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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Eleanor Gordon-Smith

I’m tired of always paying for my friends on nights out. What can I do about it?

Eleanor GordonSmith Uni Uber
Painting: Tavern Scene (Cardsharps and Fortune Teller) 1626 by Nicolas Regnier
‘You can do quite a lot to change the assumption that you’ll pay by simply not paying, then being willing to sit silent in the resulting pause,’ writes Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Painting: Tavern Scene (Cardsharps and Fortune Teller) 1626 by Nicolas Regnier. Photograph: Alamy

I’m a university student with a good part-time job. I make about $250 a fortnight and I have always been taught how to look after my money and save responsibly. My two closest friends are both unemployed, but by choice. No matter how much I help them apply for jobs, they never do.

I often go out on the weekends drinking or partying, where naturally I spend money on alcohol, maybe some food and an Uber ride home.

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