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Friends can be a great support system when you’re having difficulty with money. While most people know about the type of friends you don’t want around, here are the types of friends you should have around to help you improve your financial situation:

Supportive Friends

The best type of friend is one who supports you even if they don’t entirely understand or share your financial situation. These are the friends who will listen to your problems and try to lend you help any way possible. The next time you feel yourself spiraling out of control because of your finances, call up one of these friends.

Friends Who Loan You Money

Not everyone is lucky enough to have friends who can loan money. If you do have friends who won’t hesitate to lend you money, consider yourself very lucky! However, if your friends are generously offering to loan you money, don’t use them as a crutch and make sure you pay them back. You don’t want to turn into that friend who never repays.

Friends Who Understand Your Situation

Are you suddenly embarrassed that you can no longer go out to eat with your friends? Maybe you had to pull out of a group vacation because of money problems. Some people might not understand why, but a good friend will not only support your decision, but understand why you had to make such a decision. They might not have all the details about your financial status, but they’ll support your choices as you work to improve your finances.

Friends Who Don’t Pressure You

No one likes friends who pressure them. It’s easy for someone with secure finances to pressure you into going out for happy hour drinks when they don’t have to worry about money. A good friend is one who doesn’t pressure you and who possibly offers alternatives where you don’t have to put your finances in jeopardy.

Non-Judgmental Friends

Sometimes it seems as if there are judgmental people everywhere. They might judge you for your fashion sense or your education background or even for the location of your house or apartment. A lot of people tend to judge others based on their financial status and security, as well. Having non-judgmental friends around when you’re trying to improve your finances and keep yourself stable is very important. The last thing you want is someone who is making snide comments about your spending habits or money failures.

Friends With Finance Experience

When you’re looking to improve your finances, consider talking to any of your friends who might have a background in finance. They might be able to help you figure out what approaches to take to improve your financial accounts or how to effectively cut frivolous spending. Friends with financial experience are a great resource. If you don’t have many financial friends ‘in real life’, simply visit our forums for tons of financial support for whatever you’re going through.

Friends Who Have Been in the Same Financial Situation

Sometimes it’s difficult to be the only one in a group of friends suffering from poor finances. You might feel as if your friends don’t understand your situation or that they can’t relate when you discuss your fears for your future. A friend who is in the same situation or who used to be in a similar situation can not only sympathize with you, but can potentially help you find ways to improve your finances that you might not have considered.

Ones Who Will Give Objective Advice

It’s often hard to give objective advice to friends and family. Having a friend who can sit you down and provide unbiased advice is a great friend to have. They might be able to point out flaws and solutions that you or other friends didn’t observe. Objective advice is something everyone needs to hear, especially when it comes to changing spending and finance habits.

Friends Who Don’t Mooch

Of course, no one wants a friend who mooches off of them, especially if your finances are in a dire state already. A friend who mooches off you while you’re trying to repair your finances isn’t someone to keep around. Instead, keep around friends who support your effort to improve your finances.

Ones Who Act as a Resource for You

A friend who acts as a resource for you is someone who may lend you money, offer unbiased advice, or point you in the direction of a good financial counselor or good financial advice columns. These are friends who pretty much encompass all the other points discussed on this list. Ultimately, friends who act as a resource will go out of their way to help you improve your finances in any way possible.

Last night I met up with a crowd of restaurant reviewers from the local Yelp community. Yelp, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is a community of on-line reviewers who contribute reviews of restaurants and other businesses. Over time, visitors to the site can get an increasingly accurate perception of how businesses are perceived by prior customers, and I have found the site to be hugely valuable in planning restaurants to visit and businesses to hire.

I went to the meet up because I actively contribute to Yelp. I enjoy the process of critiquing my experiences at restaurants and other businesses and I like knowing that good service can be rewarded with the simple act of writing a review. I also went to the meet up because I now take every possible opportunity to meet new people and to give them my business card. I know that the more people I meet, the more people I can attract as clients. That should not surprise anyone, but I know a lot of business owners who really think that business will find them. I assure you, if you are a small business owner, that is not the case.

There are a lot of networking opportunities that will present themselves if one keeps one’s eyes open. Many of those opportunities are free or minimally priced. Moreover, most of them can be enjoyable if you approach them with the right mindset. Networking events can be virtual or in real time. They can be organized by any number of organized or they can be self-organized, formal or informal. Here are several ways that I have either networked in the past month or have plans to network in the coming months.

Formal Networking Groups: There are a number of formal business networking groups in existence. BNI is the world’s largest business referral network and I have known several people who have belonged to chapters. Some have found that they have gotten many referrals from their chapter and others have been less successful. Nevertheless, the weekly meetings are a good opportunity for members to meet other local business owners and the possibility of getting business referrals should justify at least considering membership in such a group.

Grass Roots Networking Groups: Many local organizations are now sponsoring business groups from their membership. For example, my church (a Catholic parish with over 7,000 parishioners) has a networking group that meets once per month and which encourages both referrals among its members and from the parishioners as a whole. The meetings are both a wonderful community building activity and a way to find new business while mingling with fellow parishioners, most of whom I would never have otherwise met.

Social Networking Groups: Membership in a social organization, such as the Knights of Columbus or the Masons, also serves a quasi-professional purpose. It is only natural that friends will refer business to friends. Business does not have to be a focus of the social activities that the organization pursues, but through basic human interaction, business can evolve organically.

Educational Programs and Seminars: Even if you have no direct need to attend an educational program, if it is the type of program that you can credibly attend and which you know potential customers might attend, attendance may be worth your time. Many of my clients are website developers and other “creatives.” Accordingly, I am pleased to have registered for a conference that will feature a panel discussion on the creative process.

Offer Educational Talks: Even better than attending an educational program, offer them. Later this year I am tentatively scheduled to speak at a writer’s conference and at an event that is being scheduled for local musicians. I am happy to share my knowledge with each group, but I also know that by appearing approachable and intelligent before each group, I am likely to develop clients as well.

Lunch: Take the time to meet with people one on one. This past month I had lunch or coffee with several people, typically other professionals from whom I hope to receive referrals or with whom I hope to collaborate. Other than a noticeable increase in my waistline, the meetings require very limit effort on my part and they tend to be quite enjoyable. Some have already generated new relationships from which I am sure I will benefit over time.

How do you network? Where do you meet people?

networking

10 Types of Friends Who Can Help Improve Your Finances