So my primary school friend Gary—let’s call him Gary the Financial Genius—messaged me two days ago out of the blue. Tone super drama, saying his side business got hit with unexpected operational emergency, need cash urgently to patch, if not “life or death situation”. As a good bro, I didn’t even hesitate much. Transferred him $1,000 immediately via PayNow to help him tide over, thinking he was really down on his luck.
Fast forward to yesterday evening. I open Instagram, first thing I see on my feed is Gary’s IG story: “Upgraded! New year new phone 📱✨” with a pristine, brand-new iPhone 16 Pro Max sitting on his desk. Natural Titanium color some more.
Bro. You tell me emergency, but your emergency is Apple Store launch day ah?
This is not even the first time. Gary’s financial management skills are literally non-existent, he perpetually complains he’s broke, but his money always goes to the most absurd, useless things. Last year he had $0 in his bank account, but went to take a personal loan just to buy a custom $4,000 gaming rig with full RGB lighting so he could play Dota 2 on low settings. Before that, he spent $800 on some “manifestation and crypto wealth alpha workshop” conducted by some random financial guru on TikTok.
Every month end: “Bro can lend me $100 for cai fan?”
Every month start: “Bro look at my new $300 mechanical keyboard with custom switches.”
I confronted him on WhatsApp just now. You know what this guy replied? “Bro don’t get angry, my old phone battery health was 78%, lagging very bad so I need reliable device for work. Is business investment.”
Business investment your head lah!
Now I’m sitting here wondering how to politely (or aggressively) demand my $1,000 back before he decides his “business” needs a new pair of AirPods Max.
Anyone else got friends like this? How you all handle people who treat you like a zero-interest bank account? Should I just report to his mother or write off the friend and the money together?