Someone I know asked me for a loan about two years ago. I never loan money but this person had done some good work for me and I decided that I would do so.
He told me that he would pay me back the next day, but when the next day came, he said he didn’t have the money anymore and he had to get money over the weekend and he would pay me on the Monday.
Then on the Monday, he said he still didn’t have the money. It went on like this for a week.
During this time, I was the one taking the strain because I had to keep asking him for the money I had loaned to him. He had no qualms about saying that he couldn’t get the money. It was almost as if he didn’t really mind that he couldn’t get the money back to me and that he had broken his promise to pay it back the next day.
A similar situation happened last week where somebody else who was working for me asked for a loan and I said flatly no. I think the main reason was because of my past experience. I had vowed then never to loan anybody any money ever again.
It’s a subtle thing loaning money because people listen to you talk or watch your expenditure and if you let out in any way that you do have money, which I avoid doing by the way, then they feel they can ask you for a loan.
My policy after my bad experience is to say no. The reason is that it breaks the trust and the relationship that you have with the other person. You begin to have doubts about them, about their trustworthiness and what sort of person they really are.
Someone once said to me it’s best with small amounts just to give the money to somebody and forget about it. It depends on the situation. If the person is in a financial crisis then a small amount of money could be given. But it’s a dangerous course of action because once you give money people expect more money from you.
I once said to somebody that I wouldn’t give them money but I would supply them with the groceries they needed. The person was highly offended by this and dragged all sorts of things out to imply what a bad person I was. But I stuck to my guns and said I would only provide groceries, not cash. My offer was bluntly rejected.
Conclusion
My conclusion is that you need to think twice about giving people loans, whatever the amount. If you loan someone money, you will be their prisoner until they pay you back, if they do. It’s best to be prepared to answer any request for money with a flat no.
What do you think? Do you think this is unfair or that it’s a safe path to follow?
