Popular words to live by these days seem to be that you should never mix business with pleasure. Going along with this is the thought that you shouldnt lend money to friends. People seem to think that having a cash loan hanging over the heads of a friendship can only hurt things in the long run. But in all fairness this really has to depend on the person or persons involved; also the amount of the cash loan.

Its said that the most common time for friends to borrow money from each other these days is at the card table. With more and more people having weekly poker games theres already a ton of cash going back and forwards between them. Its now quite normal to have one person want to loan cash from another after theyve lost their initial stake. This is hardly a big deal for most poker tables. This kind of borrowing goes back and forwards all the time. Of course its not that big of a deal unless the cash loan is something your friend either cant afford or shouldnt afford. Have they gambled a bit too much money for their own good?

The horror stories come when a friend has blown rent money or needs to buy something urgently and has run out of funds. Social standards tell them its okay to go to their friend for help but that puts the other friend in a difficult place. Its hard to tell a friend you cant loan cash to them but can you trust them to give it back? Or are you in the same financial situation as they are to begin with and giving away a little money will cost a weekend of fun? This scenario rarely breaks out in fights, but instead awkwardness and simply difficulty being around each other. And why not? Its always said that you cant judge a friend until you really need one; no one ever said anything about certain times being unfair to need them!

Worse than not wanting to give the cash loan to begin with is wanting the loan repaid and never getting it. The true mean feelings rise when a friend doesnt pay back money but still goes out and buys themselves new things. A popular TV character recently had fun with this whole idea by having a friend loan cash to him for increasingly larger amounts. He didnt need the money, but found it fun to see how much he could get and how long it would take for the friend to demand it back.

So maybe it would be better for friends in general to give up on loaning each other money. Instead helping them get money other ways is a better strategy. Maybe they qualify for help from a bank and they just dont realize it. Suggesting alternatives like credit unions or cash advances is also a good bet. When these places just arent going to work out then a good alternative to hitting a friend up for money is a payday loan counter. The money will cost them a bit more in the long run but its sure better then having letting the money get between you and a friend.