Rich Friend, Poor Friend*

It's Friday afternoon and you get a text from a friend asking if you want to go out to dinner at the cool new restaurant that just opened downtown. Totally awesome...except you've already been out to happy hour twice this week, had dinner at that overpriced sushi place on Monday, and booked a spa day with your college roommate. What do you do?

If you're me, you go out anyway and tell yourself that you're not being irresponsible, you're being social. Nobody can blame you for being social, right? Well, of course not. But don't expect your credit card company to cut you slack just because you're Miss Popularity.

Unless you're the richest person in your circle of friends, you've probably experienced an "OMG-am-I-too-poor-for-my-friends?" moment or two. Me? I've had my fair share of these moments. In college, my new girlfriends seemed to think nothing of eating out 2-3 times a week AND getting mimosa brunches on Sundays. I liked mimosas as much as the next girl, but I had a meal plan and my parents expected me to use it. Things haven't really changed much now that I'm out of school and an "adult." I still have tons of friends that can afford lavish girl's weekends and think nothing of having 3-martini dinners on the regular.

Now, of course my friends are awesome and never pressure me to spend money I don't have. The pressure is totally self-inflicted. But, come on - nobody wants to be the friend that misses out on the reunion trip to Vegas or can't afford to go to dinner. So, what do you do?

Some strategies:

(1) Take Charge! If you're the one planning the dinners or trips, you can pick the most affordable options. Instead of a trying out that expensive bistro, suggest a potluck dinner with a fun theme. Instead of that trip to the Caribbean, invite all of your old college friends to visit you in your new city.

(2) Man up! If you can't afford to do something, don't be ashamed. You work hard for your money and its up to you how you spend it. Tell your friends that you're sorry, but you just can't make happy hour this week. Then maybe invite them all over on Saturday to do something fun and free (i.e. lay out by the pool, catch up on Vampire Diaries, gossip about coworkers).

(3) Share! This one really only works for dinner, but it's a gem. In college, my best friend and I would of course never say no to weekly girl's dinner. But, we wanted to watch what we spent, so we decided to always SHARE dinner. It was genius. We never got overly fully (seriously, portion sizes are ridiculous), we saved money, and we got to enjoy time with our friends. Win-Win-Win.


Alright frugal friends out there...what are your strategies for dealing when you feel like your friends don't share your money woes?

*If you don't get the Rich Dad, Poor Dad pun in the title, than you clearly did not take AP Economics at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale. Lucky you. Seriously, LUCKY YOU. But also, Rich Dad, Poor Dad is really good and always inspires me to want to invest and spend my money wisely. I highly recommend it.