pay back £100/mth, but repayments wouldn't start til after Xmas. Received the 1st payment in January but then i'd have to constantly phone or text him to remind him he was late paying on the other payments. At times he'd just go totally silent. Ended up dropping monthly payments by half and even then it went sour.

Eventually got the whole amount back but I will never do it again. I wouldn't have minded if he'd have kept in contact and kept me up to date, even £10/mth would have been ok!

I once helped a friend (?) buy a £250 car after hers broke down and she was totally desperate. She was about to get married, so I said I'd lend her £100 and the remaining £150 would be my wedding present. A day later a bus drove into her 'new' car. Car got written off and she pulled the whiplash card and got an insurance payout of over 5k.

It's been 2 years and to date she hasn't paid me back. I don't lend people money anymore. I may invite mates out for a meal if I know I make a hell of a lot more than they do - but then I also get taken out that way by friends of mine who work in finance and earn way more than me.

[Pondlife]

If you lend a mate a couple of quid and never hear from them again it's money well spent.

[Platypus]

I once helped a friend (?) buy a £250 car after hers broke down and she was totally desperate

Yes, I'd do the same. After all, you might get a sh@g out of it

She was about to get married

Oh. Then I wouldn't have helped her.

[formant]

Yes, I'd do the same. After all, you might get a sh@g out of it

Haha! That's one way of looking at it.
(I'm female though, and not into the ladies...)

[Ketchup]

I went out for my friends birthday meal a few months ago, the bill came (and after the usual infuriating arguments about who had a started and who ate more of the olives) we agreed how much each of us were to pay, i foolishly agreed to collect the money, and 1 person didn't pay, i ended up footing the bill of someone who saw it as an opportunity to save a few quid.

[hyperD]

Went to a restaurant with a group of people and we started ordering. One of the guys looked at the menu and ordered the soup starter for mains. As we got half way around the table someone enquired as to how we were splitting the bill. We agreed to split it equally. This guy then immediately drags the waiter over and changes his order to fillet steak!

[OwlHoot]

If you lend a mate a couple of quid and never hear from them again it's money well spent.

WHS

Also, if you lend someone a small amount of money, which they "forget" to repay, you can cite that when refusing to lend them any more if they have the cheek to ask.

[yasockie]

It is an issue. I'm very lucky to be very good at what I do and in turn get paid tulip loads to do it. I can't say many people spent the last 7 years of their 20s on 100k+ without working in the city.

I have friends who can't afford the rent while I know I could buy thier house with the cash I have sitting in the bank but you can't offer it save for offending them and throwing your cash around. Probably the reason I spend so little and drive and 8 year old car with 200k+ on the clock....helps me blend in to "normal" society.

Wow...that makes me sound like Dexter.

I've met a few industrialist, a couple of generations older than who built their empires starting as far back as 1920s (I'm talking the likes of Ingvar Kamprad).
Pretty much all of them said that at one point or the other they could have made even more money at the expense of the people that they employed and they didn't since they were earning enough so it didn't really matter. One even went ahead and said he felt a moral obligation to spend the money he'd been earning to give meaningful employment to as many people as he could.
I find that approach to be far more sensible than just spending on yachts (unless you're spending on ones with a crew) or donating to charity - in general just put the money back in the economy in the right way and in the process people will benefit (by having employment) and probably you will benefit as well.