Friend has asked me for money, what should i do

[catladyboredlady]

I am not working, I have around 600 to my name, friend knows i just came back from holiday paid for by my ex not me but she doesnt know that.
She has asked me for 100 quid.
I cannot spare this but she has said she is desperate, she does work i dont know what she needs it for.
I have been desperate before and I know how annoying it is when nobody borrows you the money.
Should I just give her the 100? she said she can pay me back around the 11th next month.
I have known her since school so 10 plus years now.

What would you do?

And thank you everyone for advice really appreciated.

I work on the principle of never a borrower or a lender be.
Apart from mortgage as it's a bit much to expect to save for a full house.

she lives at home with her dad, works full time and has several friends she always goes out

No no no no no. Don't do it.

Anyway, if you can't spare it you can't spare it, surely?

Just say

'Actually I've checked what bills I still have to pay and I can't. Sorry. Money is so tight for me what with me not working. Could you ask x or x person?'

No. Never lend money to a friend as friend will become ex friend. Keep money and friends separate!

well done :) it can be difficult to say no, but in your circumstances it's the right thing to do

Good for you

Well done op.

Well done. Don't lend it. If she lives with her dad then she isn't going to starve or be evicted.

OP - you have done the right thing. Well done. A thread like this restores my faith in human nature and MN.

You shouldn't lend her the money as you can't afford not to get it back and it's for her phone bill which she should've budgeted for, or not spent so much. It's not an emergency.

£100+ phone bill? Wow. if its true, nice life lesson for her to cut back.

She's probably coming to you because she has screwed everyone else over.
Logically you are at home. You are in a bit of a bind, the first person you ask is your parents.. Come to think of it, I think parents are the first people you ask. Generally, when you haven't screwed people over, you don't ask the person who isn't working...

A sad lesson I have learned in life from being too nice is that you need to look out for your own best interests because no one else will. Some people will just take as much as you are willing to give and you need to put limits in place because they won't. Don't give more than you can afford to lose. You don't have a job, you need the money. She is living at home so at least she has a safety net, presumably her dad won't put her on the streets. It's not your fault that she overspent on her phone bill!

I bet it's not the phone bill. That just sounds like something so 'necessary' you'd feel obliged to cough up - she knows you know she lives with her dad so probably doesn't have electricity bills, etc. I reckon she's 'borrowed' £100 from another mate for a night out, or a holiday deposit or something, and now she needs to pay it back.

I didn't see it was allegedly for a phone bill - I have no idea how I missed that. She can take a running jump then.