Do you want to clean up your life? Evaluate who is in your life, what they bring to it, and how they make you feel. It doesn’t matter how long you have known them or what you went through with them in the past. Those aren’t reasons to keep associating with people who keep you down or bring you misery. Their troubles: needing money, having nobody to watch their kids, no car, issues with the law, whatever, are not your problem. If they contact you, you don’t need to engage. It doesn’t make you heartless. You can love them at a distance. First and foremost you must protect yourself. And if you have trouble saying no, practice saying it in the mirror. It will come easy and faster than you think.