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If you have been able to buy a house or refinance a mortgage in recent years, then congratulations. You have been a beneficiary of the Fed’s extraordinary effort to keep interest rates low. For many others though, monetary policy hasn’t been so favorable — in fact, it has cost them dearly.

Ostensibly, low interest rates are a monetary device to stimulate the economy, but more subtly they also serve to bail out banks and borrowers. Who suffers from that? Primarily savers. Whether you have a short-term savings account or a long-term retirement portfolio, low interest rates have made earning any money on your savings an uphill climb.

It’s one of the most awkward questions a friend can ask you: “Will you lend me some money?” Awkward for your friend to have to ask, and awkward for you to have to answer. Saying “no” could adversely affect your friendship. However, saying “yes” could also put a strain on your friendship, and your finances.

If you get asked that awkward question, you should follow up with eight questions of your own before you decide whether or not to lend a friend money.

1. Why does your friend need the money?

Sometimes, there is a clear, one-time need for which a timely loan can get your friend through a particular situation — for example, Bob has found the perfect house but is a couple thousand short on the down payment, or Jane’s son needs dental surgery. Situations which are out of the ordinary and are not likely to recur at least suggest that a loan might be a one-time thing.

As I was coming of age, I became aware of too many examples of people who had gotten into trouble with credit card debt. It made me avoid getting a credit card for several years. Eventually, though, I overcame my fear of plastic, and realized it is the user and not the card that should be in control.

A healthy concern about credit card use is not misplaced. After consumers reined in their spending in the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession, they have expanded their credit card debt in each of the last four years, and that debt is on the rise again in 2015. Still, having a credit card does not have to mean having credit card debt. Actually, if you make it a practice to pay off your balance every month, the benefits of having a credit card can outweigh the disadvantages.

My wife and I were talking recently about a June 5, 2015, New York Times article that described the lifestyle of “Millionaires Who Are Frugal When They Don’t Have to Be.” It got me thinking about the word “frugal.” It will probably never be a sexy concept, but neither does it have to seem like a dirty word.

The title of the article seems to conjure a slightly pejorative image — people who are well off but needlessly pinch pennies. The actual content of the article is more favorable. It focuses on people who have settled into a particular niche — the Times describes them as single-digit millionaires. It’s an interesting position. Obviously, they are very well off, but they are not crazy rich enough to afford every extravagance that crosses their minds. Also, people in this position often made their money themselves, so they can remember what it was like to get by with less.