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Vacations can sour quickly when a temporary loan quietly becomes someone else’s expected contribution.

Why should one sister finance a trip she never planned simply because she earns more?

Instead of honoring their equal split, the organizer delayed repayment, sent partial amounts, and let another sister defend her.

Read on for the full money drama.

AITA for insisting that my [sister] pays me back?

My (30F) sister (39F) suggested that we take a mommy-daughter trip with our kids (hers is 11F mine is 2 and a half).

She planned the whole thing, we paid for the Airbnb and car rental.

I had to incur the additional cost of flying to her city as it was closer to the destination but I was fine with that.

But that wasn’t where the spending would stop.

On the way, she said her salary hadn’t cleared yet and asked that I cover our activities and she’d pay me back once it came through.

I agreed on the condition that I’d cover every single thing and then at the end I’d add it all up and we’d just split the amount equally.

I asked this bc in the past when we made arrangements like these, when it came time to pay she’d suddenly want us to deduct a bunch of money claiming that she paid for this or that and I don’t like it.

Cool.

Then it came time to pay up.

After the trip I sent her the total spent and the amount due to me.

She started delaying paying me back saying she’d pay me, not from her salary but, from money owed to her by someone else.

We argued and she hung up.

I kept reminding her and she’d get [angry], scream at me, hang up and then send a small portion back.

We did this for 2 weeks and she made 3 small payments that add up to 75% of the amount.

And wouldn’t you know it, this didn’t get better.

On Monday she told me that she had no money left to give me and didn’t know how she was even gonna buy groceries for her and her kid because I’d taken all her money.

I told her I still wanted the rest of my money.

Yesterday, I got a call from our older sister (47F) telling me I was being unfair to middle sister and not understanding that our financial situations aren’t the same and listing all her expenses.

When I said “she knew she had all these expenses before going on the trip, so why did she go on the trip if knew she couldn’t afford it?” my older sister and I started arguing bc she said I was deliberately missing her point and that I shouldn’t expect middle sister to contribute equally when I know she earns less than me.

Now more of the family is getting involved.

I feel like I’m losing my mind because why am I expected to pay for her on a trip SHE initiated?

Btw, my sister and her kid go on vacation ALL the time.

They’d had a weekend away just weeks before their trip with us but now I’m suddenly expected to cover her expenses on ours.

AITA to still want the remainder of my money back?!

Let’s check in with the financial experts in the comments:

What have we learned here today?

She made a really bad choice.

Maybe try a structure.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who moved her mom in after her dad passed, but doesn’t want to fill the role of a spouse.

What was THIS part?

The sister planned the trip and agreed to split expenses equally, then repaid only 75% after two weeks of persistent reminders.

Different incomes do not erase an explicit agreement, especially when she regularly takes vacations despite knowing her existing expenses.