My friend won't pay me back after I loaned her $2,500. How do I ask for repayment without ruining our friendship?

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See our article on Business Insider for current information. ingwervanille/Getty Images For Love & Money is a column from Business Insider answering your relationship and money questions.

This week, a reader loaned money to a friend who keeps dodging the conversation about repayment.

Our columnist suggests setting strong boundaries and deciding between prioritizing the friendship or repayment.

Dear For Love & Money, I have a good friend who was going through a financial hardship, and she asked me for a loan.

She assured me she would pay me back quickly.

I'm young and don't have a lot of savings , so giving her $2,500 was most of my buffer.

It's been months, and every time I bring it up, she puts me off or changes the subject.

I don't want to lose my friendship! What should I do? Sincerely, Not a Loan Shark For Love & Money answers your relationship and money questions.

Looking for advice on how your savings, debt, or another financial challenge is affecting your relationships? Submit your question in this Google form .

Dear Not a Loan Shark, I'm sure you've learned your lesson, so I won't beat you over the head with it, but for the rest of my readers, I feel like I should put the moral of this story into words: Loaning money to our friends isn't always a good idea.

If your friend is in dire need of financial support and you can afford to help them, give them the money as a gift.

I know this advice may seem harsh, but my reason for giving it is summed up in your predicament: Healthy relationships have clear boundaries.

I learned this lesson from my own hard-won experience with a friend.