When Is It Okay To Say No?

First of all, my savings now amount to £1700 with the money I added from this month's salary. It's nice to see four figures on the bank balance!

Secondly, I have already met with my first major dilema. At the beginning of the month my sister decided that I was going to lend her the £800 she needs to take a dental assistant training course and then my wonderful brother added that he also needed to borrow money for a deposit on his new home. Now my sister I am happy and willing to help as she is good with money, makes an effort to save and doesn't splash out on ridiculous items as soon as the pay cheque comes in. She has lent me money in the past and vice versa and it is always paid back in full by the agreed date. The money is being put to good use and £800 I can afford to lend out for a few months. So I said yes.

My brother on the other hand is a natural gambler. He earns considerably more money than I do at a younger age and spends everything he has - and anything he can get from other people! He wastes thousands on the stock market, casinos, holidays abroad with his girlfriend and his insane money making schemes. He has borrowed money from me in the past and has never managed to pay me back on time. I have had to constantly remind him to get the money back at all! I learnt very quickly not to feed his habit. Aside from that, he wanted to borrow several thousand pounds in order to buy a house miles and miles away from anywhere at the worst time possible (if you follow the housing market). He couldn't be bothered to wait another year to save up some money himself. He wanted a house right there and then damn the consequences! So I said no to him.

Now I love both my brother and sister dearly and have a pretty good relationship with both of them and naturally I felt bad refusing my brother. But at the back of my mind I know I am doing the right thing. He is barely in his 20's and is so used to hearing 'yes' from my parents that he has no financial discipline whatsoever. He has already maxed out his credit cards and is currently trying to pay back a loan he took out to pay for a holiday. He is going to have to make himself (and probably his girlfriend) bankrupt before he really learns a lesson and that is going to be a hard thing to watch. I only hope he gets it over and done with at a young age so he can move on with his life!