Lending money to a friend risks two things: the cash and the friendship. Count both.

Two things go out the door when you lend money to a friend, and only one of them is the cash. The other is the ease between you, because now there is something being tracked, and every coffee they buy becomes something you quietly notice. Most people never ask for it back. They drift instead, and explain the drift some other way.

Before you lend anything, decide whether you could treat it as a gift if it never returns, and if you cannot, say no kindly. If you do lend, agree a date out loud and write it down. When the date comes, ask once, plainly.