Managing finances properly is key to our financial life, which is well known to each of us, I guess. I feel like this is in my bones so sometimes I make some decisions subconsciously. I recently ran into a situation where I found myself really awkward. Last July or August(I can't remember that clearly), one of my extended family cousin asked me for three thousand dollars as he lost his job and could not pay off his loans. I refuse to lend him the money cause I knew him well that he was not a solid trustworthy guy. A few days ago we met on a family reunion occasion and he did not really talk to me and I suddenly realized that it was because I didn't lend him money last year. I think about it twice and if he had not been that untrustworthy, I would have definitely lent him the money. Anyway, I hope he is doing fine now and best wishes to him.
Money has caused more problems than we can imagine in our lives, like broken family relationship , failed marriages, and other issues. If you want to help someone in this life, do it from the bottom of your heart, because giving someone something that you are not willing to give isn't a help. According to your story, there was nothing wrong with him asking you to lend him money and you telling him you didn't have any.
Make sure you are capable of lending money to others, especially causins or any family member, because they won't return it. This does not imply that you do not want to give; rather, it means that you are unable to do so because you may need it at any time.