OMG! Happily Retired in OH. Who knew?

[WestLake]

My father taught me that some people make it their life's "work" to skate by and live off others.

[GalaxyBoy]

One of my siblings had a habit of asking for "loans" that may or may not ever get paid back. They were a commission salesperson and had more skills in hard pressing me than I had skills at resisting (at the time). For them, for every penny earned a nickel was spent. This was when I was a young engineer making much more than sibling who thought that meant I should be an ATM.

But, one day I firmly said "no," although it had to be repeated several times. "But I'm a drowning man grasping at the last straw, and the sheriff is on his way if we don't pay these bills." "Sorry, it's all tied up in long-term investments." Well, one month later I heard about their new car and bedroom suite from Ethan Allen. That taught me to just let the appeals run off like water on a duck's back.

[aja8888]

I did help out a step daughter that was going through a divorce two years ago. I paid for her attorney and FOUND HER A JOB (which she still has). She ACTUALLY paid me back the $3500 attorney fee. She is an exception.

We have had other family members mooch money in the past and not pay it back. So now the party line is:

You want a loan? There are 5 banks within a mile of here. Go see one of them. We are on a fixed income and not operating as a bank these days.

[WhoDaresWins]

This thread makes me positively relieved that among my close relatives....son, sister, in-laws, cousins...I am the one who would be considered the least financially well-off!

Friends are a different story but then all of my friends are really sensible LBYM types. By friends I mean about 3 or 4 people to whom I am very close (and I would lend/give them money if they had a catastrophe). The rest are acquaintances really.