Had to choose between helping my brother or paying my rent last month

My brother called me crying that he was about to lose his car because he missed two payments. He needed $800 right away. I had the money saved for my rent but I gave it to him figuring he'd pay me back. Now he's ghosting me and I'm a week late on rent with a $75 late fee. Has anyone else had a sibling put you in a bind like this and how did you handle it?

2 comments

2 Comments

david7018d agoMost Upvoted

Helping family is different from a loan, you're right about that.

emma_burns968d ago

wait hold on OP, i think you might be framing this wrong. you didn't have to choose between helping your brother and paying rent. you had to choose between your rent and possibly losing your brothers car, which is totally different. giving him the money was a choice, not a forced thing. and honestly, the bigger problem here isnt the $75 late fee, its that your brother is ghosting you. that's messed up. you should probably stop calling it "helping him" and start calling it what it is - you loaned him money and now hes not paying you back.