Money & Work
410 conversations across 16 years of the show. Try a few, or go by subject.
A few to try
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Dear LFTP: the $4,200 loan that never came back
- How do I get past the sadness over the $4,200 loan my friend never repaid — do I just let it go?
The final Dear LFTP letter: a year ago a supposed friend asked to borrow money — her husband had left the country to renew his visa, her car was repossessed, she had no way to get to work.
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Dear LFTP: the inheritance and the controlling husband
- Should a mother leave an inheritance to a daughter whose controlling husband will control it?
The second letter comes from a mother whose daughter married a controlling, rude husband; she wonders whether to leave a sizable inheritance knowing he will control it.
From No. 584 · When Vanek Was Here | Cambodia Testimony, Church Mission, Josiah Queen
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Dear LFTP: the $99 birthday bill and "Jesus always pays"
- Was it wrong to be taken aback when I was expected to split the cost of a friend's birthday dinner?
Mike reads a letter from a man invited to a friend's birthday dinner at a popular restaurant: after the birthday boy excused himself, the waiter presented the bill and the nine…
From No. 580 · Not Sure | Old Testament Law, Holy Spirit Guidance, Christian Discernment
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Dear LFTP: the rain cloud and the value of work
- How can I get out from under this rain cloud at work - do I want too much out of life?
Mike reads the second letter: a woman in her early thirties, happy in marriage and new house, but miserable in high-stress tech marketing - 'How can I get out from under this rain cloud?
From No. 577 · The Spirit, the Goldfish and the Way
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Dear LFTP: the birthday bill
- Is it unreasonable to resent always paying the family birthday bills?
A woman asks if she is unreasonable for resenting the $500-$1,000 birthday bills she always covers for her younger sister, whose husband never helps.
From No. 563 · Raptors and Heifers
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Dear LFTP: the GoFundMe for a friend with cancer
- How do I balance my friendship with my moral compass regarding the GoFundMe I set up?
A Dear LFTP letter: the writer set up a GoFundMe for a close friend diagnosed with breast cancer who has always been impulsive with money (gambling, cruises, fancy restaurants)…
From No. 552 · Affirming the Nasty Part
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404 conversations
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Dear LFTP: law-firm runner stuck tipping 10%
- How can I signal to the cashier that I would tip more than the instructed 10% if it were my own money?
A listener who runs errands for a law firm is instructed to tip only 10% on takeout lunch orders with the firm's money and wants a way to signal she would tip more.
From No. 324 · Guppies and Pumpkins
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Dear LFTP: spendthrift retired parents and the Secular's answer
- Should my siblings and I keep giving money to our retired parents, who live beyond their means and pay for a storage locker full of junk, or put our collective feet down?
- Is it more generous to keep giving money to financially irresponsible parents, or to confront them and teach them to manage their money?
A host introduces a Dear LFTP listener letter: the writer and four siblings support their retired, fixed-income parents, who keep asking for money while taking short trips,…
From No. 309 · Forgiveness vs. Fitness
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Am I the Donkeys Behind? The father-in-law's free house
- Am I the donkey's behind for handing the house decisions back to my father-in-law?
- Should the couple take the free house and stick it out with the controlling father-in-law?
The guest reads the second letter: a generous father-in-law with 'the a-hole gene' bought the neighboring house for the couple, put his and the husband's names on the title, then…
From No. 536 · The Olympic Supper Club
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Dear LFTP: the paramedic's overtime fight
- How do I address my wife pushing me to work more overtime while spending her own vacation without me, without starting a fight?
A paramedic writes that his wife pushes him to pick up twelve-hour shifts while taking none herself, citing housework, and spends her vacation at theme parks without him.
From No. 516 · Pastor Rico Suave
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Dear LFTP: the husband who is generous with everyone but his wife
- Why is my husband generous with everyone else but stingy with me, and what should I do about it?
Mike (speaker-1) reads a Dear LFTP letter from a woman married 30+ years whose husband splits every bill to the penny and is generous with everyone except her, making her feel unimportant.
From No. 493 · Charlatan Kings
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Church charity and the discernment line
- Is it wrong for a church to ask help-seekers to attend a service before giving aid?
Mike reads 2 Thessalonians 3:9-11 — "if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" — and the hosts revisit the Canadian church that offers a grocery gift card to help-seekers…
From No. 452 · False Teachers and Freeloaders
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Only thirteen percent of evangelicals tithe
- What percentage of evangelicals actually tithe?
- Does a day set apart as holy still matter beyond legalism?
A giving study ("The Generosity Factor" finds only 13% of evangelicals tithe, half give less than 1% of income, and the median church giver gives about $800 a year.
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Twelve stumbling blocks, part one: money
- Do the twelve stumbling blocks line up with what we are seeing in the church?
A host introduces an op-ed listing twelve stumbling blocks to the gospel for millennials (born 1981–1996 — 'that's Mike and I') and the hosts begin working through them.
From No. 444 · Fake Persecution and Tripping Millennials
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When to leave a situation you keep failing in instead of fighting through it
- Is it ever right to leave a situation you keep sinning in rather than fighting through it?
- Is resisting temptation more holy than avoiding it?
A host lays out a years-long struggle: he keeps sinning in the same way at work, reacting with pride to people with authority, and asks whether at some point the godly move is to…
From No. 440 · Redeem or Reject
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Dear LFTP: cruise vacation souvenir demands
- Am I being overly sensitive that friends expect souvenirs from my cruise, and how can I politely refuse?
A couple, finally recovered from bankruptcy after the economy crashed, plans their first real vacation in ten years — a cruise — but four friends and family members ask them to bring back souvenirs.
From No. 343 · Egypt Jane
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Dear LFTP: first communion on a tight budget
- Dear LFTP: With no budget for a first-communion party, how do I tell extended family they are welcome at the church but there will be no party?
A mother writes that her son's first communion is coming, the family cannot afford even an inexpensive party, and she wants to limit the celebration to parents and grandparents — but feels guilty about the godparents and extended family.
From No. 339 · Kenny Got A Plane
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Dear LFTP 1: loud coworkers, the joining-in manager, and the Psalm 126 follow-up
- How should employees handle loud, disruptive coworkers whose manager joins in?
Mike reads the first Dear LFTP letter: a shared workspace where one department talks nonstop about non-work topics, and their manager joins in rather than correcting them — the writers are desperate for a reasonable work setting.
From No. 593 · Do You Hear What I Hear
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Dear LFTP 2: unequal in-law cash gifts
- Am I petty for feeling less valued over unequal in-law cash gifts?
Mike reads the second letter: every year the writer's in-laws give cash to all children and spouses equally — except her, who gets half — while she hosts every celebration, visits weekly, and helps with repairs.
From No. 593 · Do You Hear What I Hear
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Dear LFTP: the $600 lawnmower and buying them a mower
- My nephew's wife took my $600, lied about it, and is avoiding me. Should I say something or let it go?
Mike reads a letter from someone who gave a nephew's wife $600 for a self-propelled lawnmower; she spent it, never bought the mower, and now avoids them.
From No. 587 · Coffee After Sunday
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Dear LFTP: the stolen college fund and telling the 90-year-olds
- Should I tell my 90-year-old parents that their grandson stole my granddaughter's college fund?
Ben hands to Mike, who reads a grandmother's letter: her son helped himself to the college money the great-grandparents set aside for her granddaughter; she fears telling her parents, in their nineties, could shock them into a stroke.
From No. 586 · Nothing Personal
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Dear LFTP: the neighbor Tim and boundaries without guilt
- How can I end the friendship with my difficult neighbor Tim without sending him into a spiral?
Mike reads a letter from a self-described clean-freak friend of a hoarding, narcissistic, government-program neighbor named Tim: how to end the friendship without sending Tim into a spiral.
From No. 582 · Risky Business | Christian Risk-Taking, Community Engagement, Faith in Action
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Dear LFTP: husband's slot-machine addiction and a lost life's savings
- How should an 80-something wife respond when her husband's slot-machine addiction gambled away everything?
A letter from a woman in her eighties: her husband developed a slot-machine addiction, gambled away every asset from 58 years of marriage, and their son bailed them out as trustee of the land and home while doling out a tiny allowance.
From No. 581 · Silly Rabbit | Christianity, Culture, and Navigating Social Expectations
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Dear LFTP: the wedding-gift cash and the missing thank-you
- Tell me, was I wrong? (wedding-gift cash and the missing thank-you note)
Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter from a woman who gave $300 cash at a destination wedding by handing the envelope to a bartender, then asked her friend six months later whether the couple received it, and wonders if she was wrong to ask.
From No. 575 · Heartfelt Heresy
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Dear LFTP: the boss who assigns personal errands to his only employee
- How do I refuse my boss's personal errands without losing her job?
The second Dear LFTP letter: a single mom of two, the only other employee in a small office, says her boss increasingly assigns personal tasks unrelated to the business — the…
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Dear LFTP: ending a 30-year relationship with the house cleaner
- Dear LFTP: How do I end a 30-year relationship with my house cleaner, and what do I owe her?
Mike reads a second Dear LFTP letter from a retired listener who wants to end a 30-year house-cleaning arrangement and asks what she owes her loyal cleaner.
From No. 556 · A Christian Mid-Life Crisis
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Dear LFTP — grandparents, a money request, and cut-off grandchildren
- Should we loan our daughter and her husband money for rent and electricity?
- Can we fix this relationship? Will our daughter come around?
A host reads a listener letter: the writers' daughter Doreen and her husband John moved their four grandchildren away after being cut off financially, and now demand a loan for rent and electricity while a sister-in-law bars contact with the grandchildren.
From No. 307 · Am I a Christian?
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Dear LFTP: the gift-card etiquette question
- Is it proper etiquette to use a gift card from my brother when dining out with him, and should the excess go toward his bill?
Boova reads a second Dear LFTP letter on gift-card etiquette: a couple wondering whether to use a restaurant gift card from the brother and sister-in-law when dining with them, and whether to apply any excess to the brother's bill.
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Dear LFTP: paying a favor forward
- Is there a rule of etiquette that says you should pay a favor forward instead of repaying it to the person who helped you?
Mike (speaker-1) reads the first Dear LFTP letter (addressed 'Dear Life on the Path'): a listener gave a coworker rides to and from work for six months, then heard through another…
From No. 546 · For God or With God
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Dear LFTP: should a father disinherit his daughter over her boyfriend?
- Should people's misuse of a gift be a reason to not give a gift?
- How do I tell my daughter I am removing her from my will?
Boova reads the full letter: the boyfriend stole $200,000 from his grandparents, has a denied gambling problem, and already took $200 from the daughter's checking account since release; the father fears telling her about the will change will end the relationship.
From No. 529 · Enter The McCormick