How many close friends do you have and how often do you stay in contact?

[Mam576]

How many close friends do you all have? And how often do you see or speak to them?

It’s great to see all the comments. I have 5/6 close friends and then some acquaintances - work, school playground etc.

I find it really difficult to stay in contact, like the majority I have such a busy life so when I get some time to my self I really like to spend it alone! I have realised I’m really rubbish at replying to messages, but two of these friends keep sending messages if I don’t reply and that annoys me slightly! All from different friendship groups too

I am in contact via message and every couple of weeks I will meet up with friends but as it’s all 1:1 friendships I find it hard trying to see everyone. But judging from most of the previous posts it isn’t that regularly that everybody has meet ups.

6 besties I can talk about the deep stuff with. Terrible at keeping in contact at times but we all muddle along.

Depends what you mean by close friends.
I have some friends that I would say I am close to, simply because I have been friends with them for so many decades, we are 'close' through that shared history, but that I don't necessarily speak to (through any medium) more than once or twice a year.
On the other hand I have friends - for example from hobbies - that I might see every week, and know the ins and outs of what they have done / where they have been / where they ate / what they saw at the pictures or theatre or what gig they have been to , but it is probably quite superficial stuff, and they aren't necessarily someone I would call on in a crisis.
I have one friend in particular who is such a good listener, that if I were 'wrestling with an issue' she would probably be my first port of call (and I think I would be for her), but if I wanted a party night, she isn't the friend I'd call (as she doesn't really like parties or dancing).

So, it depends.

Honestly, none. I’m an introvert too and struggle to make friends. I had one friend who I considered my best friend, we’d known each other almost 20 years - lived in a shared house together, she was my matron of honour when I got married - when out of the blue she ghosted me. I only realised when she failed to acknowledge my 40th birthday last year and I’ve heard nothing from her since.

With hindsight I’d been doing all the legwork with the friendship for some time, every single contact we’d had in the last year or so had been instigated by me. When I realised that I though sod her, she’s not worth my time and effort and she’s obviously a coward if she didn’t have the decency to simply say “I think our friendship has run its course”.

I know I need to make an effort to make some more friends. There are some mums I’ve met through the DC that I feel a bit of a connection with so am building myself up to asking them out for a few drinks/dinner.

I have one best friend who I’ve known for over 20 years. We live hours apart now but are still best mates and often chat on the phone for hours. She’s not keen on leaving her house so even if we lived close to each other we wouldn’t do activities. I have three close local friends who I could meet up with and have coffee. I’ve always had trouble making and keeping friends, lots have come and gone over the years - I’d would love more friends but struggle to know how to do it.

5 at most. I let one go as she never made an effort at all. Its def hard to make friends. I havent made solid friends through a walking thing. Its def not easy. Im 49

Relationships vary widely. I have a school friend who I see about once a decade and message a few times a year. I've got two friends from 28 and 14 years ago who I see most frequently, which is about 2 to 4 weekly each. I then have a large group of friends who I feel in close to in that we can say anything to each other and we reach when needed, but I may only see them twice or three times a year. I'm an introvert and NAT/ND, I get exhausted and over full from my work week so this amount of contact is more than enough. I do look forward to retirement and seeing more of my friends.

2 who are in the U.K. but not local - see them 3/4 times a year. Sadly neither of them are chatty on messages in between though so they don’t know what’s going on in my life on a day to day basis, but they would care in a crisis.

1 local friend who I see every month or so, not known her long but she seems genuine

3 local-ish friends who I see maybe 2x per year

I’ve recently lost a couple of “friends” - one of them I had been friends with for 25+ years but she just cut me off.

The other I’ve kind of realised it had become a one-way street, although she’s been a good friend in the past I’ve realised over the last 10 years it’s been me making all the effort so I’ve stopped bothering. A bit sad as I’ve been friends with her for over 36 years!

Best friends, 8. Some I see or talk to more regularly - all I've known for 30 + years.

Friends I'd invite to a birthday party, probably another 30 to 40.

A handful locally, who I see quite often, and a few in different parts of the country who I meet up with when I can. I don't need regular contact to keep friendships alive - there are people I see once a year or so who I'd still consider quite close - but it does take a bit of work not to let things drift. My two best friends both live a couple of hours' drive away, but the friendships are strong enough for us to be fairly relaxed about how often we speak to/see each other.

5 here too - but I'm also super close with 2 of my cousins. I speak with the cousins almost daily if time allows. I used to speak with my best friend almost daily but when I had 3rd DD she became a bit needy and sulky if I didn't text/visit as much, plus a lot of other things so I message every week or so now as I've pulled back a bit.

The others I message weekly/fortnightly and see every other week to a couple of times a year as one isn't local. I sometimes feel overwhelmed and struggle with this. One of them is male, with no kids, yet he is by far the most understanding and patient out of the lot. He doesn't care when I reply as long as I'm ok.

Two best friends, one I speak to daily and another I speak to at least once a week. Then a group of friends (4 including one of my best friends) I used to work with, we have a group chat we message in most days and meet up roughly once a month, then another friend I usually see once or twice a year and speak to a handful of times as she lives the other end of the country and doesn’t drive.

I used to have a large group of friends when I was younger, but I think as time went on we drifted apart and I found out they were mostly good time friends and the friendships weren’t as genuine as I though they were.

5 or 6. See them at varying degrees, 3 in a messenger group daily, and meet once a month and go on European long weekends. Best friend from uni, text, chat monthly. Friend from school talk once a month.