Outstanding IOU causing you stress?

If you have borrowed money and find that you can’t pay it back, it is important to preserve your relationship until you’re able to repay your debt.

Though you may feel the financial strain or even embarrassment of not being able to pay back what you have borrowed, your friend has a side too. Being empathetic towards the friend you have borrowed money from can help you decide the best way to handle the situation.

So what do you do? How do you pay it back and maintain the friendship?

Here are five ways to deal with a friend or family member who you are yet to pay back.

One of the worst things you can do when you owe someone money is to avoid that person, especially when you’d typically call them or see them often. Both of you know you still owe the money and not speaking about it makes your loved one feel disrespected. It puts additional strain on your relationship and makes the fact that you haven’t paid them back worse.

Shakespeare wrote, “Neither borrower nor lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend…” In other words, don’t borrow (and don’t loan) money because you’re likely to lose the loaned money and your friend. Do not assume that because you’ve borrowed from friends or relatives that you can take your time repaying the money. That is the surest way to lose your relationship over a debt. You need to take action to do the right thing.

Sometimes it is tough to talk to friends or relatives about your money, but you have to put these feelings aside and be honest about what is going on if you want to maintain your relationship. Don’t make excuses and don’t lie. More often than not, your friend can sense that you’re not being completely honest or using excuses to buy more time and that makes your non-payment even worse. Being open and vulnerable about your finances may cause your friend to be more forgiving about what you’re experiencing. If you are having serious financial trouble, come clean, and hope your friend will be merciful.

If you want to pay your friend back, but cannot pay the entire lump sum at once, suggest a payment plan. Sit down with them and write out the terms and conditions for the payments, including how often and how much. Establishing structure to the loan will benefit both of you.

When deadlines are clear, it is easier for your friend to plan and that will remove the pressure from your relationship with them. This is where IOUcash can help.

Here’s the thing most people never consider. Take the personal out of it and resolving this type of situation becomes so much easier. Engaging a third-party is the easiest way to achieve this. Let the third-party be the “bad guy” and maintain your personal relationships. You were good enough friends to borrow the money in the first place. It is worth the effort to resolve the situation. Get your cash back, maintain your relationship. Win Win!

IOUcash offers no misunderstandings, no lengthy paperwork, and no loss of relationships with streamlined peer-to-peer lending, because it, should be just that…mates helping mates.

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