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If there's one thing all Londoners can agree on, it's that we're always a bit short on cash. Once you've forked out for rent, travel and your non-negotiable morning coffee, you've already made a serious dent in your pay cheque – and that's before you've squandered all the rest of your money down the pub. So it's always a bit awkward when it gets to that time of the month that you have to put on your 'debt collector' hat and politely remind your friends about all that money they owe you.
But that whole rigmarole is about to get way easier thanks to PayPal's latest app, which lets you instantly transfer money to your friends without having to faff around with sort codes, account numbers and mother's maiden names. Once downloaded, all you need is your friend's email or phone number, and as long as they've also got a PayPal account, you can settle your debts in a few clicks. Here are five situations it'll make infinitely easier.
1. Organising group holidays
Is there anything more stressful than trying to organise a group getaway for you and all your pals? Between endless group chat messages, booking flights and trying to find somewhere to stay that meets the group's main requirements of being both cheap and having a hot tub, you need a holiday to get over the stress of it. If you're 'the organised one', it invariably falls to you to sort it all out, which means shelling out for flights, accommodation and deposits, followed by weeks of chasing up your friends who've gone suspiciously quiet on the group chat.
2. Paying bills
There are lots of great things about living in a shared house – but sorting out bills is definitely not one of them. This is life admin at its absolute worst. When it's time to pay the bills, you'll spend ages working out the very precise amount all your housemates owe you (those pennies all add up, after all) and there's always one who'll always forget to pay you on time. Who needs hot water, anyway?
3. Going on a night out
There are no shortages of cool places to go on a night out in London, but there is a definite chance that you'll run into a cash shortage after one too many G&Ts. When that happens, you've generally got no option but to scrounge off your mates for the evening, which is fine (that's what they're for, right?), but just try and keep a vague tally of the damage, yeah?
4. Getting tickets for music festivals
Remember that thing we said about organising holidays being the most stressful thing on Earth? Forget it, we lied. Getting tickets for music festivals (we're looking at you, Glastonbury) can be way worse. You've got to try and keep your cool while battling through virtual waiting rooms and trying to enter your card details with seriously clammy hands. But the worst part of the whole process? Realising you've gone through all that and now you've got to spend the next few weeks nudging your friends to pay you back while you live off tins of baked beans in the meantime.
5. Sharing taxis
Let's face it, when it's 3am and you're trying to get from one side of London to the other, you're definitely going to sack off the night bus and shell out for a cab. But with three drop-offs and an inevitable hefty fare at the end of it, no one wants to be the one who takes the hit. If your friends conveniently don't have any cash, it'll be down to you to foot the bill and spend the next day nursing a hangover and sending your friends not-so-subtle texts with your account details until they pay up.
Download the PayPal app and get ready to say goodbye to all these awkward money situations. And if you need any more incentive, how about this? Until July 10, PayPal is offering up to 100 people every day the chance to get their money back. All you have to do is share a picture of what you're using PayPal to pay your friends back for, using #MyPayBack and you'll automatically be entered into a draw to get your money back. Mo' money, no problems.
