It’s one thing to support a loved one clearly in need, but it’s another to start feeling like the bank.

After loaning her sister thousands over the years, one woman thought things were finally turning around when her sister got a full-time job.

That is, until her first purchase with her new paycheck was a brand new PS5 she most definitely couldn’t afford.

Read on for the full story.

WIBTA if I told my sister if she can afford a PS5, she can start paying me back?

I (25F) live at home with my parents, while Mary (30F) lives alone in the same city. Mary, for various reasons, finds herself financially struggling often.

Her sister has quite the history of leaning on her family for support.

She’s supported by government benefits and occasional payments from me, Mum, and Dad. It’s mostly me, because both my parents have said several times that they’re fed up with her requesting money, and at this point Mary feels too guilty to ask them most of the time.

There have been multiple occasions in the past few months where she’s called telling me she doesn’t have enough money to get transport to work or to feed herself for the week, and I’m the only person she can call on.

Her track record for paying people back, however…

While she occasionally makes smaller attempts to repay some money, it inevitably ends in her having to ask for it back—and more—within a month.

These were no small sums.

Calculating transactions across five years, I’ve trickled out £7k to her. Not the most, but given that that money spans through the pandemic and my being in university or unemployed, it was certainly money that was missed.

I don’t bring it up to Mary often because I can see that it upsets her, but about twice a year I’ll mention that I hope this loaning chain stops soon.

So when her sister said she had finally gotten a full-time job, she was elated — but the excitement didn’t last.

She’s recently gotten a full-time job, which has reduced but not stopped the requests.

Today, she called me on my lunch break, obviously very excited. She announced that she’d bought a PS5 through a pay-monthly plan.

Any gamer knows that this console has been hard to get at a decent price thanks to supply chain issues and scalpers, so she jumped at the chance to buy a (non-digital) console and a game for it—a purchase that’s easily over £500.

She noted that I didn’t sound as excited as her.

She showed some restraint with her response, not fully letting on how disappointed she was.

I gently explained that I’m happy she got something she was after for so long and excused myself a few minutes later.

Human beings deserve enrichment, and I don’t believe a struggling person deserves to go without luxuries. And yet, from the moment she told me the news, I found myself thinking that I’m not seeing any of my money back any time soon, so I dropped the call before I said anything regretful.

She can’t understand why her sister would do this, and she starts to formulate a plan on how to bring it up.

She already has (my old, given to her on request after hers broke) PS4 and access to my Steam library, but is set to replace it with a console with games that run for £50 apiece new.

I’m planning to start a discussion later in the month about the outstanding balance she keeps claiming she’ll pay back, but it could very easily be seen as an attack on her for spending her paycheck enjoying herself.

WIBTA for doing this?

She wants her sister to be happy, of course, but she knows she needs to see all that money she loaned back someday.

What did Reddit think?

Maybe her sister needs to feel a little discomfort to finally learn her lesson.

Her sister really needs a reality check.

She may be taking this all in stride, but she still deserves a lot better from her sister.

It’s time for these two sisters to sit down and have a grown-up discussion.

While she’s glad her sister finally has something to smile about, the timing stings.

She’s not asking for the world — just a little accountability.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.