In this article, you’ll find a text sample on how to ask for your money back from a friend/family. You’ll also get great tips on the best ways to ask for your money.
We’ve all been there before. We’ve all lent or given money to our friends and family, expecting them to pay back at a certain date. A positive outcome in lending your friends or family money is getting paid back at the agreed date, and we all hope for that particular scenario, but life doesn’t always work the way we want it to. Sometimes, the people we lend money miss the payback date, tell new stories every week to avoid paying us back, or worse, ghost us. Which leaves us with the question, how do we get our money back?
So here are four ways you can get your money back without bringing out the boxing gloves:
Send them a reminder wrapped in urgency
To forget is human - never forget that! If someone fails to pay you back, your first step should be to remind them in the kindest way possible. Talking about money can be uncomfortable, but here’s a sample text you can use to make it easier:
Hey bro/sis,
I noticed that you missed the repayment date for the loan I gave you and thought to send you a quick reminder. I have pending obligations with a tight timeline, and I've pegged my hope on receiving what you owe me. So it's urgent, and I hope you understand.
Please see payment details just in case::
Account name
Account number
Thank you for coming through in advance!
Draw a payback plan
We agreed above that life is unpredictable, and its unpredictability affects all of us. Essentially, the person you loaned money to may not have the total amount to pay you back, and that’s why they are delaying the repayment process. So give them an option of paying you back bit by bit. Here’s a sample message in case you want follow this route
Hey bro/sis,
How are things going? I know things are tight these days, so I totally understand the delay with my repayment. To make it easier for you, I’ve come up with a repayment plan you can easily follow. This month, you’ll repay 60% of the total amount you borrowed, then the remaining 40% will be repaid next month. I hope this works for you, and if not, we can always work something out.
What do you think?
Go through the back door
We’re not asking you to play tricks, we’re only asking you to be an actor for a short while. If you’re certain the person owing you has the capacity to pay you back, but they aren’t just willing to, then you can get them to pay indirectly. Tell the person you’re in an urgent situation and need to pay for a service because all your payment methods aren’t working - make it a do or die affair. Or take them for lunch, and allow them to pick up the bill first. If they ask for your share of the money later, remind them of the money they owe you. Play more tricks like these until you have gotten all your money back.
Finally, let it go
The truth is the person owing you might never pay you back. So it will come to a point for you to count your loss. It might sting, but this scenario won’t repeat in the future. Why? Because you won’t lend what you can’t afford to lose - that is the golden rule of borrowing.
OR lend on Crendly next time
Asking for your money back will always be awkward. Always. But with Crendly, you can skip the awkward conversation. Crendly is a marketplace for loans that allows ordinary people to lend to themselves. Your loan is automatically transferred to your account from the lender's account on the agreed repayment date, plus you can even earn interest from the money you lend. All you need is a Crendly account to start lending to your friends in a safer way, and it’s pretty easy to set up too.
Something to think about before you lend next time
Your willingness to give people money when they ask is exemplary, and you shouldn’t feel bad about it. But a little caution in your lending will go a long way in reducing your stress levels because even banks with all the money they have, follow strict guidelines before they lend money to anyone. So before you lend anyone money, ask important questions like what they need the money for, confirm their borrowing pattern from your mutual friend or relation, and check if they are currently earning enough to pay you back. Finally, and most importantly, always lend the money you are willing to lose.