3 Tips For Setting Smart Financial Boundaries With Family And Friends

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If you are on firm financial footing, you might find yourself being asked for financial favors from friends and family members. And while some of these requests might be legitimate, like helping to pay for your parents to move into senior living facilities or helping a friend pay their bills after they’ve lost their job, it’s wise to have some financial boundaries set that you’ve spent time thinking about before the requests start coming in.

To help you in figuring all of this out, here are three tips for setting smart financial boundaries with family and friends. 

Don’t Hurt Yourself Financially To Help Someone Else

One of the first things that you should commit to doing is never hurting yourself financially just so that you can help someone else. What this means is that you recognize what you’re willing and able to do and then never go over that line, even if that’s what’s being asked for. 

The last thing you want to have to do is ask someone else for financial help or get yourself into debt because you chose to help someone else. So if there’s an amount of money that would make you uncomfortable loaning to someone, or if you have money earmarked for something and you don’t want to part with it, make sure you maintain these boundaries for the health of your own financial future. 

Consider The Long Term

Oftentimes, when someone asks you for money, there are a lot of feelings attached to this. While this person might feel awkward or embarrassed to have to have asked for this money, you’ll have feelings about it as well. 

Many times, people feel guilty when they have money but others in their lives don’t. However, you shouldn’t let this guilt affect the decisions that you make. Because in the long-run, it’s worse to feel resentment toward your loved one for giving them money and having the relationship turn sour than to explain that you’re not comfortable giving them money in the first place. 

Learn How To Say “No”

While this can be incredibly hard, if and when you feel like you don’t or shouldn’t loan money to someone that asks for it, you need to learn how to say “no” and stick to your decision. 

In some cases, the people who ask you for money will easily accept your answer, but in other cases, they may be persistent and try to guilt you into doing something you don’t want to do. If this happens, it’s important that you stand your ground and potentially offer help in other ways that you’re more comfortable with. 

If you need some help in setting financial boundaries in your life, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you with this.