Painful lessons in lending $$

It's great disappointment when you lend $$ to a trusted friend who is in real deep shit ends up not wanting to pay you back because they declare they don't have the $$ to do so. While they are in their bankrupted situation, you still see them dishing out money left, right and center for things that are frivolous and eating like a king but they are just not paying you back! You waste years doing the follow up and couldn't close your accounts book for the year due to that debt. When you ask them, they'd buy you a coffee and say how they can't pay back. It's really sad, being taken advantage of this way. When you drill into their heads how irresponsible they are, they start avoiding you and not pick up your calls or avoid your calls.

I am beyond disappointed at the moment with this, and it has taught me a valuable lesson that no matter how deep in a rut a friend is, and how much they beg, they are not seeing a single cent from me. It's a pity that if certain cases are genuine, but what can I do when I myself is living cautiously and do not have a lot of spare money to go around.

This is not good. Not even in the name of friendship or genuineship or whatever 'ship' one should overlook. Borrowers of such end up making lenders heartless at the end of the day. Genuine borrowers will now join in the bandwagon of the irresponsible that may range from cheaters to liars. Sad.