2 Pay Cycles and I think it's appropriate to approach them after a certain period of time 1-2 weeks asking when you might receive it back.

Also depends on if you have a contract with them, or a pre-existing agreement on when to receive the funds.

Since you are only somewhat protected by having the person sign an "agreement to pay" as to when and how much (if in payments)he/she will pay you back, you really don't have any control over the situation.

I say "somewhat" because you are trusting that the person will keep his/her word, and you don't have any legal recourse unless there are assets to go after once you have gone to court and gotten a judgment (which costs you more money even to go to Small Claims Court as well as more time involved plus a "hostile" person to try to collect from).

I know it is difficult to ask a relative or close friend to sign an "agreement", but if it is any substantial amount of money, it is worth it to you to try to protect yourself.

It is safest not to loan money to begin with.

Depending on the amount of money loaned, I would say an appropriate timeframe for payback would be between 2-4 weeks. Of course, if your friend borrowed a greater amount of money, he may need somewhat more time to repay the debt than if he had only borrowed a small amount. In this case, I would give him a greater repay window or ask for small monthly payments until the debt is repaid. If the amount was smaller (between $ 50-$200) I would expect him to repay me within a few weeks, since he would likely have at least two or three paydays in the meantime that would hopefully allow him to set aside the necessary amount. If this was not possible I would ask him to pay me what he could initially afford and then pay the remainder in weekly payments of smaller amounts. I would ensure that my friend would start the repayment process not later than two weeks after having borrowed from me, since waiting longer without mentioning repayment to my friend may cause the lending to become forgotten and make my friend feel as though I do not truly need the money back right away (which I likely would). If you would like to keep a written record on the lending, find out if your friend would agree to sign a document that includes specific details on the lending, such as names of lender and borrower, time and location, amount borrowed, any terms to be observed (such as when and how you would like your money repaid), and the name and signature of a witness to this lending. Although this may seem to businesslike for a casual friendship, lending money can be considered as a type of business transaction and you just want to ensure that you will be repaid within a certain timeframe and taken advantage of for your kindness and commitment to the friendship.

Loaning money to a friend is tricky business. Usually, if you loan someone money, you should expect not to get it back. Dave Ramsey advises that if someone really needs money, give him the money. If he doesn't, avoid loans.

When I have loaned money to a friend, we signed a contract specifying when it was to be paid back. It may sound harsh, but it was a lot of money, and we are still great friends. We even put in the contract that I was never to bring it up again, "Hey, I loan you money when you need it" to keep out trouble.

If you didn't specify, then I would suggest asking your friend how long he/she needs.