A woman has revealed how she lent her best friend £6,000 but had to chase her for months to return the money – and now she has asked to borrow another £4,000.
Taking to British parenting platform Mumsnet, the single mother, whose daughter’s father passed away ten years ago, explained that she received £30,000 inheritance earlier this year.
Months later, her best friend said she was in trouble and needed £6,000 urgently or she would lose her house – but after promising to pay it back in a month she spent weeks coming up with excuses as to why she couldn’t return the money.
Eventually the cash was returned but now the friend wants to borrow another £4,000 from the single mother, who has shared how she is apprehensive this time around.
Many rushed to the comments to say the parent shouldn’t give the cash to her friend as she is ‘using her for money’.
The post read: ‘Bit of back story on myself. Single mum working full time, my daughter’s father decided to die on me 10 years ago so no help from him (sorry for my dark humour) – got £30,000 in an inheritance pay out last Jan.
‘I have never had spare money – I have enough to get by, but never any savings etc. This money has obviously given me a lovely boost.
‘The June after I received the money I had a message from one of my best friends saying she was in trouble and needed to borrow 6k urgently or she would lose her house.
A woman revealed on Mumsnet that she lent her friend £6,000 but had to chase her for months to return the money – and now she has requested to borrow another £4,000 (stock image)
‘She promised I would have it back the following month. She did not pay it back and it got to the awkward stage of her never mentioning it, where I had to bring it up.
‘She kept promising weekly that she would pay the money into my account that Friday. It never came – there was always an excuse of why she couldn’t pay. It got extremely stressful and the excuses of why she couldn’t became ridiculous.’
The woman revealed that while waiting for her friend to pay her back she noticed that said pal was going on ‘luxury holidays’ and bought a new car.
She added: ‘Long story short she sent it back, I had a discussion about how it had made me feel mugged off and we moved on. I made a vow to myself never to lend money again.
‘She has messaged me this morning asking to borrow £4,000 again as she has overspent on something and is unable to pay off a debt on her mortgage again and is saying she will pay it back next week.
‘I now feel awkward and disappointed. I am not lending it to her after the stress of last time and I am just very upset she seems to be seeing me as a cash cow – despite knowing how much I have struggled and this is the first time I have been able to provide stability and a stable plan for my daughter’s future.
‘Now I also feel like I should be helping her as the money is there (but it is not spare money to me – it’s sitting there but it’s allocated in savings to something), but I do not want to go through this process again with her of trying to get it back.’
Many rushed to the comments to warn the woman to not give her friend anymore money.
Taking to British parenting platform Mumsnet, the single mother revealed she got £30,000 inheritance earlier this year
One person said: ‘Please do not give her any more money and end the friendship. She clearly doesn’t place any value on your relationship and is using you for money.’
Another said: ‘She’s not your friend. She’s a user and sees you as a cash machine. Don’t doubt yourself. You can just say no, not after last time. It’s literally NOT your problem.’
Someone else said: ‘Don’t lend her any more money, simply tell her the money is accounted for and she’ll have to get an official loan from the bank.’
Another wrote: ‘Do not even think about lending money to this person again! You probably won’t get it back and the stress is not worth it.
‘Tell her the money has been spent (e.g in mortgage overpayments or something) and don’t discuss your finances like this with anyone again, even most family.
‘You’ve had a lucky escape getting the £6,000 back so don’t push your luck! Enjoy whatever the money is for. ‘
A fourth said: ‘Just say “I’m not in a position to help, good luck getting it sorted” she’s got a cheek and not very much of a friend putting that extra stress on you then asking again after last time.’
Others suggested her friend has ‘poor money management’ and should seek help with that.
One person said: ‘What the hell has she “overspent” 4K on?! It sounds like she has an ongoing serious issue with money management.
Many rushed to the comments to say she shouldn’t give it to her as she is ‘using her for money’
‘Remember the struggle you had to get the money back last time. This time you might not be so lucky and TBH anyone who prioritised luxury holidays and a new car over repaying a debt as promised would no longer be considered a friend.’
Another added: ‘It is not your job to compensate for her poor money management. Don’t lend her anything. Tell her all your money is spent.’
Someone else added: ‘You absolutely must not lend her any more. She has a problem managing money and cash injections will not help her. TBH I think you were very lucky to get the 6K back but it was a nightmare for you.
‘If you want to help her you could support her in getting advice about budgeting from Stepchange or similar.’
Meanwhile a fourth said: ‘Your friend is terrible with money and if you lend it to her she won’t pay you back without a lot of angst.
‘She needs a debt counselling service and money management advice, not a loan from a friend.
‘She does have money, she just chooses to spend it on holidays and new car instead of boring things like a mortgage.
‘It is her problem to deal with. Don’t make that your problem. If you lose the friendship over it, it will just prove she’s a user and chancer.’
