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Money can complicate friendships quickly when hospitality begins without a clearly agreed price.

An informal offer to contribute became a £300 (just under $400) bill after this young woman stayed for 12 nights.

Instead of feeling helped by close friends, she began wondering whether they viewed her as a tenant.

Their friendly arrangement has acquired an expensive checkout fee.

AITA for refusing to pay my friends the full amount they asked for after I stayed at their flat while waiting to move into my own place?

I (early 20s, F) recently started a new job in a city where I didn’t have accommodation yet.

Two of my closest uni friends live there together, and since I know them really well, I stayed at their flat for about 12 nights over the period of 2 1/2 weeks before moving into my own place.

While I was there, I tried to be as considerate as possible. I went home whenever I could to give them space, kept things tidy, and brought my own food.

We also spent a lot of time together, hung out, and even went on a weekend trip to one of their hometowns to celebrate my birthday (which I was invited to).

She didn’t realize how much they would want her to pay.

I had mentioned at the start that I’d be happy to contribute something for staying with them.

Yesterday, one of them texted me saying they wanted £300 for my stay. They explained they calculated it as if I was paying a third of their rent for the 12 nights.

The thing is, they live in a flat with rent that’s way higher than I could ever afford on my own , their parents pay it for them, one of them doesn’t even work, and they both regularly buy expensive makeup and clothes.

They know my financial situation is nowhere near theirs.

She’s considering not paying them.

I’ve already paid them £150, which I thought was more than enough to cover bills and any extra costs while I was there.

£300 feels like too much especially since I probably would’ve saved money just commuting from home instead.

What really bothers me is that it makes me feel less like their friend and more like I was just a lodger. If the roles were reversed, I’d never charge a close friend rent like that.

I don’t want to damage the friendship, but I also don’t feel comfortable giving them another £150.

So, AITA for refusing to pay the full £300?

That’s a tough situation. She did offer to pay, but it would’ve been better if they’d decided on a fee before she stayed with them.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person thinks she has already given them enough.

This is a good question.

They really needed to discuss this ahead of time.

Asking for the money now isn’t fair.

This young woman offered to contribute and already paid £150, while nobody agreed to the full £300 charge beforehand.

Her friends should have discussed an exact amount before the stay instead of retroactively calculating rent and creating resentment.

They hosted a friend and invoiced a surprise roommate.