Money can be a very difficult and touchy subject if it’s owed to you. It’s never nice to owe someone else money, but if they owe you it turns into a very different feeling. It can leave you feeling awkward and embarrassed, especially if you have to ask someone for your money back. It’s nice to pretend that debt doesn’t exist, but when someone skips town and leaves you hanging, that’s a problem. When someone owes you money, you want to do everything possible to get it back – but you want this process to be smooth.
When you borrow money from someone you know, it becomes a touchy subject. You want to keep the friendship going, but if someone has borrowed money from you and hasn’t met the terms of your agreement, they’re the ones breaching your friendship – right? You can go ahead and look into skip tracing, but you should think about trying to resolve things directly first. Below, we’ve put together a mini guide to help you to get your money back if you are owed!
- Just say no. If you know that someone in your life is notoriously bad at paying money back, then you need to make sure that you say no. Saying yes puts you in that position in the first place, and it’s not a position that you have to be in! So, tell your friend that you’re sorry, but no, you cannot lend them the money!
- Only say it once. If you have given money to a friend on a loan, only remind them once that you are waiting for the money back. Nagging someone to give it back doesn’t help anyone and it just reiterates that they haven’t respected you enough to keep up with the same agreement. So, say it once, and be clear of the terms and what the consequences are.
- Do an activity. If your friend wants to go for lunch and they owe you $30, then make a point of them being the payer – and wait until after the meal is eaten before you bring that up. If they owe you significantly more than that, wait it out until they pay for something for you and then when they ask for the money back, remind them that you’re square.
- Chase it. If you can’t let it go because the amount owed was significant, then the best thing that you can do is chase the money. Hiring a company to trace them if they’ve disappeared on you is important, because they don’t get to skip out on the debt they owe you and you shouldn’t let them.
- Make it known. You have a choice. You can be embarrassed about being owed money or you can shout it from the rooftops and let the whole world know that they haven’t paid you back. Of course, this would end your friendship and it would humiliate them, but they didn’t consider your own personal humiliation when they didn’t pay you back, right?