How to Ask for Financial Help from a Friend?

In this day and age where everyone is blindly chasing after money and trying their level best to remain a relevant part of today’s twenty-first-century business world, being able to forge a meaningful relationship or friendship with everyone is certainly becoming a tough thing to do indeed.

In the event of being in some kind of financial trouble and needing some help to make two ends meet, there is no harm or shame in asking your friend for some financial help.

Now if you are thinking about how to ask for financial help from a friend then this article is for you. A true friend is someone who will always be there; ready to bail you out of all trouble no matter what.

Top 5 Tips for Asking for Financial Help:

It’s not something unusual, at some point or the other most of the people get into a financial crisis. Although this is not a great feeling, it becomes, even more, worse when it becomes mandatory for us to ask for financial help.

Asking for help is a very difficult situation, and one needs to handle it in a proper way even if the person you are asking help is your dear ones.

Here are a few tips for making the conversation to ask for help, as easy as possible:

1. Figure out the Needs
2. Ease into It
3. Explain the Stakes
4. Be Gracious
5. Have a Plan

For many, asking for financial help from family and friends is not at all acceptable. Though they feel it as self-respect but unknowingly it is their ego that comes in between.

You must remember one thing, at the time of crisis your family and friends are the people who will be with you.

How Should One Help a Friend in Financial Need?

“A friend in need is a friend indeed”

If you want to help your friend who is in need, then you should be a little careful as a wrong step can ruin your friendship.

Not all would accept help from others, they might feel guilt and anger out of shame. This arises especially when we try to offer help when they do not ask us.

So you need to be well prepared emotionally to handle the situation well. Some of the tips to follow while helping are

1. Approaching Your Friend in a general way
2. Present the money as the gift rather than a loan
3. Do not show sympathy
4. Help him with his expenses
5. Get involved
6. Help him overcome

17 Tips to Ask for Financial Help from Friends:

1. It is better to ask a friend than to ask a stranger:

In the event of needing money, rather desperately it is always better to borrow money from a friend rather than an unknown person who can take legal action against you in the event of your being unable to pay back the sum on the stipulated date.

This having been said it certainly does not imply that you can take it easy when paying the money back to your friend; rather it means that your true friend knows that you will not take him or a ride or swindle him that is why he will be more lenient with you.

So keeping this in mind, you should go right ahead and ask your friend.

2. Think about how much you will ask for:

Prior to approaching your friend and asking him to lend you the money, it is advisable that you spend some money alone, in contemplation with yourself thinking about how much money you will actually be needing.

People need to borrow money for a number of reasons when they find that they are being unable to make two ends meet. At some point of time or the other everyone goes through a rough patch so you need not let this get to you in any way.

So, ensure that you know exactly what it is that you are going to say to your friend before approaching him.

3. Ensure that he is not someone to keep bringing it up:

Before you ask your friend for the money ensure that he or she isn’t someone who is going to keep bringing the matter up even once you have returned the sum of money. There are some people who do good and remain extremely quiet about it and such unobtrusive and altruistic people are truly selfless human beings, yet on the other end of the spectrum, there are those individuals who do good simply because they want to show to the outside world how seemingly generous as well as philanthropic they are. So ensure that you do not borrow from the latter kind of people.

4. Do you think it will affect your friendship:

In the event of asking your friend for the money, you should ensure that you give enough thought to the matter.

These are some pointed questions that most certainly need to be addressed before you go about asking your money for any kind of monetary help. So do give it adequate thought before making your move.

5. Ensure that this does not become a recurrent thing:

In the event of being indeed your friend is going to do everything in his power to help as well as assist you, however, if you keep asking him or her for money, chances are that in the future he will try and avoid you like the plague.

So when you are asking your friend for financial help ensure that you mention that this is most certainly a one-time thing and as soon as you are able to get things back on track you will return the money and be eternally grateful to him or her for helping you at a time when many had turned their backs on you in your hour of need.

6. Do not press upon your friend too much:

Asking your friend for a little financial help when you are going through a rough time with loan payments, children’s school fees as well as miscellaneous expenditure is no big deal at all.

Remember that you cannot force him to give you the money and neither is he obligated to give you the sum if he doesn’t want to.

So when you are asking him for monetary or financial help be sure you do not force him to give you the money against his will. Instead, you should take a polite way to ask for money.

7. Remain, friends, even if he or she refuses to help you:

In the event of him refusing to give you the money, you should not break off all ties with him. In this day and age, everyone finds it hard to make two ends meet so you cannot impose on anyone in such a way.

So you should make it a point to mention to him as well that if he is unwilling to give you the money as well, it will certainly not make any difference at all to the friendship which you have and the equation which you two share.

Choosing and making friends is also a special skill. Friendship is an extremely beautiful bond and you should never let something as paltry as money come in-between and ruin things.

8. Ask in a very polite manner, not in a demanding tone:

When you are asking your friend for financial help be sure to ask for it in an appropriate manner so that at no point in time does it seem like you are being demanded or even overbearing.

Rather than asking your friend over the phone or via a text message you should make it a point to ask the question face to face as that is certainly much more personal. In addition to this if you ask your friend face to face, chances are that he will not be able to come up with an excuse which he might have otherwise thought of if you were to have asked him over the phone.

9. Explain your current situation to your friend:

Simply asking for the money without giving an explanation at all might be a little awkward, so instead of doing this, you should tell your friend exactly what situation you are in.

Though this having been said it is completely up to you as to whether or not you would like to divulge intimate details of your personal life.

A real friend, who is in a position to give you money, will certainly give it to you without asking any questions.

10. Tell him that you would like it if he didn’t broadcast the news:

You should make it a point to mention to your friend that the only reason why you are asking him or her for money is that you know that he is trustworthy and will not go about broadcasting the news to any and everyone.

In order to avoid any problems at a future point in time, it is better to tell your friend at the very onset that borrowing this money is not easy for you at all and in the event of news getting out, you will end up feeling really small as well as embarrassed.

Though it may seem awkward to mention this, in the first place, make it a point to do so.

11. Promise your friend that you will return the sum back:

State in no uncertain terms that you are merely asking for a loan of sorts and you will most certainly return the sum back as soon as you can.

Mentioning such tiny things might not seem very important, but when your friend hears such words of consolation he will feel a lot better knowing that he will see his money again in due course.

One of the best things about borrowing money from a true friend is that there are no strings attached and that you will not have to pay interest.

12. Ask him when he or she would like the money returned:

You must make it a point to ask your friend, when exactly he will need his money back and whether or not he is in a hurry to get it back. Whether or not he is in a hurry for it back or not, you should make it a point to try your level best to return the sum as soon as you possibly can. It is never a good idea to remain in debt for too long as this is something that makes relationships grow sour.

Even though your friend might not mind giving you the money if you take too long, he might think that you are taking advantage of his goodness and not being honest in your dealings.

13. If possible ask if you can pay it back in installments:

If you think that you will not be able to pay back the sum at one go, you can ask your friend if you can pay the money back in installments.

Chances are that as long as you are returning the money your friend will not have a problem with your method of doing so, but it is always better to make inquiries right at the very onset so you are at the receiving end of no accusations later on.

14. Ensure that you do not beat around the bush:

When asking your friend for money, beating around the bush is certainly not going to get you anywhere at all as chances are that if you are too ambiguous he or she might not even understand what it is that you are actually saying.

15. Do not ask your friend for financial help in front of a big group:

You must ensure that at no point in time you ask your friend for any kind of monetary help in the front of a group as this will most certainly turn out to be an awkward situation for all the people concerned. Ensure that you do so privately.

16. Do not borrow too much unnecessarily:

In the event of knowing that your friend will give you any amount which you quote, you must ensure that you too not ask for an unnecessarily large sum of money which you know that you will not be able to pay back easily no matter how much time goes by.

17. Give him adequate time to think about it:

Last but certainly not least is that you should not just pop the question suddenly to your friend and expect him to give you an answer or even the money on the spot.

The correct thing to do would be to give him some time to think about it himself or even consult his family members.

Rules for Borrowing Money From Friends and Family:

People often believe that when money is involved between relationships, your relationship will no longer be the same. It is also strongly advised to keep your personal relationship and business relationship different.

Usually, when there is a financial crisis, many of them keep themselves away from their social life. They do not understand that it does not solve their problem, moreover can push down into depression.

According to Luke Landes, you should accept financial help from family or friends only for a temporary basis. Because once the money is involved, the relationship will not be the same as earlier it used to be (if not followed rightly).

Some of the guidelines to follow while asking money are

• Ask for help only when you really don’t have any other option.
• Pay interest.
• Never negotiate.
• Create proper documentation regarding the loan.
• Don’t get a third party involved
• Try to pay the loan ASAP
• Return the favour when needed
• Never let your relationship go down just as a financial transaction.

Etiquette Tips On Borrowing And Lending Money:

Borrowing and lending money is not something unusual.

“Money is something very personal. Some people work really hard to make ends meet and it becomes a sensitive topic,” says Carey McBeth, an etiquette specialist based in Vancouver. “People aren’t comfortable or passionate about it, which gets hard when you’re trying to ask for it back.”

Money becomes a complex matter when involved in unethical ways. But if you can manage it effectively, then you can overcome all such issues easily.

Here are a few things to consider when borrowing and lending money.

• Borrowing: Find Alternative Means
• Borrowing: Make documentation for it
• Borrowing: Getting Your Finances in order
• Borrowing: Ask Someone You Trust

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• Lending: Don’t Get Confrontational
• Lending: Don’t Hesitate To Say No
• Lending: Don’t Be Afraid To Drop Hints
• Lending: Effective Communication Is Key

So these are some of the ways in which you can go about asking a friend of yours for financial help. If your friend sees that you are in genuine trouble and have no way out then he or she is sure to make it a point to help you in your time of need.

However, this certainly does not imply that you take advantage of the love your friend has for you and begin to constantly have your arms stretched forth for alms.

Finally, you should always make it a point to pay the money back so that at a later point in time if relationships grow sour, you do not have to worry about being talked about.