Birthdays are supposed to be about celebrating, but sometimes, they turn into a battle over who pays the bill.

Imagine sitting down for a “birthday dinner” that you didn’t plan, and realizing that everyone expects you to cover the tab.

Would you just pay the bill to avoid making a scene?

Or would you put some boundaries in place, even if it makes dinner awkward?

In the following story, one woman deals with this exact situation every year and decides to put a stop to it.

Here’s what happened next.

AITA for ordering expensive meals when I eat out with my family?

So let’s start with some background. My (33F) family consists of my grandparents (old), my mom (50s), my dad (60s), my little sister (29), and her boyfriend.

We are all adults, have our own places, and pay our own way in life.

I’m going to be honest, though, they are all poor. Like working multiple jobs, struggling to get by, and can’t really afford nice meals.

When the bill came, everyone seemed to disappear.

In contrast, I am well off. I moved out and worked multiple jobs while in college to afford my living expenses.

I had days where I couldn’t afford food, lived in low quality house sharing situation, etc., so I know what it’s like and how hard it is.

Now onto the real situation. We sometimes go out to eat, like a few times a year. My mom always plans it as a “birthday get-together” during my birth month.

However, every time the bill comes out, everyone suddenly goes to the bathroom, takes a smoke break, and does anything to pretend the bill isn’t there.

She stopped it from happening this year.

So I end up paying for everyone, even though it’s supposedly my birthday dinner, and I didn’t plan anything or pick the place.

This year, they tried to do this again, but I tried to cancel, citing low funds, and ended up telling them in advance that people should pay for themselves.

Everyone ended up ordering less food, used coupons, etc, and made comments about me being off the hook.

I ordered a decently priced steak to share with my fiancé. They made comments and gave me looks.

AITA?

Wow! There’s actually a lot to unpack here.

Let’s check out what the folks over at Reddit think about what’s going on.

This woman dealt with something similar and learned how to deal with it.

Here’s someone who thinks she should take better control of her birthday.

According to this reader, the ending was not expected.

This is great advice that could actually work.

It’s time for a change.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.