Replying to Avatar Thorwegian (old account)

i don't find that Norwegians tend to help each other with money when socialising, if one person has less.

my friend in Trondheim (who works a full-time job) barely paid a cent to help with costs, despite knowing what my finances look like usually.

you can be surrounded by people who have PLENTY of money to spare, but it's not acceptable to help a friend.

somehow, it's more acceptable to buy an expensive apartment or a flat screen TV than to pay $50 to help a friend.

he knows a girl who is on disability benefits. he kept inviting her to social events that cost too much money anyway, until she complained.

but he did not pay for our restaurant meals. he wanted me to come. why didn't he pay? he knew my situation. money was kept tight.

it's not a criticism of him. more of the mentality. it's rare that friends help with money.
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Thorwegian (old account) 2y ago

a big chunk of the extra money i had this month disappeared just because i decided to visit him.

i don't get the impression that he worried much about eating out and such.

basically, i paid a lot more, percentage-wise, to go to Trondheim, than he did to host me.

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Thorwegian (old account) 2y ago

financially speaking, this does not feel like a fair trade.

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pipe 2y ago

Yeah, I get you.

I have two friends who are single moms and we used to go on vacations together, with all the kids. My husband and I would pay for the apartment and we'd have them pay for the groceries and say "that way it's evenly split", but we were paying much more than they were.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to afford the trip.