The way I do use social media, however, allows me to save money. Every few days, I check our neighborhood bakery’s Twitter account—I can earn a scone or a loaf of bread for stopping in and tweeting a message about their special offers. I also check Amazon’s tweets (@Amazondeals) for Gold Box flash deals.

Following companies on Twitter or Facebook is a simple way to earn discounts, score coupons, or hear about specials before the general public does. Retailers know that if they offer you nice enough incentives, you may also read their promotional posts. Not a bad trade.

If you’ve had a negative experience with a company, making contact on Twitter or Facebook is often a lightning-fast way to get its attention—and possibly get back money you’ve spent. A complaint you make over social media is instantly available for all to see. As a result, most companies will bend over backwards to resolve your issue quickly and publicly—often in a Twitter reply or Facebook comment.

For instance, I recently saw a Twitter exchange in which a restaurant apologized and offered a free meal to a customer who had complained about bad service. The unhappy customer was satisfied, and the restaurant’s followers got to see how much the company valued its customers.

And if a little friend-to-friend sharing over social media can help you save money toward a goal—like a new computer or your upcoming honeymoon—would you try it? SmartyPig lets users link their savings goals to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Every time the user makes a deposit in the free SmartyPig account, it triggers a status post (sort of a public pat on the back). Through SmartyPig, friends and family can also make donations toward the user’s goal.

Money accumulated in a SmartyPig account earns interest and can eventually be transferred to a traditional savings or checking account, loaded onto a prepaid debit card, or redeemed for retailer gift cards that often come with a bonus reward of 10 percent more than the card’s original value.

All in all, these represent a few good reasons to dust off a neglected Twitter or Facebook account—with no pressure to post cute dog pictures or descriptions of what you ate at the hip new food cart.

Teri Cettina is a mom of two daughters and freelance writer who specializes in personal finance and parenting topics. She blogs at Your Family Money. Follow her on Twitter: @TeriCettina

Having said that, it is most important to get a good deal on your new car in the first place. All it takes is a little research and know-how. Before you set foot in a dealership, head to the Internet (or your local library) and check out Kelley Blue Book or NADA Pocket Guides to get an idea of what your potential new car is worth; you can use this information to negotiate the best price.

Once you have that information in hand, you can use these tips to save money:

Time it right. Dealers and salespeople have quotas to make. Try to make this work for you by going car shopping at the end of the month. Salespeople may be more willing to negotiate with you if they really need you to buy a car so they can make their numbers that month.

You may also want to consider car shopping during unexpected bad weather. Those cold, snowy days or miserable rainy evenings mean nobody wants to set foot outside—much less walk around a car lot. That’s good news for you because salespeople might be nervous about the lack of customers and more willing to negotiate.

Quick tip: Going car shopping during the middle of the week is better than the weekend because fewer customers will be in the dealership. You may also want to think about car shopping in the summer; deals can be found in abundance as the weather gets warmer and dealerships slash prices on the previous year’s inventory.

Don’t assume you need upgrades. Vehicle improvements, like power windows or a sunroof, aren’t the only upgrades a dealer may try to sell you. In many cases, dealers will also try to sell customers car protection packages that may not be worth the money. Often, these packages aren’t worth the cash you spend on them—either you’ll never use them or the repair won’t cost as much as the protection package—and are pure profit for the dealership.

Quick tip: Items such as VIN etching, fabric protection, and extended warranties are often not worth the money you pay for them. There are always exceptions to the rule, but in most cases if you do feel you need one of these items, you can usually find it much more cheaply through third-party vendors if you do a bit of research.

Pay some fees up front. You’ll be faced with a lot of fees when you buy a car: taxes, license, registration, title, and processing fees, to name a few. Try to pay as many of these up front as possible to avoid having to pay interest on them if they are included in the financing.

Quick tip: Ensure that the fees are itemized so you can identify which of them are truly government fees and which are processing fees (and pure profit for the dealer).

Be aware that the Truth In Lending Act (Regulation Z) requires the dealer to disclose the cash price or the principal loan amount, the total sales price, the finance charge, the annual percentage rate, and the terms of repayment.

Read the contract thoroughly. This is a no-brainer, but it’s something many people take for granted. Before you sign on the dotted line, try to take a night to sleep on it. As Fulton J. Sheen once said, “The big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.” Make sure you really understand what you are signing.

Quick tip: Do not let the dealership pressure you into signing something until you have had time to logically process all of the information. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.

And finally, never tell salespeople how much you can afford to pay. They will get you to spend that and much, much more.

Steve Repak, CFP®, is a professional speaker and the author of Dollars & Uncommon Sense: Basic Training for Your Money.

Unfortunately, there’s a downside to auto-payments: they’re easy to forget. If you don’t stay on top of them, you might continue to pay for items that you don’t really need—or want—anymore.

Review your auto-payments

Maybe you’re paying for the Netflix DVD service when all you use is the streaming service. Perhaps you’re paying for a gym membership when you haven’t been there in months. I recently realized that I’ve been paying for a monthly subscription to an online publication that I don’t read anymore.

Go through your account statements for your checking, savings, and credit card accounts. Are there recurring charges in the form of auto-payments? List out which items are paid automatically, taking care to record the name of the company and the amount sent each month.

Next, review each auto-pay account. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I still use this service/subscription/item?
• Do I like what I’m paying for?
• Can I afford to keep making this payment?
• What else could I do with the money I spend on this payment?
• What will it cost me to terminate the payment?

Canceling auto-payments

If you have decided that it’s time to cut back on the number of payments automatically deducted from your account, find out what steps you need to take to properly cancel them. Because it can take between three and 21 business days for your cancellation to take effect, get started with the process as fast as you can to avoid getting charged for another month.

Also consider that you probably need to do more than just cancel the automatic payments with your bank. Find out from the subscription, service, or company what steps you need to take to cancel your account completely. For example, many gyms require that you go in and sign termination papers in person. If you don’t do this, your canceled auto-pay may make it look as though you aren’t paying as agreed. The gym can then decide to turn your account over to collections, potentially harming your credit score.

After you have followed proper account termination procedures, monitor your funds for a couple of months. Make sure that the automatic payments have truly been canceled and that the money is no longer coming out of your bank account. You might need to continue monitoring your bank and credit card accounts, as well as your credit report, as errors and glitches could potentially result in auto-pay being reinstated later on.

The bottom line

Don’t let automatic payments bust your budget, and don’t continue paying for services and subscriptions you don’t use. Periodically review your budget and your accounts to identify auto-pay situations that might be costing you—and then cancel them.

Miranda Marquit is a freelance writer and professional blogger specializing in personal finance, family finance and business topics. She writes for several online and offline publications. Miranda is the co-author of Community 101: How to Grow an Online Community, and the writer behind PlantingMoneySeeds.com.

Setting an allowance amount

Set an allowance amount that is reasonable for your child’s age. Ten dollars a week is too much for a three-year-old but may not be enough for a 14-year-old. Consider your child’s age and the types of things he or she is likely to buy:

For what expenses is your child responsible? If you expect your child to buy personal-care items and most of his or her clothes, you will need to provide a bigger allowance. My son is only responsible for his entertainment purchases, which means that most of the time he buys his own video games, music, books, and movie tickets. Twenty dollars a month is sufficient for him right now.

Do you have other spending requirements? My son is required to pay tithing as well as set aside 20 percent for long-term savings. If you have these requirements, you need to make sure that your child has enough money to feel as though working toward his or her own goals is feasible while still learning good habits like charity and saving.

Whatever amount you decide, be sure that your child understands the expectations that come with an allowance.

Should you pay allowance for chores?

Generally speaking, there are two main camps when it comes allowance: Those that base it on chores performed and those that make it automatic.

On the one hand, many parents don’t want children to think that money is free. Tying allowance to chores requires children to work for their money.

On the other hand, some parents avoid tying allowance to chores because they want their children to understand that pitching in around the house is just part of being a family.

This choice weighed on my husband and me as we tried to figure out what to do about our son’s allowance. In the end, we decided to give him a somewhat modest allowance automatically. As he’s grown older, we’ve explained to him that the allowance will end when he’s old enough to get a real job.

In the meantime, our son’s smallish allowance is enough for him to purchase a few items occasionally, but if he wants something bigger, he needs to earn extra money—and we encourage him to do so. He can achieve this by doing well with 4-H projects and earning ribbon money as well as by taking on extra chores for my home business, like shredding documents and filing.

Our compromise combines both methods. We’ve made it clear that he’s not getting paid for taking out the trash and unloading the dishwasher; these are things he’s required to do as part of the family. I don’t get paid for vacuuming, and my husband doesn’t get paid for doing the laundry.

The main thing is that our son has been learning lessons about money management that will serve him well in the future. He’s also learning about priorities, carefully considering his purchases, and finding ways to make more money. These are lessons that, hopefully, will create good habits for his financial future.

How do you deal with your kids’ allowances?

Miranda Marquit is a freelance writer and professional blogger specializing in personal finance, family finance and business topics. She writes for several online and offline publications. Miranda is the co-author of Community 101: How to Grow an Online Community, and the writer behind PlantingMoneySeeds.com.

As stressful as it sometimes can be, it’s possible to keep wedding expenditures in check by thinking of ways to stretch your budget. Luckily, there are many creative ways to make your money go further while still helping the newlyweds start their life together, says Jamie Miles, an editor of popular wedding website, TheKnot.com.

“Couples are aware of the economy and how it’s affecting different people,” Miles says. “They’re going to be understanding if you have to stay within a budget and get something a little less expensive off their registry. Yes, there are bridezillas out there, but at the end of the day, they’re going to understand.”

First, start by shopping early, before the couple’s gift registry is picked over, she says.

“The key to saving is to buy early. Generally about 52 percent of the items on a couple’s registry are going to be under $50,” she says. “If you go within the first weeks, you are still going to be able to buy items that are under $50.”

While The Knot’s Bridal Registry Study shows that friends typically spend $79 on a wedding gift and family members average $146, it’s fine to give an amount that’s comfortable for you, Miles says. “If you’re in the friend realm, it’s going to be a little more acceptable to get something less expensive off their registry.”

“Say that you settle on something in the $20 to $40 range, that’s OK. You can also personalize it a little bit more,” she says. “Say you get them a wine rack off their registry, you can add a couple bottles of their favorite wine. That makes the gift a little more personal, and it’s still going to be affordable.”

Another way to stretch your dollar is to team up with friends to contribute smaller amounts to a group gift. Some 70 percent of couples receive at least one group gift, according to The Knot’s Bridal Registry Study. “It might end up being a little more substantial of a present, but it’s not going to affect your wallet as much as you buying that substantial present alone,” Miles says.

Even if your budget is limited, wedding experts recommend getting a gift from the couple’s registry instead of trying to find a similar item at a lower-priced store.

“I would definitely recommend getting something from the registry. That’s what they need. The registry has been created for a reason. It’s like telling someone what you want for your birthday and them totally ignoring you,” Miles says.

Beth Bernstein, owner and event director at SQN Events, a premier wedding planning company in Chicago, agrees.

“If they’re registered for salad bowls, they would like those salad bowls. They don’t want other salad bowls from a different place. I would not go to a lower-priced store. I would just get fewer items off their registry that you can afford,” Bernstein says.

The idea is to make a gift special, even if your budget is smaller, she says.

“If you don’t have a big budget to give a wedding gift, a good idea is to donate to a charity that’s meaningful to a couple in their honor,” Bernstein says. “A donation is always appreciated.”

Most charities will send a card to the couple letting them know that a donation has been made in their honor, usually without disclosing the specific amount. This can help you feel comfortable staying within a limited budget.

Another alternative is to give a meaningful personal gift, such as a framed photo of the couple, a framed copy of their wedding invitation, a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant, or a contribution to their honeymoon registry. You can also give a gift card to the store where the couple is registered so they can buy items after their wedding. “They might still need two forks, but you might feel weird just getting them two sets of silverware,” Bernstein explains. “They can use [a gift card] for what they want after the wedding to fill in the holes.”

Of course, when budgeting for wedding season, there’s more than the wedding gift itself. The wedding gift usually amounts to 60 percent of the total gift expenditure, with 20 percent for the engagement present and 20 percent for the bridal shower, Miles says.

Plus, for out-of-town weddings, there’s also the cost of airfare and hotel. Make a list of all possible expenses, including all gifts, dress, shoes, hair, makeup, hotel, and airfare. Then figure out a total expenditure level that is right for you.

Whatever your gift to the couple is, Miles says, “It’s going to help them as newlyweds start a life together. They’re going to be thankful, regardless.”

A Chicago-based writer and editor, Eve Becker writes about personal finance, health and other topics. She is a former managing editor of Tribune Media Services.

Here are three tips to help your children forge a path to financial independence:

1. Talk about financial goals with your children and then help create a plan to set them up for success.

• Define what financial independence means for you and your children. Do you want them to manage their own cash flow? Appreciate and know how to earn money? Set a budget to live within their means?
• Talk with your children about what is important to them in life. What kind of lifestyle do they want? Do they want a family? What level of education do they want to achieve?
• Talk to your children about how financial decisions might affect their lifestyle goals. How will they use credit? What level of debt is acceptable? How much should they be saving?

2. Utilize money management tools to gradually increase your child’s level of responsibility and independence.

• An allowance can introduce elementary school children to the concept of managing money. If you wish, the allowance can be linked to completing basic family chores.
• Using a monthly budget can help middle or high school children learn to live within their means while teaching them independence and accountability for their own cash flow. Help them estimate their projected monthly expenses (lunch, fun money, clothing, and so on) and then compare their actual expenses each month. Talk with your children about why they may have gone over budget and help them find ways to cut costs.
• A checking account with a debit card is a valuable tool for teenagers to begin managing money through a bank. Your children can only spend existing funds, and they have the flexibility of online banking and debit card usage.
• Encourage part-time jobs, such as cutting grass, shoveling snow, babysitting, or working for a business. Your children will learn to appreciate the power of earning a dollar. My parents taught me this valuable lesson during middle school when they expected me to babysit for clothing money. Their confidence in me was empowering and made me appreciate my new purchases even more.
• Credit cards should only be introduced when your children have a proven ability to manage a debit card. My children were allowed to open a credit card account when they were sophomores in college so they could begin establishing a credit history. Our rule was (and still is) that you only charge items on your credit card if you are able to pay off the balance each month.

3. Be a role model for fiscal responsibility. Children watch to see how adults earn, save, and spend money. Make sure your example is one that sets the tone for their future success.

As shrinking state and federal budgets take their toll on schools, parents are stepping up and funding more of the extra programs that enhance their schools—programs like partnerships with local theater companies, field trips, and new computers for classrooms.

For some families, it’s hard to balance multiple requests for time and money. But parents don’t need to break the bank to support their schools, experts say.

“No one is expecting a parent to go into debt for a fundraiser,” says Tim Sullivan, president and founder of PTO Today, a magazine and website for school PTOs and PTAs. “Fundraisers work best when there’s a broad base of modest support. As a parent, you’re not solely responsible for funding the field trips. No one’s expecting a parent to hit the credit card and be paying it off for six months because a kid needs a field trip.”

Even small contributions help support a good cause, says Laura Mueller, fundraising chair for her school’s fundraising group, Friends of Bell School.

“With our school being a public school, parents have to fund all the extra programs to make their school great,” Mueller says. “They need math books, projectors, technology—anything that helps teachers do their jobs better. I feel if I make our school great, that’s my priority. That’s where all of my money goes.”

For school fundraisers that sell products, like wrapping paper or cookies, typically 40 percent to 60 percent of the money raised goes directly to the school, Sullivan says. Of the remainder, some money goes to the actual product you receive (the wrapping paper or cookies) and some goes to a fundraising company.

Parents who don’t want another roll of wrapping paper can choose to give a cash contribution to the school or PTO instead.

“There’s not a school or PTO that wouldn’t take a cash donation. Support is support; it’s great,” Sullivan says. While the wrapping paper fundraiser might be counting on a certain amount of sales volume, “if you want to support [the school] any way you can, go for it.”

Mueller’s school, Alexander Graham Bell School in Chicago, runs a “wish list” fundraiser where parents can direct donations to a targeted fund, like a fourth grade poetry residency, a sixth grade technology fund, science fair materials, or art supplies.

“People all want to know where their money goes—every single dollar,” Mueller says. “We work really hard, and there’s a huge administrative team to make sure that every dollar goes where the parents want it. It’s not going to overhead or administrative costs, but it’s actually going to a book. That’s rare for a fundraiser.”

Not many schools offer such a targeted approach, but parents can talk to their school or their PTO to see if a targeted “wish list” fundraiser would work in their community.

Parents can also ask the PTO how many fundraisers it runs each year. Then parents can set a yearly donation budget and choose whether to participate a little bit in each event or make a bigger contribution to one event, if they are able.

Many parents need to balance requests from extracurricular activities too, Sullivan says.

“More typical for a family with budgeting concerns is: ‘I’ve got four kids. I’ve got three soccer teams, three basketball teams, two different schools. I can’t be the lead fundraiser for eight different causes,’” Sullivan says, speaking from his personal experience. “We wouldn’t make it with so many kids and so many activities. There aren’t enough hours in a day or dollars in our pocket to do it all.”

Sometimes it takes a village to complete the whole picture.

“Both time and money are different for every family. There are families who have no extra time and no extra money. And there are families that have both, if they’re very lucky,” Sullivan says. “I talk about it with PTOs a lot. There are some PTOs that put things out there, like if you can’t help, then your kid doesn’t get the field trip. Whoa, hold on: The mom is working 50 hours a week and is alone with three kids. Her time and money is very different than yours.”

If it’s possible to contribute an amount that’s comfortable for you, it can help cover parents who aren’t able to contribute, he says.

“For me, working at a school, what am I volunteering for?” Sullivan asks. “It’s so all the kids can have great [resources]. Not only the kids whose parents can help…. We’re all in this together.”

A Chicago-based writer and editor, Eve Becker writes about personal finance, health and other topics. She is a former managing editor of Tribune Media Services.

If you’re a little squeamish about buying used clothes, toys, or household items, you’re not alone. However, savvy shoppers know that second-hand shopping is the bargain hunter’s secret weapon. Think about it: Once you buy a crockpot or sweater and use or wear it for a few months, it’s used. But you still like it, right? And pretty much every used item you buy is washable or fixable, so germs, dirt, and simple repairs needn’t be an issue. You’ll pay pennies on the dollar for a good-quality pre-owned item, so why not give it a try?

Here’s what you need to know to be a savvy second-hand or garage sale shopper:

Shop regularly and be open-minded. Unlike shopping for new items, you can’t go to a thrift store or garage sale with a shopping list and expect to walk out with exactly what you were looking for. Second-hand shopping is more serendipitous—you might just find some bargain-priced treasures you weren’t expecting. If you check in at your favorite thrift stores regularly, you’ll eventually check many things off your “need” list (black pants for yourself, a raincoat for your daughter, and so on). Just expect it to take a little time.

Keep a running list. Jot down sizes, favorite colors, gift ideas, and needs for everyone in your family. That way, if you find a great bike for your son at a garage sale, you know what wheel size he needs so you can buy it without worry. Ditto for clothing sizes.

Stick to a budget. It’s easy to get excited about one-of-a-kind finds and overstep your spending boundaries. Know what you can afford. If possible, shop with cash. When your wallet is empty, you’re done shopping.

Know your stores. Over time, you’ll learn which second-hand shops carry items that you and your family like. Store inventories can vary neighborhood by neighborhood. Keep track of which stores carry a nicer inventory of name-brand clothing and good-condition household items. If you can, chat up the store owners. They may be willing to call you when something you really want or need comes in—such as a china pattern you’re collecting or a popular shoe in your child’s size.

Organize your stops. If you’re hitting multiple garage sales, plan your driving strategy the night before. Map out the most promising-sounding sales and visit several in one area. Multi-family sales are often a great way to do a lot of shopping in one stop. And start early: Veteran garage-sale shoppers are often lined up outside the best houses well before the morning start time.

Check condition. Before you fall in love with an item, examine it carefully for holes, tears, nicks, and other problems. If there’s minor damage, decide if the item is worth repairing (it often is). Ask to plug in electrical items, and consider carrying a few spare batteries to test items that might need them.

Carry cash. Some shops are willing to haggle if you offer the green stuff because they can avoid paying merchant credit and debit card fees. If you’re garage sale shopping, take a lot of small bills and change. It’s bad form to haggle the price of a lamp down from $5 to $3 and then hand the seller a Benjamin Franklin and wait for change.

Haggle happily—but know when to stop. Be friendly and respectful when you ask for a price deal rather than stern or combative. If the store owner or garage sale organizer won’t budge any further, know when it’s time to walk away—or when the final price is good enough to say, “You’ve got a deal.”

Teri Cettina is a mom of two daughters and freelance writer who specializes in personal finance and parenting topics. She blogs at Your Family Money. Follow her on Twitter: @TeriCettina

Identify your priorities

The very first thing you need to do is figure out what’s important to both of you as individuals and as a couple. Acknowledge where you differ from your partner, and focus on where you are the same.

For example, my husband likes to live in a comfortable home with nice furniture, surrounded by action figures. I like to get out of the house and travel. He’s more about things, and I’m more about experiences. Putting together a spending plan that melds these priorities has been difficult, but we’ve made our peace over the years.

Part of that peace-making process involves focusing on the priorities we share. Of course we have regular bills to pay, and we meet these obligations. Our more discretionary priorities as a couple include donating to charity, planning for retirement, and eating out. We also agree that our son should have extracurricular opportunities.

This means that before we fund our selfish individual priorities, we make sure to take care of our shared priorities. We donate to charity, contribute to our retirement accounts, and identify enriching activities for our son—and we go out to eat on occasion.

Next we can move forward with our individual priorities. Some couples find it easier to provide allowances for each individual, and that can be one way to ensure that personal priorities are met.

TIP: Make sure you have a complete picture of your finances. Check your credit report to make sure you’re aware of your financial accounts and catch potential mistakes.

Know your cash flow

When you first decide to make a budget, take a month to track your income and expenses so you can get a better picture of your shared cash flow. Each partner should keep track of what he or she makes and where that money goes. Personal finance software or an online system like Mint.com can be helpful in this process. However, don’t get intimidated by fancy programs. You can just as easily track this on a piece of paper in your wallet.

Your shared spending plan should be based on your cash flow as a couple, which means that you both might need to make adjustments based on the new situation. If you keep some of your finances separate, you will need to figure out who is responsible for which bills. If you have “mine, yours, and ours” accounts, you will need to work out a cash flow to ensure that the account for shared expenses is adequately funded in time to pay bills.

Sit down and hammer out the logistics of your personal economy so that you know where your money comes from and where it is going.

Remember respect

It’s tempting to think of your partner’s priorities as “silly,” but remember that some of your spending priorities might seem equally silly to someone else. You have to remember to respect each other when you start putting your first shared budget together.

Keep in mind that you love your partner and that you’re together for a reason. As you work out the basics of your budget, make sure you both keep calm. If either of you needs to take a break from the planning session, do so.

In some cases, it makes sense to get professional help in creating your financial plan. Consider a trusted financial planner or expert who can help you both identify problem areas as well as come up with solutions that you can both get behind. Sometimes, having a third party involved can help smooth the process.

Creating your first shared budget can get a little tense. Remember, though, that you both need to compromise, and that a shared budget can help you both use your resources to get what you want out of your partnership.

Miranda Marquit is a freelance writer and professional blogger specializing in personal finance, family finance and business topics. She writes for several online and offline publications. Miranda is the co-author of Community 101: How to Grow an Online Community, and the writer behind PlantingMoneySeeds.com.

Both are seemingly innocent requests, but they can lead to big problems down the road—in your personal relationships and your credit score. Money loans gone wrong can ruin friendships and make family holidays very awkward. Imagine having your friend excitedly show you her shiny new iPhone…when she’s months behind on paying you back for that car repair loan. Or what if you get a collection notice for the co-signed loan that you thought was being paid on time? You get the picture.

If you’re still thinking of lending money to a family member or friend, here are some guidelines to consider:

1. You can say no without creating conflict. Your best bet is to avoid lengthy explanations about why you won’t make the loan. The more you talk, the more you open yourself up to arguments and anger. Try something simple like: “It’s my policy never to loan money. Sorry.” Or “I can see you’re in a quandary. I’m happy to brainstorm options with you, but my money won’t be part of the solution.” Repeat as necessary.

2. Offer other help. If your friend/relative is open to it, help him or her consider other options. Can you help create a spending plan? Could he or she benefit from seeing a credit counselor? Can you brainstorm options for a side job so your friend/relative can earn a little extra money?

3. Get down to business. If you decide to loan the money after all, put your agreement in writing. Include how much you’re lending, whether you’ll charge interest, how payments will be handled (Monthly? In a lump sum due on a certain date?), what you’ll do about late payments, and more. You can download a promissory note for a personal loan at sites like Rocketlawyer.com or Lawdepot.com. At Bankrate.com, you can create and print a customized loan amortization table (a loan-payoff schedule).

4. Stay on top of payments. Don’t hesitate to send a reminder when a payment is late. It indicates that you’re paying attention.

5. Co-signing is risky, too. Offering to co-sign on a loan is just as perilous—if not more so—than lending money outright. If your co-signer gets behind on payments or defaults, you’re on the hook for all that has been borrowed. Your credit score could take a beating, too.

6. Consider it a gift. Loan only what you can safely afford to lose if the person doesn’t pay back the money. Be psychologically ready to let go of the money if the person flakes out. That way, if your friend/relative actually does repay the loan, you can be pleasantly surprised.

Teri Cettina is a mom of two daughters and freelance writer who specializes in personal finance and parenting topics. She blogs at Your Family Money. Follow her on Twitter: @TeriCettina.