Hell Is Other People

Are you loaning money to friends?

A productive rule to live by — if you "lend" money to a friend, consider it a gift, and be surprised and delighted if they pay back the loan.

Otherwise, are you writing up contracts for the money loaned out?

Heaven is other people, too.

Montrana wrote:What should I do when someone says they'll pay me when I know, and they know I know, that they won't pay me?

You suck it up and learn your lesson. You gain wisdom. You made the mistake, "loaning" money to a friend/family.

You never loan money to friends or family. You give them money if you can afford it. If they decide to pay you back great. If not, no big deal. They are family, people that will help you when you are in need and you should have given it to them without the expectation it would ever be returned.

On the other hand, if it is not a friend or family, then you are in the business of loans. It is not a friend, it is a person you lent money to with an agreed upon interest rate and time when they should pay it back, right? If they didn't pay you file a legal claim to recoup your loses. That is what banks do.

This nonsense about getting violent is you not having gained enough wisdom in life yet. It is ignorance, trying to solve a mistake you made. You made the mistake, but others need to suffer so that you feel better? Or maybe you are just venting in the forum about your mistake.

I'm not loaning to other people, I'm a tattoo artist and I charge 100$ an hour. Most of my clients will be short 10 or 20$ sometimes. If they say I'll pay up on the next tattoo, no problem.

Other clients promise to come back asap and pay, OK no problem, 10$ won't hurt since I just got 90$ from them.

I also tell them forget it, but they will insist on fully imbursing me for my full effort.

Now since they have promised, I'm a man of my word, and I expect them to be also, I test them. 9 out of 10 people are no shows. Well respect locally bold and famous(sometimes infamous) pay up.

But why do people force themselves into a promise they can't keep. Don't they know they will hurt themselves when i confront them? Being a stand up dude, I gotta say what I feel about where they messed up so they don't hurt others.

But no, they say I'll be right back with the money, lol.....

Candid wrote:Heaven is other people, too.

Sure, others can show a heavenly time. Such a good time that you'd want to meet that person again. Until you start seeing each other too much, not too too much but just enough that little peeves and habits can ruin a good relationship.

Richard@DecisionSkills wrote:

Montrana wrote:
This nonsense about getting violent is you not having gained enough wisdom in life yet. It is ignorance, trying to solve a mistake you made. You made the mistake, but others need to suffer so that you feel better? Or maybe you are just venting in the forum about your mistake.

I haven't been violent to anyone yet in my life. I don't plan to unless I'm in danger.

What I need from you all is to be harsh 3rd party critics because I guess I don't seem to learn from directly from relatives and friends.

I guess some unknown individual criticising me might stick in my brain for a while and keep me in line. I'll always appreciate what you guys help me with, thanks.

If you want to avoid this situation, insist on full payment upfront.

"This is the price, no discounts, no credit. Period."

Well, discounts are fine, but once the transaction is over, it's over.

Thanks quietvoice, how do I convince people to pay me upfront without being rude. People end up saying "Of course we're gonna pay, where not gonna run away." We make a deal that it'll cost 400$, then they'll give me 350$ begging for a discount or promise to clear the debt on the next tattoo.

probably for this reason: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_discounting

quietvoice wrote:If you want to avoid this situation, insist on full payment upfront.

"This is the price, no discounts, no credit. Period."

Well, discounts are fine, but once the transaction is over, it's over.

but I would join this with your Original Advice in the sense that If they don't come back with the money they owe, well, write it off as a business loss... and if they ever come back for More Work, charge 'em Double. .

Thanks guys, you guys actually gave me some good advice, for real. You guys made me realise I shut drop hell on them.

Would it be fair to act like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons on my clients and start ripping them off with a smile, and leave them in awe like "What a prick"?