#38: A True Friend Will Understand
A really important message here is about the dangers of peer pressure. We’ve all been in situations where we’ve done something that we know we shouldn’t—such as spending money that we don’t have—because we’re with our friends and we don’t want to look bad in front of them or disappoint them.
But guess what? You’re the one who’s going to have to live with the debt, so you should not be pressured into going into it. Be upfront with your friends when there’s something that you don’t want to spend a lot of money on. If they’re really your friends, they will understand; if they want you to torpedo your financial life just to please them, maybe they’re not very good friends and you should drop them anyway.