16 Stories That Prove Lending Money to Friends and Family Isn’t a Good Idea

We have all needed money at some point. In this situation, everyone has to decide whether it is wise to ask for help from a family member or friend who could lend them some. However, not everyone is good at paying off their debts.

Bright Siders shared the problems they have had when lending money to someone, and well, let’s just say we’ve all learned a couple of valuable lessons about what friendship means.

• A friend asked me to borrow money, and although I did not have much, I tried to lend it to him, hoping he would pay me back the following month. But the next month, he asked me for more money, and I lent it to him again; the third time he asked me to lend it to him, I told him that I didn’t have any, and then he stopped asking. He never paid me back what I had lent him, I thought that money was already lost, but it helped me not to fall for the same trick again. © Eny Reyes / Facebook
• I lent $250 to my “friend’s” family; they were going through a rough patch, and since she knew that my dad had left us money from his life insurance, he asked for help. I, naively, agreed since it was meant to pay for her college tuition fee — that part was true— but afterward, she didn’t even continue studying. Nineteen years have passed, and I saw her constantly going on trips, joining the gym, buying an apartment, getting married, and recently having a child, and I am still waiting for my money. Obviously, at some point, she stopped talking to me. © MariJo Naipes / Facebook
• Many years ago, I went to a friend’s beauty salon. I heard she was very worried and said that she urgently needed $50. She seemed so desperate and sad that I agreed to lend her the money on the condition that she would pay me back within a week. To my surprise, when I returned to her store, she made horrible gestures and did not even speak to me. I finally got her to pay me back, but I never returned to that place. © Fabiola Melo / Facebook

• A “friend” asked me to borrow an amount of money, which really wasn’t much, but at that time, I didn’t have the whole sum. I offered him three-quarters of what he had initially asked for, which was what I had, and to my surprise, he said, “No, I want it all.” Well, sure, that’s okay. I took my money back and left. Oh, the nerve! © Ana Lucia Moreno Troya / Facebook
• My sister lives alone and has no one to help her, so she had some savings. About 3 or more years ago, a friend called her crying and told her that she needed money. According to her, she didn’t even have enough to buy food. My sister lent her those savings she had even though she needed them. The lady simply never returned her calls ever again. She never paid her back, and we discovered that she used it to pay for her son’s graduation trip. As if that wasn’t enough, she had the nerve to threaten my sister when she managed to reach out to her to ask for the money. After she never showed up, she blocked her on Facebook, and just went on with her life as if nothing had happened while my sister struggles every day to meet month’s end without her savings! © Maria Isabel Milani / Facebook
• In 2001, I lent my older sister what I thought was a considerable sum at the time. I had a hard time raising the money since I lived alone with my daughters, but she didn’t mind. It’s been 20 years, and she still hasn’t paid me back. She always says: “I’ve written down what I owe you,” but I think she has already lost the note because she is angry at me. I hope I never speak to her again and that she’ll pay me someday. © Judith Cabezas / Facebook

• I lent $50 to a friend for a month, and when I called her to collect the money, she didn’t answer. One day, when I was finally able to contact her, I mentioned the money, and she hung up on me; I lost my money and lost track of her. Five years have gone by, and not a word from her; that’s how I knew she had never been my friend, and I’m sorry, but I don’t lend money to anyone anymore. © Beatriz Munoz / Facebook
• I lent $50 to a co-worker (she was going through a rough patch). She said, “I’ll pay you back in two payments in one month,” to which I agreed. She paid me the first half in two months, and I told her not to worry anymore about the rest; she could keep it as a Christmas present. She could have simply told me that she didn’t have the money. Anyway, she never asked for money again. © Martha Munguia / Facebook
• Almost two years ago, a “cousin” I don’t even know asked me to borrow money, and she told me she would pay me back in a month. After two months, I reminded her and nothing; sometime later, I reminded her again, and it was the same thing. It’s been two years, and I still have no answer. She lives in Mexico, and I live in the United States. She probably thinks that money comes easy here, but anywhere you live, you have to work very hard. © Lalo Hernandez Lindeman / Facebook

• We lost a 40-year friendship and 2000 USD. He told us, “I’ll pay you back in two months.” He kept coming home to dinner; I don’t think his wife even knew about it. Then one day, I said, “enough, he doesn’t sit at my table anymore.” What hurts us the most is that he didn’t even come over to tell us, “I can’t give them back.” Forget about the money; I felt deceived. © Nora Alcaide / Facebook
• My “friend” did not have enough money to pay the rent, so I lent money, but it was not mine, it was my son’s savings. She promised I’d get it back a few days later. I was so surprised to see that the very same day, a while after I gave her the money, she posted a pic sitting at a party, celebrating and saying that she deserved such a celebration. A few days later, I wrote her to see when she would pay me back; she never came back to me, never paid me, and stopped talking to me. Another friend told me that she had also asked him for money and had done exactly the same thing. He said that if that was the price of never having that kind of friendship again, he was happy to pay it. © Caro Borge / Facebook
• I lent a friend 20 bucks to pay for a motorcycle he would use for courier business. The deal was that he would pay me back in 6 months the full amount without interest or anything else. When the date arrived, my “friend” disappeared off the radar, and I didn’t see him again until about 4 years later, but I have never seen the money again, and I’m sure he will never pay it back. The sad thing is that I thought he was a good friend and someone responsible. © Ricardo Antonio / Facebook

Have you lent money to someone? How did it go?