Does anyone owe you money?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Does anyone owe you money?
9
Mon, 05-01-2006 - 9:59am

I was just thinking about this today on the way to work because a friend who owes me $45 was supposed to pay me back this past weekend and hasn't. Does anyone owe you money? If so, are you doing anything to motivate them to repay you?

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-09-2005
Mon, 05-01-2006 - 10:09am
I know what you mean!! Over the past year (stupid me) I lent a friend 1,000.00. The amounts were always needed desperately THAT DAY -- and he would start paying as soon as his life got back in order. Ha Ha! So far nothing - nada - zilch. Just a lot of public whining about various catastrophes that are draining him of any and all money.
I plan on giving him a written bill detailing the dates and amounts of money I lent him -- I'll do it this week -- I really have been snowed by the continual whining about poverty. He makes the same salary I do!!
So, my advice is: a) NEVER lend money!!! b) get a written agreement on a time to pay it back. c) don't let the time get away from you. Your person will get used to NOT paying and the longer it goes on the more uncomfortable you will be asking FOR YOUY OWN MONEY back.
Hmmmmmm just writing this is making me more determined to get my own money back
Thanks for your post.
Megan
Avatar for 2locachicas
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2003
Mon, 05-01-2006 - 10:45am
Our best friends owe us $400 of something they bought from us. I haven't really asked for it because I told them they had to ay by November. But now i am mad because they just booked an airplane ticket to Florida because they "have the money"...I would like to know where my money is.....I always tell myself never again and then I do it again...
Avatar for aerandel
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 05-01-2006 - 10:57am

It's so sad, it's those people who give the good borrowers a bad name.

                          

             

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-09-2002
Mon, 05-01-2006 - 12:49pm

hi,
I would just ask for the money back. I know its hard to do so if you are not comfortable being so direct, you could soften it by saying something like "do you know when you'll be able to send that $45 back my way because I'd like to use it toward Mother's Day" or something like that. You don't need to give a reason why you want it of course - its your moeny! - but it might help it feel less ackward.

I've loaned an ex $2000. TWICE. I got $300 back of the $4000. Believe me, I asked. And asked. He bought me bottles of wine and leather coats from Europe. And I found out later that he was renting drop top Mercedes to take around other girls all around Germany that he was cheating on me with. With MY MONEY. I also talked with him as recently as 4 months ago and he told me how much money he is making and how he has paid off every old debt. Once I brought up that I still paid on the loan and since he took care of every old debt, how about taking care of this loan I took out for him. He stopped emailing. I FINALLY paid the last $72 on that loan last week! I never did recoup the $2000 e-fund but I have better money AND dating habits now!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 05-01-2006 - 1:17pm

This is the third time I have loaned money to this person in the past 6 months or so. The amounts are never very much, $40-$60 or so, and the first 2 times he paid me back promptly, so hopefully he will this time too.

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Mon, 05-01-2006 - 1:39pm

My ex-husband agreed to pay half my attorney fees for our divorce ($450).

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Mon, 05-01-2006 - 11:31pm
Hi, there, interesting thread. Well, I've never set up a promisory note or anything like that, but my bad habit is footing most of the bill for get-togethers, parties, lunches, etc. With one friend in particular. We used to go play around in Las Vegas, but this friend never seemed to have $$$ to gamble with, buy lunches,pitch in for entertainment, travel, etc. So, I have distanced myself from this, and chalked it up to life's painful lessons. Whiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Tue, 05-02-2006 - 10:52pm

My brother-in-Law has owed us $350 from a loan we gave him 10 years ago. He's still in no financial position to pay us back after all these years (nor has he even been willing to discuss it during this time), so I'm just considering it lost money and a lesson learned. :-D

Pat :-D

Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Tue, 05-02-2006 - 11:22pm

Hello,


It's been 6 years since anyone owed me any money. My DH and I used to share a 3 bedroom apartment with two friends. One friend often migrated from one job to another and had trouble managing his money. At one point, he couldn't pay his share of the rent payment.


At the time, we couldn't break the lease without a major penalty, and moving out would do that, so we paid his portion of the rent and told him he needed to find some job, any job, within two weeks (before the next rent payment was due) or we'd start looking for a new roommate. He was able to make the rent payments in the future, but it took him 6 months to repay the $400 that we "covered" one month. I kept a chart of how much he'd paid (and when) and how much was left.


Although I was fairly polite about my requests for $40 on payday, it was a strain on our relationship. My DH would flare up with resentment every time he saw this roommate spend any money on anything outside of food, rent, or utilities until he paid us back. I found out later that this roommate didn't have a bank account or credit card because his credit was so bad. He would make money working somewhere for a few months, then quit and live off the income he had left over from bills, etc. until he ran out.


At that point, he'd look for another job to bring in some income. After we insisted that he needed a steady job in order to live in that apartment with us (because rent payments would *not* be covered in the future), he changed that pattern and began working steadily. He sometimes quit and found a new job, but he was working enough to pay all of his current bills and rent.


Apparently, this lesson in debt collection (my polite requests every payday) made an impact on him, because ever since, he has had a steady job and still lives with the other roommate (who never had rent payment or money problems) in an apartment. While his credit rating is still pretty low, he's much more responsible.


I hated to do the "tough love" routine and threaten to find a new roommate, but we really couldn't "let this slide" at the time. We were much closer to living "paycheck to paycheck" at the time. Soon after this experience, I began paying off our credit card debt slowly. I never wanted to be "stuck" without enough to pay the rent or mortgage if an unexpected expense (like a roommate not paying his share!) happened. I wish I had found Dave Ramsey then, because now that I have an emergency fund ($1000 while paying off debt) I feel much more secure.


Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

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