<prompt> Human: A friend recently asked me if I could loan him 5,000. He detailed a repayment plan, which includes interest apparently. I know the cardinal rule: Give or Give not; there is no Lend. If I am going to enter into this transaction I need to write the money off and assume it wont come back to me. I get it. I dont want money to ruin a friendship. While part of me is happy to help a friend out, the other part of me feels weird about the reasons I was given to help. He claims he needs the money to pay off various credit card debts. Okay, fine. Just last year we got out from under about 13k of CC debt. But like...why would he want to pay us instead of the CC companies? Is it just so he can get started on improving his score while he pays the same amount back to us? Is he hoping to be able to combine his debt with us at a smaller interest rate? Or is there another motivation altogether for this that has nothing to do with the credit cards? I guess Im still struggling with the feeling of, like, not appreciating being put in the position of having to say no to a friend. That sucks. Also, how do I really know that giving someone a 5,000 gift wont build resentment or somehow change the dynamics of the relationship?We recently started making a lot more money, which is why we have been approached. Is this a common thing? Like, does this happen to people who make more than their friends? Should I be aware of this in the future?  <response>: You are going to lose 5k and your friend. Who actually isnt much of a friend since he is plotting to scam you. 