Last night, a friend and I decided to go and try a local club that I heard about. I was the one that told her about it as I thought she would enjoy it, but told her I wouldn't be able to afford to do it regularly (more like once, maybe twice a month).
So we went and both really enjoyed it. I let the woman running the club know that I just couldn't afford to come every week (it's £5 a week) so checked it was ok to do it as-hoc and said I didn't expect to be included in any shows etc they were preparing for. She was fine with that.
As we got home, my friend turned to me and said that if I wanted to do it every week she would pay for me to go. I said it was very kind of her, but I couldn't accept. She said it was fine as she could afford it easily and she never goes out/does anything for herself. To put it into context, my husband and I never get to go out or do anything either and haven't been able to for literally years so it's not as if I could save the money somewhere else to pay for it. I told her I would think about it.
So - do I stick to my principles and pay my own way but only go once a month meaning my friend is unlikely to go on the other weeks even though she really enjoyed it, or do I accept her very kind offer and go every week knowing that it would mean we both get some time for ourselves for once and get to do something that we really did enjoy? Obviously I would pay once a month still and try to pay on any extra weeks I could.
I'm really struggling because I like to pay my own way - but I also don't want to be the reason she doesn't go!
What would you do?