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Friend asks for $500 loan

G

gamepad

Golden Member
I know the saying, "Don't loan more than you're willing to give," but he's my best friend and he's begging.

He says he's in a jam. We've been friends for about 13 years, and he's promising that he'll pay me back in a couple of weeks. The thing is, this is not the kind of person one should trust with money.

I feel that in saying no, he will hold this against me forever.

What do I do??

I am only 20 years old, so $500 is a lot to me.

Update: I told him no, and he didn't seem upset. All is well (for me at least).

Update #2: WTF, his dad called me asking where his son went. Apparently he borrowed $500 from his ex and completely disappeared. His ex can't find or get a hold of him. I'm glad I didn't loan him $500.
 
If you give it to him, you will never see that money again.

Trust me, I was burned by a former friend in exactly the same situation when I was about your age.
 
Tell him you can't afford to lend that much, but since he's your good friend, help him out in other ways. Find him a job or something
 
tell him how you feel. tell him you are his friend and all but you are sorry that you cannot help him out in financial situations because you know his past in these types of situtations and that you don't just have $500 sitting around that you could possibly not have back quickly.

i have a few friends like this, and after letting my good friend borrow $100 to get a Wii at launch, and not seeing that $100 for a few months, i now know not to let him borrow any kind of $$ again, and if he asks, I will straight up tell him that.
 
Sorry, but I just don't have a spare $500 to lend you.

If the person gets all mad and pissy about it, then they really aren't your friend.

Nothing kills a friendship faster than lending money.
 
Originally posted by: Chronoshock
Tell him you can't afford to lend that much, but since he's your good friend, help him out in other ways. Find him a job or something
Click to expand...

He has a job.

The thing is, he knows I have a tons of money.
 
Originally posted by: Uppsala9496
Sorry, but I just don't have a spare $500 to lend you.

If the person gets all mad and pissy about it, then they really aren't your friend.

Nothing kills a friendship faster than lending money.
Click to expand...

There you go, best advice....
 
If the amount is more than $20 and the friend is bad with money, they have to give me something I can sell for twice the borrowed amount until they make good on it in only a couple week's time... or it's as good as sold.

That, or I tell them they can sell the item themselves if they need money that bad.

All depends on what it is for, but you are better off just telling them you don't have the money.
 
Decline the reqest and offer to cook him dinner if he is hungry or offer him a bed if he has no where to sleep. Short of that, if you don't have it to give, you can't give it friend or otherwise.
 
Originally posted by: gamepad
Originally posted by: Chronoshock
Tell him you can't afford to lend that much, but since he's your good friend, help him out in other ways. Find him a job or something
Click to expand...

He has a job.

The thing is, he knows I have a tons of money.
Click to expand...

well then is or is not 500 dollars a big deal to you? I loaned my friend 500 bucks knowing well that it would take him over a year to pay me back. I eventually saw the money and a few other things out of it and I was able to help him out of a bind and now he has a good job. If I would have been out the 500, I would have survived but he needed the money real bad. Why does your friend need it? To not get evicted or to go to the bahamas? If he is in dire straights help him.
 
If he's a really good friend, and it's no trouble for you, and he really is in a jam, then give him the money.

Don't loan it to him.
 
Originally posted by: gamepad
Originally posted by: Chronoshock
Tell him you can't afford to lend that much, but since he's your good friend, help him out in other ways. Find him a job or something
Click to expand...

He has a job.

The thing is, he knows I have a tons of money.
Click to expand...

That sounds a little arrogant imo.

Anyway, just have him sign a contract or take something really important to him and hold it as collateral.
 
Nothing kills a friendship faster than lending money.
Click to expand...

If you don't have the money, that's one thing. If you're positive this guy is that horrible with money and you will absolutely never, ever see it again, that's one thing. But the statement above is old and tired and doesn't really hold water.

I was jammed up once due to a roomate bailing on me in an apartment, and I bummed 500 bucks off a friend. I paid him back a month later. Absolutely no problems. I've also lent 1000 dollars to a friend so he could buy a car to get to work. He paid me back in like 2 months.

You have to be very, very careful about who you do it for, but I'd trust my good friends with my life. Lending them some money in a desperate situation is peanuts. If you absolutely cannot lend someone money because you've decided ahead of time they'll never pay it back, you might want to consider new friends.
 
Just tell him this kind of thing always ends up bad, and you'd rather not see a 13 year friendship potentially ruined by it. Maybe you could offer to show him how to save money and budget since you apparently know how to much better than he does.
 
Just tell him this kind of thing always ends up bad
Click to expand...

Except it doesn't. Again, get new friends.

He won't give an exact answer
Click to expand...

Skeezy in the extreme. You do NOT ask to borrow money without giving an excuse. Even if he gives you an answer if you ask again, who knows if it's the truth? He should've said from the beginning. Your friend is sketchy, don't give it to him.
 
Just say you can't loan money to friends, especially close ones. If he gets pissy then he is NOT your friend.

Bailing your buddy out of jail is acceptable however.
 
Originally posted by: gamepad
Originally posted by: Lorax
what exactly is the 500 for?
Click to expand...

He won't give an exact answer, but I'm 66% sure he owes other people money.
Click to expand...


Ordinary I would say if you have the money and you think he needs the money do it, but if he already owes others I would say

" Sorry, I am not in the position to loan you the money" However you say it its important that your statement does not leave room for him to negotiate.
 
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