Loaning money to family members can get tricky, especially when it involves younger siblings and birthday cash.

So, what would you do if your little brother insisted on paying back a small debt with his birthday money? Would you let it slide because it’s his birthday? Or would you accept it, knowing he owed you?

In the following story, one sibling faces this exact predicament. Here’s what he did.

AITA for letting my little brother pay me back with his birthday money

Today is my (19M) little brother’s 15th birthday, and in his cards, he got some money, ending up with about £15.

A few months ago, I let him use my card to buy a subscription for his Xbox.

We forgot to turn off recurring payments, so at the end of the month, the £6.99 was taken from my account, and it wouldn’t let me refund it.

I told him to keep it, but I wanted to be paid back (I was thinking he just saved up to pay me back as he sometimes gets given £1 or £2 when he goes to the shop), and he agreed to eventually pay me back.

Then, I ended up forgetting about it.

He paid the money, and now their parents are mad.

Cut to today; he asked to use my card again because his Xbox had an offer for a £1 month gamepass.

I agreed, and he gave me the £1.

He then offered to pay me £6 for the money he owed, and I mean… the £6 was from his birthday money.

So I asked him if he was 100% sure he wanted to now and I saw him thinking about it, he confirmed.

Still, I asked him again if he was DEFINITELY sure because he didn’t have to use his birthday money.

I wouldn’t lose sleep over £6, and again, he said yes and gave me the money.

Our parents knew he owed me the money, and our mum even said she’d pay me back herself (never did).

He just told them that he’d paid me back, and now they’re mad at me for accepting the money.

But I asked him multiple times if he was sure that he wanted to do that.

AITA?

Yikes! That’s an awkward situation.

Let’s see what advice the fine folks over at Reddit have to offer.

Here’s some excellent advice.

Yes! Great point.

Another person who thinks he should find a way to give it back.

According to this person, the parents need to stay out of it.

What a responsible teenager!

Obviously, he feels bad for taking the money, so as other people suggested, he should gift it to his brother for his birthday.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.