When money is tight, it ripples out to all areas of life.

That includes whether, say, your kids can have fun.

Like in this story where a teen wants to go to a friend’s birthday party.

While her mom is happy that she was invited to the party, the details of the invitation have her wanting to tell her daughter to make up a reason why she can’t go.

Let’s read all the details.

WIBTA if I didn’t let my daughter go to her friend’s 16th birthday party?

Context: My daughter is 15 and got invited to go out for “dinner” (really lunch) at a KBBQ joint near us for her friend’s 16th.

My daughter has been dying to try KBBQ- and her friend is renting out a karaoke room.

Don’t the birthday kid’s parents usually pay for everything?

On the invitation, however, it says all the kids invited are required to bring $80 to pay for their own food and give back to the girls mom for the karaoke room costs.

I think this is BS- if you invite someone, you should be at least OFFERING to pay.

At least that’s how I was raised.

It’s a pretty expensive restaurant.

And Korean BBQ- that stuff’s not cheap!

Don’t know about other places, but the restaurant my daughter was invited to charges like $60 for one meal which is expensive!!!

And expecting these 15-16 year olds to bring that money is insane!

The food itself is enough, but what really doesn’t make sense to me is why is my kid expected to pay back for the karaoke room that wasn’t even her idea??

But here’s where the money squeeze comes into play:

This is turning into a rant so to cut things short- I usually wouldn’t have an issue just giving her the money even if it was annoying.

But my husband got laid off recently and money is tight.

I really don’t know if I’ll be able to afford to give her $80 for food that- in all honesty- I don’t think she’ll even like.

My daughter is very picky, so I really don’t think she’ll like anything other than maybe the meat.

How much is friendship worth?

Anyway, I feel really bad telling her she can’t go, especially since she’s been struggling to make friends lately and is finally being invited to something.

The guilt I’d feel not letting her go is tremendous but I really can barely afford it right now.

I’m sure I could make it work if I tried but it would just be so much easier to have her tell her friend she’s busy or something.

Anyway- WIBTA if I don’t let her?

It does seem weird to tell teens to bring money to pay the birthday girl’s mom for the party.

Let’s see how the comments on Reddit judge this situation:

Hey, quick question, what does this person think BBQ is?

It all depends on how you frame this:

Also, be honest with your kid:

Sometimes, it’s less about the fun and more about having those new life experiences.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.