Are your friends too expensive for you?
Friends and friendships contribute to our happiness and enjoyment of life in a big way. But they can also hurt our financial wellness in a big way if we are not careful. Take our quiz to find out if your friends are good for your financial wellness or not.
The Bayport quiz to find out if your friends are too expensive for you:
- Your friends believe that having fun means spending money. Yes No
If spending time with your friends always entails going out for drinks or a meal, or hanging out in a mall, then it may be time to consider whether that relationship is costing you more than it’s benefiting you. Friends whose idea of leisure is always tied to spending a lot of money, are not a good fit for your long-term financial wellbeing. - Your friends make nasty comments about your car (or any of your possessions). Yes No
You should never feel belittled or criticised for your lifestyle. If a friend sees you as not good enough because your car, clothes or holidays are not as flashy as theirs, then that person is not really your friend. Your friends should support your financial success, not try to convince you to buy fancy stuff. - Your friends don’t respect your budget. Yes No
A friend who puts pressure on you to spend outside your budget, is a clear sign of financial trouble. A not-so-obvious sign is a friend who simply doesn’t honour your choices. Your budget reflects your values as a person, so if a friend doesn’t respect your spending limits, they might not respect you either. You should be able to tell your friends if going out with them doesn’t fit in your budget for that month, and they should respect that. - You go into debt for your friends. Yes No
If you have to get into credit card debt or take out a loan to pay for an outing with your friends, it’s a big red flag. The fun you have on a weekend away or a night out doesn’t make up for the damage done to your financial health. If spending time with your friends is important to you, make sure you’re putting money aside for just that reason. That way, you won’t dip into funds allocated for things like your emergency fund or your savings. - You are constantly lending your friends money. Yes No
Friends who constantly ask you for money is bad news financially speaking. Yes, it’s important to help friends, but it’s even more important to take care of your financial health. If you do decide to help out a friend in need, agree upfront if the money is a gift or not. If it’s a loan, be clear about the repayment terms. - Your friends support your financial goals. Yes No
True friends want to see you succeed, even if it means a change in the ways you spend time together. If you decide to spend less on nights out so that you can pay off your debts sooner or save more, your close friends should support and encourage you. That doesn’t mean you won’t go out anymore; it might only mean choosing more budget-friendly places to go. - Your friends are not serious about saving for the future. Yes No
Your friends don’t need to have the same savings and investing goals as you do, but if their plans are very different to yours, then the friendship could be holding you back. Research has showed that we become like the people we spend time with, so at least some of your friends should be as serious as you are about paying off debt and saving/investing for the future.
