1. Always Be The Flake.

Are you always the one who left your wallet at home or doesn’t have enough cash to cover your tab or didn’t factor tip into your bill?  Mistakes happen, cash runs out, things get forgotten, but if your friends CONSISTENTLY wind up having to cover your financial blunders, they WILL start to resent you.

2. Always Have to Be Asked.

After a friend loans you money, in whatever amount, for whatever reason, pay it back AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  Don’t put your friends in the uncomfortable position of having to ask you for it.  Take the initiative to get to an ATM or start a plan to make progressive payments immediately.

It’s okay to pay larger loans back over time.  Your  friend will appreciate you making the effort to  pay SOMETHING, even if it is small.  To avoid any possibility of resentment, set a timeframe for when you’ll have the loan repaid and how often you plan to make payments.

3. Spend Frivolously with Outstanding Debts.

What your friend won’t appreciate is waiting on that loan repayment while you go out and buy yourself a fancy new tablet or take a luxury vacation.  Debts to friends are still real debts, even if they come without interest, and maybe even more so with your friendship at stake. 

4. Never Repay.

If you’ve been delinquent on your debt at the expense of your friend, shame on you.  It’s one thing to be upfront about unforeseen circumstances and problems that halt or slow down the repayment process, it’s another to just stop communicating and making an effort all together.

The way you treat a loan from a friend reflects the value you have for that friendship.  If you don’t have enough respect to treat your friend with AT LEAST the same regard you would have for your bank, you better believe you’ll wind up paying a high price- the loss of their friendship.

Has money ever hurt one of your friendships?