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Original poster

What’s the stingiest thing you’ve ever seen a friend do?

778 replies

zappp · 19/05/2026 16:42

I have an (ex-)friend who is very stingy. She earns plenty and is happy to splurge on herself and show off, but when it comes to others, she is mean with money to the point where I’ve felt really taken advantage of on multiple occasions. It’s almost like it’s a game for her; seeing how little she can pay and how much she can extract from others.

The friendship fizzled out when I started calling her out on it and stopped covering her costs (I previously didn’t want to make things awkward, especially in a group setting, but it got to a point where I was too pissed off to keep being polite).

Against my better judgment, I recently attended a group dinner that she was also part of - a mutual friend was in town and this was the only time we could see her. In the WhatsApp planning group, she’d enthusiastically agreed to the restaurant choice - it was definitely a nicer place, but not extravagant.

When she got there, she claimed she wasn’t hungry and didn’t order any food, only to ask the waiter for an empty plate and help herself - rather generously - from everyone else’s food!!! She also asked for a glass for the wine we’d already ordered, which would’ve been fine, except guess how much she chipped in to the bill…? Exactly, zero.

It was also a bit embarrassing towards the restaurant; it’s hard to get a reservation and the group was small enough that it was strange for one person not to be eating at peak dinner time, especially as we were seated at a big table.

This time I didn’t even bother calling her out - it was so brazen that she basically called herself out.

I know you never truly know someone else’s financial situation, but she’s certainly spending enough on clothes, holidays, and skincare to make me think she could afford a plate of pasta and glass of wine…

Anyway, rant over, I want to hear other stingy stories!

OP posts:
Original poster
zappp · 20/05/2026 00:21

AWeeCupOfTeaAndAnIndividualFruitTrifle · 19/05/2026 17:55

The usual trick that this kind of person plays, when there are a lot of people dining together, is to offer to go and settle up at the end, after collecting everybody's share including tips.

Supposing there are 12 people including the CF - each owing £30 and adding another fiver each for a tip - the CF will take the £385 total from the other 11, go and pay the £360 for the meals (without any tip), and then score themselves not only a free meal but also a £25 cash bonus... and they will milk it as though they've been kind by saving everybody else the bother of going to the till.

The non-cash equivalent is where everybody asks to pay their share by card - adding on extra for a tip - and the CF deliberately waits until last, when they claim to have forgotten how much theirs was, but say that they'll just pay whatever is still owing. Of course, the additional tips from everybody mean that there's nothing owing from the actual bill itself, so they get a freebie, albeit no cash bonus on top.

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My “friend” would do a third version of this (on the occasions that she paid anything at all). She always insisted on us each paying our share rather than splitting equally, and then grabbed the card machine first and told the waiter to put in x amount. Of course, x was significantly smaller than her actual share and never included service charge or shared alcohol, but typically it’s hard enough to track the total price of what you yourself ate and drank, never mind for another person. So no one would be any the wiser until the last person to pay inevitably had a nasty surprise, but didn’t want to make a fuss (or seem stingy, ironically).

OP posts:
MilkyLeonard · 20/05/2026 00:23

In my first job, we were all expected to work significant unpaid overtime. I wasn’t well paid to begin with, but this made it so much worse.

Anyway, there was a big deadline day once every couple of months where the overtime got ridiculous; we would be working until midnight despite not being paid beyond 5.30. The first time I did one of these days, the boss said he was going out to fetch everyone fish and chips. I thought that, even though they were getting a huge amount of free work out of us, he’d at least realised we had to eat.

When he gave me my food he said, “That’ll be £4.64 please”. He wasn’t kidding. He’d totted up how much each of 12 people “owed” him and had gone around asking for it. If the appalling fat sack of shit had had a clue what he was doing, he could have paid £50 or £75 or however much to get it delivered, done some work himself and actually have at least tried to boost morale.

I did not stay for the second deadline day.

Calliopespa · 20/05/2026 00:32

gldd · 19/05/2026 20:46

Someone I used to work with brought three large flasks into work each day and filled them with boiled water before he left. To avoid the cost of boiling his kettle at home!

I sometimes think this sort of thing is more about wanting to kind of play the system - like wealthy people who steal tiny things from shops . A kind of kleptomaniac frisson.

biggestcatmom · 20/05/2026 00:37

zappp · 19/05/2026 16:42

I have an (ex-)friend who is very stingy. She earns plenty and is happy to splurge on herself and show off, but when it comes to others, she is mean with money to the point where I’ve felt really taken advantage of on multiple occasions. It’s almost like it’s a game for her; seeing how little she can pay and how much she can extract from others.

The friendship fizzled out when I started calling her out on it and stopped covering her costs (I previously didn’t want to make things awkward, especially in a group setting, but it got to a point where I was too pissed off to keep being polite).

Against my better judgment, I recently attended a group dinner that she was also part of - a mutual friend was in town and this was the only time we could see her. In the WhatsApp planning group, she’d enthusiastically agreed to the restaurant choice - it was definitely a nicer place, but not extravagant.

When she got there, she claimed she wasn’t hungry and didn’t order any food, only to ask the waiter for an empty plate and help herself - rather generously - from everyone else’s food!!! She also asked for a glass for the wine we’d already ordered, which would’ve been fine, except guess how much she chipped in to the bill…? Exactly, zero.

It was also a bit embarrassing towards the restaurant; it’s hard to get a reservation and the group was small enough that it was strange for one person not to be eating at peak dinner time, especially as we were seated at a big table.

This time I didn’t even bother calling her out - it was so brazen that she basically called herself out.

I know you never truly know someone else’s financial situation, but she’s certainly spending enough on clothes, holidays, and skincare to make me think she could afford a plate of pasta and glass of wine…

Anyway, rant over, I want to hear other stingy stories!

Why did others allow her to take food off their plates?? I would have stabbed her hand with my fork. I can’t stand cheepskates and always happy to buy the first round when out with friends (earn okay money but far from rolling in it)

CieloElmers · 20/05/2026 00:40

Calliopespa · 19/05/2026 23:47

I have actually done that before!

But less to be stingy and more because I always think slices of cake end up like mush in a party bag and they are usually too stuffed to eat it by the end of a party, so I have given cupcakes in cupcake boxes to take home so they at least look edible and still pretty when they get round to eating it. Also you can box them up in advance. I think the cupcakes I gave were quite nice though ... at least equivalent. I did ask if anyone wanted a slice of the big cake and they were just not interested.

You have made me wonder though, as one mum said "Oh what a pity, what will you do with the cake?" and I said it's fine we can use it again at dc's family birthday tomorrow. I thought she was feeling bad for me that it was turned down, but you have now made me wonder if she was thinking how bloody stingy!

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If they had been lovely cupcakes in boxes I think that sounds great! It was just the really crappy fairy cakes (I should have said that instead of cupcakes) and the kids at the party were upset, I’ve never seen it done before so maybe it’s just me 😂

Original poster
zappp · 20/05/2026 00:45

@Anouken she wasn’t all that keen on reaching out after I’d called her out at a dinner, but she did write to me one time asking for a favour (and phrasing it as a fun day out). I thought I’d do a little experiment and said I’d gladly do it in exchange for a glass of wine at the bar when we were done. Crickets…

OP posts:
Original poster
zappp · 20/05/2026 00:47

Also, sorry, I am very very slowly playing catch up with all the responses… really enjoying some of them and truly shocked at others!

OP posts:
patooties · 20/05/2026 00:49

The ‘sorting out the bill’ ruse. Where people pay their own estimated bit plus service. And the stingy bastard pays £4 or whatever and steaks their mates dinner,

I only spotted this after we went to a pals restaurant who mentioned it

traitorstraitors · 20/05/2026 02:15

BloodyBoilingInHere · 19/05/2026 21:08

This is small fry compared to most examples on here, but it's stuck in my craw for a long time and I've had no one to moan to. Now is my chance 🤣

I get the train to my work's head office roughly 4 times a month. A good friend of mine gets the same train 3 times a week for her commute but gets on two stops after me, so when I'm commuting I'll save her a seat so we can chat for the journey. There's a coffee cart at my station, i usually treat myself to a latte for the journey and always grab one for her too. She's been happily accepting this coffee 4-5 times a month for 4 years, always says thanks, never offers me money but i wouldn't accept it anyway. One morning, I got to the station and the coffee cart was inexplicably not there. I whatsapped her saying "arggghh coffee cart isn't here today fml 😭". Two stops later, on she gets WITH ONE COFFEE JUST FOR HER!! I was like "you've got yourself a coffee?" She replied completely nonchalantly "yes, thanks for warning me (about the cart) so I could nip in Starbucks!"

She just happily bought herself a coffee and not one for me after me buying her one approximately 500 times. Really changed how I view her and our friendship.

That’s awful. Did you stop buying her one after that? Did she say anything?

hellomylov3 · 20/05/2026 02:25

Dd was invited to her friend's birthday 'party' at a local farm. There was no party. When we got there all the guests had to pay in along with the parents. All handed birthday girl cards & presents and didn't even get a slice of cake in return.

hellomylov3 · 20/05/2026 02:35

The Mother posted a photo of a big fancy cake that evening so there definitely was one!

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 20/05/2026 02:35

Another group meal one.
I can’t remember if we’d decided to pay our own or split the cost, but when it came to her to pay, she googled for a discount code for her bit. At breakfast, she told me to order bacon (I’m veggie) and she’d have it.

traitorstraitors · 20/05/2026 02:52

BountyGhost · 19/05/2026 23:52

Not a friend (far from it). But I was in foster care as a teenager. One of the families I lived with was very well off (big house in the country with land etc). However they were some of the stingiest people I've ever met..

Examples being - they bought one carton of cheap apple juice a week. That had to be shared between two of us (myself and the other person they looked after). It was the same with biscuits (1 packet of Morrisons cheapest between us) and most other treats. There explanation being that when we went into independent living "we wouldn't be able to afford nice things, because we were lazy and would be on benefits*" 🙄However they didn't know I knew about there own secret stash of chocolate and proper biscuits that I would often help myself to at night 😄
All food had to be asked for. You couldn't just help yourself to a banana etc

It was my 18th birthday. I'd asked if we could go out for bowling and a meal afterwards. They said it was too expensive. So we settled on a meal out and I chose the location. The male FC sits down, opens the menu and immediately exclaims "oh it's very expensive BountyGhost isn't it?". It was a local Beefeater not the Ritz! At the time I was too embarrassed to say anything but it spoilt what should have been a celebration.

*Fwiw they were wrong. This was years ago but I'm not on benefits. I have a job, a good life and I can afford proper biscuits!

That is sad, they don’t sound very nice at all.

That’s so sad that you didn’t get to go bowling for your 18th.

So glad you are doing well now Star

hellomylov3 · 20/05/2026 03:03

Just thought of another. Dh had an unexpected trip so we were missing a big concert we had bought tickets for. Offered them to friends who accepted, told them I could drop them off at the concert so they could give me the cash on the night. That night I dropped them off, no sign of the cash. Obviously they thought I would just let them off. I offered them for less than face value and the concert was sold out. I had to chase the cfs for months to get the money back. Could not believe it. It has really turned me off them. I can't understand the brass balls of some people. We were talking £150 for the pair of tickets, I could amd should have sold them for twice that.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 20/05/2026 03:15

Idontknownowwhat · 19/05/2026 19:54

My kids grandmother is tight as a ducks arse.
The worst is probably that she refuses to make me a mug of tea when i take the kids to visit her. She wouldnt see them if it wasbt for me.

Do you ask for a cup of tea and she says no? Or just never offers?

biggestcatmom · 20/05/2026 03:36

saminamama · 19/05/2026 21:02

A friend who is a multi millionaire will always volunteer to take free clothes for her daughter over the rest of us who don’t have even a tenth of her wealth, (probably way way way less, probably like 2% if I work it out her house is 7 million)

it’s annoying as in our chat we have a midwife; teacher, and admin worker etc we all have very average jobs. She sits in her mansion with her freebies from us peasants

Why would you give them to her over your ‘normal’ earning friends

hellomylov3 · 20/05/2026 03:48

biggestcatmom · 20/05/2026 03:36

Why would you give them to her over your ‘normal’ earning friends

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I would remove her from the chat!

Jellybelly80 · 20/05/2026 05:45

BrimfulofSacha · 19/05/2026 17:19

My ex partner is totally stingy to the point it's worrying.
When we lived together the teabags/sugar/toilet rolls would all be stolen from work (he earned 6 figures), we split all household costs (except mortgage as it was in his name) 50/50 despite him earning 3x what I earned. Even if we went on holiday, he would take what he spent out of the joint account as soon as we were home, there wouldn't be enough in there until payday for me to do the same, so I'd have to wait the following month(s) depending what bills we had, often incuring bank charges/interest for the privilege. His house was a doer-upper. He went to the expense of getting architectural drawings and planning consent, 6 years after I left it still sits decaying around him (literal broken windows and damp) It's so short sighted, it will be worth nothing in it's current state.
He also forgot to pack pants on holiday once, instead of buying some while we were there he rinsed the pair he wore on the plane in the bathroom sink every night and dried them on the radiator. He also washes his hair with shower gel and takes all the toiletries he can from hotels, he never uses them, they sit in a drawer in the falling apart kitchen.
He would tell me off for being extravagant with food if the (small undercounter) fridge was full after the food shop (there were two adults and 1 child in the house). Now he will bulk buy tinned fruit and custard, they sit on the kitchen work top not in the cupboard, and buy up all the reduced items in the supermarket (not leaving them for people that need them) He would not let me use the tumble drier, so I would have to walk the towels and bedsheets to the laundrette in winter as it would take weeks to dry in the 200 year old damp, falling down house.

I could go on.

He sounds unwell.

It must have been so hard to live with him.

ChocolateCinderToffee · 20/05/2026 06:17

SophieChristmas · 19/05/2026 23:57

It was a very dark, rainy day when I moved house in the depths of winter a few years ago.

The previous occupant had taken every single lightbulb with him. 💡

When I moved into my house I found that the previous owners had prized the four ‘stepping stones’ out of the lawn and taken them when they moved out. They definitely weren’t friends though.

Hippee · 20/05/2026 06:29

Stardancerintheskye · 19/05/2026 16:57

My father (who is a millionare) once loaned me 5p

I forgot all about it until a week later,when he asked for it back

He's the only person I know,that during covid,never wore a mask

Because he never went into a shop-he hates spending a penny

He sulked for months when petrol went up and he couldn't fill his motorbike up for £3 (im going back a few years)

He walks around with string holding his trousers up,boots with holes in them and the sleeve is half hanging off

He would rather freeze to death than put the heating on

He'll leave a fortune when he dies (I won't see a penny) but most will go to the tax man

My DF was like this. The difference was that he wanted my siblings and I to be secure and hated the taxman with a passion (had been shafted once while self-employed) so he made sure we had generous house deposits long before he died. DM isn't a spendthrift, but she's enjoying not having to account for every penny now, which is nice to see.

AllJoyAndNoFun · 20/05/2026 06:39

cant beat these but my mate used to take the car out of gear when he went downhill to save petrol ( opinions vary as to whether this actually works and pretty sure it’s not v safe)

Supersimkin7 · 20/05/2026 06:40

Millionaire Retired couple, central
London with one adult DD who housesat (and looked after the dogs when they went on holiday every 5 minutes).

Adult DD got really ill in her 40s. Left disabled and pretty frail, stuck on benefits.

DP left her on benefits without contributing a penny. When she asked for help they sent £15.00

ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · 20/05/2026 06:44

Calliopespa · 20/05/2026 00:32

I sometimes think this sort of thing is more about wanting to kind of play the system - like wealthy people who steal tiny things from shops . A kind of kleptomaniac frisson.

Show quote history

Getting one over the ‘man’.

PeoniesAreMyFavouriteFlowers · 20/05/2026 06:45

FlapperFlamingo · 19/05/2026 17:04

I have a friend who I've know 30 years, she is incredibly stingy. We sometimes go for a meal together and she is lovely, entertaining and fun. She has always had a good job, own house, no kids, drives a great car... but she will always work out if the bill is better to split or whether it's better (for her) if we each pay for our own.

Since I don't see her often I don't mind, I treat it like a quirk. A couple of weeks ago we went to dinner and true to form she suggested that we split the bill 50:50. But we chatted a bit longer after the meal and I just to see what would happen I ordered a final coffee as I knew this would change the billing arrangement. Then of course it was better to pay for our own. Seeing her face when she realised this was very funny - all over a couple of £. Anyway, she said she'd made a mistake on her account and could we change to each paying for our own just to help her "this time".

I couldn’t be friends with anyone like this. I just couldn’t. I think it says so much about their character. And it’s not positive.

Apprentice26 · 20/05/2026 06:58

traitorstraitors · 20/05/2026 02:52

That is sad, they don’t sound very nice at all.

That’s so sad that you didn’t get to go bowling for your 18th.

So glad you are doing well now Star

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Very typical of foster carers they tend to make their allowance go very very far into their own pockets