Marketplace®

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Season 2Episode 7Mar 12, 2020

What’s a friendship worth?

Would you spot a friend money if they needed it? How about if they asked every month? This week: the limits of friendship.

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Peter Balonon-Rosen and Che Holloway
Peter Balonon-Rosen and Che Holloway
Courtesy: Peter Balonon-Rosen

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Would you spot a friend money if they needed it? Would you do it every few weeks? What’s too much? And what’s worth ruining a friendship over?

When it comes to money and friends, there are no clear rules. And that can cause problems.

First, we meet Brittany Marquez. She’s a nurse in Denver who was happy to lend her friend money, no questions asked — until she found out how the money was spent.

Next up, Che Holloway, who moved to New York to pursue an acting career. Service jobs were helping him fill the gaps, but when things got rough, he consistently turned to a friend: our producer Peter Balonon-Rosen.

They’d been buddies in high school, and Peter was happy to spot Che a few bucks, especially because he always got paid back. But when money became their only interaction for months, Peter started to feel differently.

We got them in the studio to talk it out, and it’s not exactly comfortable.

By the way, don’t forget to sign up for our brand new newsletter. Every week you’ll get a note from Reema, a new exclusive story and recommendations from our staff about what to read, watch and listen to. And if you have a story about lending friends money or borrowing money from a friend, feel free to share it using the form below.

The Team