Normally you end up with classmates, neighbors, cousins, colleagues – and you dip into this for your best friends, right? Well almost yes. However today it is possible to have ‘friends’ numbering 154,000 on FB and knowing about 133 of them.

Also you could get into ‘interest groups’ and find about 1000 friends interested in photography, motor cycle riding, flying and swimming. The only thing of common interests is the ‘hobby’ or ‘advanced amateur’ status of the hobby. What happens if you are in a group of photography friends? Well you could find somebody using his cell phone as a camera to be in that group, but then you could also find somebody using a Hasselblad camera costing US $ 36,000 (your 3 year gross income?) also as a part of the group.

Well, when the guy owning the H camera says lets meet for dinner….he means the Hilton, right? So beware of going shopping (or a simple dinner!) when you are with him or her.

Let us look at some ‘friends’ who can be a financial disaster for you……

1. The Rich Enabler: Who will look at a Rs. 14,000 shoe and say ‘this will look awesome on you’. Well it will, but that kind of money is what you may be saving to buy a cycle instead of a running shoe! However the ‘friend’ may not even intend hurting you…just that she mentioned it. You will realize it only when you go home and see the bills!

2. The Miser: Who may / may not have the money but not willing to spend. Such a person who is not a great person to be around with – unless YOU know how to split the bills as much as you can. Asking for separate bills is a nice way of sending the message across. You now must hope the you did not eat from his / her plate…after all you do not want to be told ‘hey you took 2 bites of MY idli’ do you?

3. The Non Mathematician: the ‘friend’ who cannot divide the joint bills on a correct basis. There are certain costs which are not divisible, and certain costs which the friend would have incurred anyway. For example there are some friends who expect fuel expenses to be shared, and some who do not. Worst are those who claim that they do not mind, but tell the whole world that he/she did not – and you DID NOT PITCH IN. This is the worst combination. The world does not owe you a living, so pay up, or at least offer to pay up.

another 10 more will follow…