In roommate dynamics, not everyone is on the same page when it comes to friendship and finances.

One man found this out the hard way when a birthday dinner for a roommate he wasn’t even close to turned into an unexpectedly large expense.

Read on for the full story!

AITAH for not wanting to give out money for my roommate’s birthday dinner at an expensive restaurant?

I (28M) live with three other guys in a shared apartment.

One of them, called Jake, has his birthday coming up, and the other two roommates want to take him out to this upscale steakhouse downtown.

However, his roommates are now asking him to cough up some of the cash for it.

The problem is they want all of us to split the cost of Jake’s meal as a birthday gift.

He decides the restaurant is a bit too far out of his price range.

This place has entrees starting at like 50 bucks or something, and they’re talking about getting him the premium package with cocktails and everything.

My share would be close to $85–90 just to cover Jake’s portion, plus whatever I spend on my own food.

He’s fine with Jake, but they aren’t best friends by any means.

The thing is, Jake and I aren’t particularly close. We’re roommates, but we don’t hang out outside of shared living space interactions.

I’m not struggling financially, but $85–90 is a significant chunk of my entertainment budget for the month.

There are lots of other ways he would rather spend this money.

That’s like two weeks of my usual fun money that I spend on games, going out, or just doing things I actually enjoy.

I’d rather spend that money on activities I choose, rather than being guilted into it. I already contributed $25 toward a gift card we got him.

Besides, the whole situation puts a bad taste in his mouth.

I feel like I’m being pressured into spending money on someone else’s expensive taste when a simple birthday dinner would accomplish the same goal.

AITAH here?

He valued being a good roommate, but not this much.

What did Reddit think?

This user agrees this really isn’t a great deal for this guy.

A card is more than enough of a gift in this situation.

It’s time to be as upfront with his roommates as possible.

This commenter issues a warning.

A gift card felt fair, but an extravagant dinner didn’t.

He wasn’t about to bankroll a premium dinner for someone he barely knew — nor should he.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.