A woman was left fuming after she helped her friend during hard times, but then her pal refused to do the same for her, lecturing her about budgeting money better
If your friend asked you for an inconsequential amount of money, whatever that may be, the likelihood is that you’d help them out if they needed it – but one woman’s best friend refused, despite the fact she’s loaded.
The struggling woman explained she and her pal had been close for seven years. When her mate struggled financially and she was in a better position with money, she would happily help her out. For example, when her friend’s car broke down and she couldn’t afford to fix it, she lent her mate the car “and never asked her for gas money or anything in return”.
But the original poster’s financial position changed, and she fell on harder times as her friend became more wealthy. She took to Reddit to explain that her friend wouldn’t even lend her a small amount of money anymore.
She wrote: “As the years went by, my financial situation changed and just like her, I began living paycheck to paycheck. By this time, she had started dating a guy she met online who revealed to her a few months into dating that he was a millionaire. They married shortly after and suffice to say she has not had to struggle since.
“There have been a few times I have asked to borrow money, which I have always paid back. It’s usually not much, less than $25 (£20) or so each time, and she would always oblige with no problems until recently.
“The last couple of times I asked to borrow money, she said she didn’t have it which I found odd. But then I asked to borrow $5 (£4) and she said the same thing and I thought it was odd that she told me she didn’t have $5 to spare. I know that ever since she got married, her brothers and a couple of other friends have tried taking advantage of her new-found wealth by asking to borrow money they never paid back and having her bail them out of situations they put themselves in that have cost her a lot of money.”
She then got concerned that she’d “forgotten to pay her back” at some point, so reached out to ask. When it was clear that wasn’t the case, the original poster explained that she felt “hurt” because she felt as though she “couldn’t reach out to her for help” because she wouldn’t even lend her a fiver.
Her mate replied saying that she needs to learn to “budget better” and “she can’t be the one to bail everyone out”. “She said when she was struggling, she had to work multiple jobs and did what she had to do”, the original poster continued, sharing: “I replied and said that it was not fair for her to lump me in with her brothers as I have never done anything to take advantage of her and I never would have said something like that to her when I let her borrow my car and anytime she would ask me to borrow money when she was struggling.
“I told her I loved her but that I was ending the conversation and she replied that this is why money and friends should never mixed. Since then, she has reached out and said, ‘I didn’t deserve that conversation last night, I hope you know that’ to which I have not replied and have no plans to.
“I am deeply hurt that she feels I was in the wrong, but I do not think I was the a**hole here. I understand that I am not entitled to anyone’s money, borrowed or not, but when she was in my shoes, I did everything I could to help her out. I could understand if I had asked to borrow a large amount of money, but I literally asked for $5.”
In the comments, people alluded to the fact that the woman was now “posh”, so didn’t want to be pals. They wrote: “So, she had to struggle and work three jobs but was STILL borrowing money from you, but the 5 bucks were the last straw and spawned a finance course. I’d leave her be. She’s posh now and is not of your world anymore. People need you when they don’t have it, but when YOU don’t have it ….all of a sudden YOU’RE unreasonable and are questioned etc.”
Another added: “I’d be hurt too if my friend, who I helped support through a very difficult time, started treating me like a beggar”, with someone else sharing their own story, writing: “Oddly enough I have a wealthy friend that this story reminds me of. We’ve known each other for 40 years going back to little kids. When we were in high school and college together both of us were broke.
“If I had enough money for chips I’d share the bag or vice versa. That sort of stuff was normal. We never kept score. Now I’m just a regular working guy and he has had the keys to his trust fund and family business for many years. Since those days I’ve never asked him for a single cent. I have, however, asked for help in other ways like borrowing a tool for a project or just an extra pair of hands. He leaves me on read when he just won’t say no. The moral to this story is friendship is really only as good as the friend and time changes us all. Don’t doubt yourself!”
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