By Berlynn Bitengo

This is a new column that we are introducing. We hope that it will answer your questions but also make you laugh. If you have any questions that you would like to get answered or a situation that you need help working through, please reach out by sending us an email and we will try to answer it the best we can. To be clear, these answers will be based off of someone’s opinions and are not expert answers. With that being said, let’s get to our first question.  

Q: How do I get my money back from people that owe me?

A: To be honest, there’s a lot of factors that you have to take into account. How much money does the person owe you? Did they specifically say or was it understood that they would have to pay the money back? Is this a person that you know well? How long has it been since you gave them the money? Have you attempted to contact the person? Once you determine the answers to the following questions, there are different routes you can take. 

One route that you could take is the civilized route. With this route, you can try to have a conversation with the person. This could be a sit-down conversation where you can try to understand why your payment has been delayed. If the sit-down conversation does not work, do not worry; you could also reach out through text message, and if they blocked you, you still have Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook,Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterst, Tumblir, Youtube if they have a channel. Also, you cannot forget about email. I am talking about Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Comcast, AOL and Bing. Basically what I am trying to get at is that they will not be able to avoid you. 

The second route you can take, and I hope it never gets to this, is to run up on the individual who owes you money. When I say run up, I mean that you should identify locations that the individual may be at a certain time and then just so happen to be in the same location (if you know what I mean). I understand that this is a drastic step to take; however, if the individual is not showing signs of paying you back, you have to find other solutions. I am in no way advocating for violence, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. 

This part is for all the people that know they owe someone money: PAY THEM BACK!!!!