Questions about money can test the foundations of even the strongest of friendships. Probably the last thing you want to do is to make your nearest and dearest feel like they’ve been ambushed with a bill when they were expecting to kick back and relax after your lovely get-together.

One Mumsnet user, ColdBrewInSummer, turned to the forum’s community for advice after she and her partner faced a very peculiar situation with their friends, who’d invited them over for dinner. After the intimate party, they got a message asking them to pay for the food. This took the guests completely by surprise! Scroll down for the full story, as well as how the internet reacted to it.

The hosts are usually expected to foot the bill for the food if they’re inviting people over to their place for a homecooked meal

Image credits: Askar Abayev (not the actual photo)

One couple was left seriously confused after their friends expected them to pay for their share of the meat and veggies

Image credits: ColdBrewInSummer

Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)

The author of the post later shared more info and gave an update on what happened next

The entire situation was very bizarre, and the guests felt very frustrated

Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (not the actual photo)

In her post and comments, Mumsnet user ColdBrewInSummer explained how the hosts wanted £20 each from her and her partner, to pay for the steaks and veggies. Here’s the twist: the guests were going to host the couple for dinner in a bit either way, so it was very unusual that they were asked to pay. Unfortunately, ColdBrewInSummer deactivated her account, so we were unable to reach out to her.

The OP ended up giving in and paying up in order to avoid conflict because they had a lot of mutual friends. However, from her comments, it was clear that she still found the entire situation very odd because, well, the bill was a bolt from the blue. There’d been no indication that everyone would be paying for themselves.

According to ColdBrewInSummer, her friends might be counting every penny because they’re “starting a business and struggling with that a little.” She mentions that “they seem to be reasonably well off” but things may be tight.

Food prices have soared over the past year in the UK

Many families in the United Kingdom are having to cut back as the cost of living crisis continues. Inflation stood at 10.1% in March 2023, meanwhile, the Bank of England has raised interest rates a dozen times to a whopping 4.5%. What this means, essentially, is that it’s more expensive to buy goods and take out loans. The purchasing power of Brits has gone down dramatically.

And the prices of many food items have gone completely bonkers. The BBC reports that the price of olive oil has risen by 49.2% and sugar is up 42.1%. Low-fat milk is 38.8% more expensive than a year ago in the UK, while whole milk is 37.9% costlier. The price of cheese and eggs has also risen by a third. And even frozen veggies are far costlier—with the exception of potatoes, they’re up 30.2%.

Meanwhile, beef is 14.8% more expensive than last year, so if you’re planning on having steaks, they’ll either bite a decent chunk out of your paycheck or you’ll have to settle for fewer, smaller cuts of meat.

There are more subtle ways for your guests to contribute to the dinner party

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Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual photo)

However, no matter how expensive buying food becomes, it’s still a tad iffy to surprise your guests with a bill if you haven’t indicated that you expect them to contribute beforehand. It would be an entirely different story if, say, the hosts were open about how they might be struggling with money a bit and might need the cash. Though if they were invited over in turn, things would still kind of balance out in the end. Either way, honesty is the key here.

Some of the ways that you can subtly prod your guests into contributing to the party is by asking them to bring one dish each or to grab some drinks or snacks on the way to yours. If everyone’s sharing everything, it can create a very wholesome atmosphere. Not only that, it takes some of the pressure off the hosts so that they don’t spend the entire night in the kitchen.

Another approach would be to give everyone a heads-up that you’ll all be ordering pizza or take-out and that everyone should pitch in for what they order. After all, food might be great, but it’s the company that really makes or breaks any dinner party.

Many forum users reacted with disbelief and support for the author of the post. Here’s what they said

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Meanwhile, other internet users shared similar stories and had more insights into the situation

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