You did not quite say whether you could afford to lose the money or not? If your life/style will be in serious jeopardy for having lent the money (it will be you on the streets), then it might not have been a good idea to have lent it. I tend to be reckless lending money and my husband is no longer here to temper that and make sure there's a signed, written agreement to pay back, etc. to protect us. But I am not completely a fool :-) and though I would be "hurt" by my relative not paying back what they owe, I usually lend money starting from the premise that I might not get it paid back.