Loaning People Money

Tweet

Have you done it? What was your worst experience? I have repeatedly loaned money to several people over the course of my life. Mostly my sister and lately my mom. Both have been irritating me lately. My Sister She borrowed $100 last weekend and told me she would pay me this past Friday which she did but then 2 days later, wanted to borrow the $100 again but then told me I would have to wait 2 weeks this time to get the money back. Also this time when I asked why she needed it back, she said for this and that. Then the next day when I went over to her house, they had just gotten takeout for lunch and from the looks of the kitchen/garbage, they had eaten out the previous night as well. My Mom Over the course the last 7 months, my mom has borrowed money on and off but never fully paying off her balance with me. It started in Dec when she couldn't pay her car payment so I did it for her for $350. Then she started with payments of $25 every week for 2 weeks before stopping those payments. Then she and her husband were kicked out of the place they were living and had to get a hotel room for the week so she borrowed more money. Before I knew it, my mom owed me over $600 and yes to those who are reading this, I could have said no but as it is, I did and still do have the money. My mom also likes to do the same thing my sister does where she will pay me back $100 and then borrow it back a couple days later. My mom's last payment was a month ago and now our relationship is pretty nonexistant. We were talking just about every day but as soon as I asked when she thought she could start paying something towards her balance, even just $50 every other week since she gets paid every 2 weeks, she stopped texting me. Said she would have to see and then I have not heard from her very much since. Yes, that is probably my fault but at this point, I can do one of two things. 1- Count the money as a loss and never loan any more to her even when she may really need it like for rent or bills. Or 2- Continue pressing to get my $400+ back and deal with the consequences. My Worst Experience When I was 18, I once loaned $20 to one of my uncles who said that he would pay me back as soon as he got his check which was supposed to be in a few days. I said sure since it was only $20 but at the same time, I demanded some collateral. Something I knew he would want back at some point and he would have to pay me my $20 to get it back. So I took his favorite tshirt. 2 weeks go by and he still hasn't paid me but he came to my house to get his shirt back. I told him if he didn't give me my $20 then he wasn't getting his shirt. I went to work and I later found out that he had gone back into my room (he lived with us at the time) when I wasn't home and took his shirt back. As soon as I found out, I confronted him and told him that if he didn't give me my $20 back then I was going to take something else. He told me he wasn't going to give me anything so I waited for him to go to work and I took his HIM blanket (HIM is a band) while I also put a lock on my door. When he found out about his blanket, he went nuts and said I was acting like a child over $20. Yet, he was the one that had to borrow money from me and he agreed to the terms. He moved out a month later, not because of the blanket but because he and his wife had found an apartment. Occasionally, he would ask about the blanket (if I still had it and taking care of it) and I would say yes but he wasn't getting it back unless he paid me back. I ended up selling the blanket 6 months later for $50 to pay for his kids diapers and formula because he couldn't be bothered to leave any money home before taking off with his friends for the weekend.