Borrowing from family members (and friends) may seem like the best way to cover urgent bills for a few days. But such borrowings put an enormous strain on relationships. The U.S. Financial Diaries found that the best solution was to set up – in advance – a fixed repayment schedule. For myself, when my brother called and asked to borrow money to pay his taxes, I agreed.
My only requirement was that he keep track of his borrowings, work out a repayment schedule and send me a report showing how much he had borrowed and how much had been repaid. When he found an extra few dollars to add to the repayment, he was overjoyed that he could pay me back ahead of time.