Where's my money?

There is a reason why cartoon shows like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” are very popular – they address the issues we don’t talk about.

I saw an episode from “Family Guy” some time ago, where Stewie had to resort to drastic measures to get his money - won from a bet they had – back from Brian. To summarise Stewie gave Brian 24 hours to hand over the money, and had to beat him senseless before Brian agreed to going to the bank. Watch the clip below.

While I do not condone going to such extremes, I understand how Stewie felt, and am sure you will too if you have ever lent someone money. Three things (one for lending and two for borrowing) come into play when you lend or borrow money.

First, as the person doing the lending, you feel bad having to ask for your money back, you expect - as I and most people I’ve talked to about this - them to come to you and not the other-way round, where you have to chase / stalk them for your money.

Second, as the person doing the borrowing, you feel bad for not having the money at the agreed time and do not know how to tell the person who lent you the money, resulting in an awkward situation.

The other option available to the person doing the borrowing, is to take advantage of their lender, knowing full well asking for money back is not something people do easily. It takes a lot for a lender to decide on chasing a debtor for money especially when the debtor is a friend or family member.

How do you avoid all this mess? You need to think and act like your bank. Do a credit check and only lend money you can afford to lose. If the person asking to borrow money from you fails your credit test, then say no if you want your relationship to stay intact.

Remember, this is just another money transaction and you aim is not to lose out.