{"id":2162113,"date":"2026-09-24T23:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2162113"},"modified":"2026-09-24T23:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:00:45","slug":"were-all-broke-would-you-chase-a-friend-for-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2162113","title":{"rendered":"‘We’re all broke’: Would you chase a friend for \u00a35?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/0a1b\/live\/c8b49cd0-b053-11f1-89e4-0bbff5cb7e23.png”]<\/p>\n

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Watch: We ask New Yorkers to share the smallest amount they’d ask a friend to pay back<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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You pick up the bill for dinner, pay for the taxi home or grab a friend’s coffee with the promise they’ll pay you back later, but days go by and the money never arrives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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At what point do you ask them for it again and how small is too small to chase?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For some, $5 (\u00a33.70) is worth a reminder, while for others, asking a friend to repay anything under $20 (\u00a315) feels more awkward than simply taking the hit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Henry Payne says he’s “sent a request for $8.50, but I wouldn’t go lower than $8”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 21-year-old New Yorker adds that he will chase someone once but “two requests is insane”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I would rather swallow the $8.50 than send another request.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He does admit that he’s sometimes the person on the other side of the transaction and can be forgetful himself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“For everyone that I haven’t sent back money to, I just forgot, feel free to double request me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Nouria (left) and Kaz are two students in New York who say money conversations with friends can be very awkward <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Kaz Jahanbini, 19, says needing to ask to be paid back in the first place can be frustrating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“If someone bought me something, I’m immediately paying them back. So then I’m thinking for them, what’s the delay?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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His rule for navigating friendship and finances is to “keep your wallet close but your friends closer”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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His friend Nouria agrees and says as a student “every extra dollar counts” but she would usually only ask for money back from a friend if it was more than $10.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A recent study found that 76% of Gen Z who have fronted money for a group expense, like a trip or event, say they were not fully repaid, and 55% say it created tension or negatively affected a relationship. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Woman<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Betsie believes there’s a cultural difference between Brits and Americans <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For British student Betsie Brooke-Taylor, 19, the threshold to ask for money back is a fiver as she says “every little helps”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She sees a cultural difference between the UK and US and even though “we are all broke, I think Americans are a bit more generous”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Betsie also thinks technology makes settling small debts easier in the US, where payment apps such as Venmo are widely used.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Venmo lets users send and request money through an app which includes the function of sending a reminder if someone hasn’t paid you. In the US, more than 95 million people have a Venmo account.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“In the UK you have to ask for the account number and sort code, and not everyone has that on hand,” she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Two<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Annika (left) and Hanako feel very differently about confronting a friend who hasn’t paid them back<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For 19-year-old Annika Violet, the amount she would ask back from a friend depends on whether she’s consistently paying for them. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I prefer to do something where I get them this time and they get me next time but if I’m consistently paying and you’re not, then I will request the $5.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Unlike many, Annika doesn’t find money conversations uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I am so confrontational, I do not find it awkward. If you’re my friend, you would pay me back.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Annika’s friend Hanako Stepper says she finds it awkward asking for money but wishes she didn’t. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I’ve never chased anyone – I’m just sad if I don’t get paid back.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Annika’s advice to those who do struggle to ask is to “be brave and bold”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“If they are going to give you flak about it, maybe it’s a sign they are not a good friend.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How do you ask for money back without making it awkward?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Money expert Laura Pomfret says many people feel embarrassed about asking to be paid back, and Britons in particular can find it awkward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We’re often very British about asking for money back,” she says, suggesting people may be worried about being judged as a “cheapskate”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Her top tips for asking friends to pay up are: <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She adds that you shouldn’t convince yourself that a debt is too small to justify asking for it as “if you want the money paid back then the amount shouldn’t matter”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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And if the same friend repeatedly fails to pay, Pomfret suggests remembering it the next time you’re about to pay for them and think twice. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Two<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Ella (left) and Katrina have a few friends who rarely pay them back<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Several people the BBC spoke to said the amount itself mattered less when somebody repeatedly failed to pay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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New York student Ella Feuille, 21, says $15 is roughly the point at which she would consider requesting money.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If a significant amount was owed, Ella says she would ask around three times before giving up but wouldn’t necessarily forget about it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I have friends who I know now it has to go on their card because they’re not going to pay me back.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Her friend Katrina Dimingot agrees and says she much prefers a method where “we don’t pay each other back, we just take it in turns to get things for each other”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cmly439q4y27o”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/0a1b\/live\/c8b49cd0-b053-11f1-89e4-0bbff5cb7e23.png”] Watch: We ask New Yorkers to share the smallest amount they’d ask a friend to pay back You pick up the bill for dinner, pay for the taxi home or grab a friend’s coffee with the promise they’ll pay you back later, but days go by and the money never arrives. At […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2162113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2162113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2162113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2162113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2162113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}