19-year-old sells her friends $100 Ariana Grande concert ticket after she refused to pay her back for it: 'She had $1k in her checking account this July, and I know that she spends $20 lunch daily'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Sep 13, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

There's nothing worse than being the friend who pays for a concert, trip, or excursion, only to have to chase everyone else down begging for them to pay you back. I never buy the idea that someone merely forgot to pay someone back for something as big as a plane ticket or a hotel room. I've forgotten to pay someone back for a drink or an Uber, but never something that costs hundreds of dollars. The second the person who paid tells me how much the purchase cost them, the money is zooming out of my checking account faster than you can say "please." There are good reasons for having a little more than you technically need in your checking account, and this is one of them. Your friend owing money on your behalf and having to beg and plead with you for it is not good for your friendship long-term. 

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  • The girl in this story is not a good friend. She's bad with money, spending up to $20 a day on just lunch. With that money, she could easily pay her friend back the $100 she spent on her Ariana Grande tickets, but she is clearly not willing to do that. Her friend planned to sell her ticket because she was unwilling to pay for even 1/5 of it on a payment plan.

  • 01
    A woman with long red hair posing for a picture
    via Meg Aghamyan (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I (19F) recently bought Ariana Grande tickets ($103 each, CA) for myself and 3 other friends who were planning to attend together. Friend 3 was iffy about paying me back because her initial budget was $80-90.
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 03
    F3 asked if she could pause paying me back bc she didn't have $105 to give me. She had >$1k in her spendings this July, and I know that she spends $20 lunch daily. We had a plan established since the presale was announced, so I don't understand why she wasn't prepared to pay?
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 04
    Two slices of sandwich on brown container
    via Asnim Ansari

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 05
    I offered for her to pay me $20 for 5 months... she said she could TRY to do that. I bugged her about paying me multiple times, and she said she'd pay me when she got home. I never got $20.
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 06
    A folded twenty dollar bill
    via Pete Alexopoulos

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 07
    Yesterday, one of my friends who lives in CO was unable to get tickets, and I told her that I had a ticket that was still unpaid for. (One of the first things I told F3 was that I'm reselling if she cant pay, but i didn't explicitly tell CO i was reselling). CO offered me
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 08
    $200 for the ticket, (i wont upcharge her) and I told CO I'd likely sell the ticket if F3 is unable to pay/provide me an explicit payment plan.
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 09
    I text F3 telling her I'm uncomfortable with her owing me so much money without telling me how she's paying me back. She misunderstood me on receiving payment and took it personally like I'm choosing CO over her (context F3 and I are bffs). we went back and forth for 5 hours.
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 10
    She kept contradicting herself, saying she could pay me $50 now and $50 next month because she doesn't want to see herself spend $100 in one sitting since she feels bad spending $100 in a day. I asked her where the $50 is
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 11
    coming from since earlier she told me she even have that money, and she ignored that. I kept asking her for an actual payment plan I could trust her to do but she kept dodging my questions.
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 12
    I ended up telling her that because she couldn't give me a definitive answer, I felt more comfortable taking CO's upfront payment. She called me unfair because I gave her a day to pay, but we had this planned for like 3 weeks. Her thing about not
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 13
    paying me the whole amount I paid for tickets is that she doesn't want to see $100 come out of her bank account when I spent $400+ on tickets?? (i'm a student, unemployed, and partially paying my own tuition)
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 14
    Anyway, I just want opinions on what I should do or say to her. This is still going on, and I completely understand where she is coming from too emotionally, but I'm confused. Currently, her last message says she's confused about me selling the ticket
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 15
    because she told me she could pay me back (but when i asked her countless times how shes doing that she failed to answer and her response to her "payment plan" changed everytime i asked)
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 16
    *F3 is going bc of FOMO, she doesn't like Ari&her new album which the tour is centered around.
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 17
    *While i believe she'd eventually pay me back... I also believe she'd cut corners to pay me back and just delay the payment in general. I spoke to friend 2 about this and she agrees, but i just still feel bad and don't want to lose a friendship over this
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 18
    rubygorgouess NTA. You gave her weeks, offered payment plans, and she kept dodging or changing her story. You're unemployed, not a bank, and it's not your job to cover her FOMO when she spends $20 on lunch daily but can't pay you $100. Selling the ticket to someone reliable isn't choosing CO over her, it's choosing your peace of mind. If she really wanted it, she'd have paid by now. If the friendship can't handle you asking for basic accountability, that's on her
    via u/rubygorgouess
  • 19
    messageinabottle 15 OP tysm for your reply! my issue right now is her redundantly telling me "it feels better when my bank acct doesnt say i spent $100” and her saying "idk what u want from me bc ive said many times i can pay u back." (she has only told me that 50/50 bs) so idk what to respond to that and not make her angry
    via u/messageinabottle15
  • 20
    Shutupandplayball NTA - bluntly put, F3 can pay you back, but she doesn't want to. She wants the ticket but refuses to send you the money (and you've given her ample options), so rip the bandaid off and sell the ticket to CO. A true friend would not leave you hanging like this.
    via u/Shutupandplayball
  • 21
    TheMagicCat0622 She was never going to pay you for the ticket. You did the right thing. In the future she pays for her own stuff up front. If you do not have a future with this friend because of this that's okay too. You know the type of person she is. It's your choice to continue to hang out with her or not.
    via u/TheMagicCat0622
  • 22
    MissK2421 NTA I'd usually be understanding with my friends, especially if we're close, but this sounds like she didn't want to pay anything at all. If her original budget was $80-90 then she should at least be able to cover that amount straight away, no? And pay you the rest ASAP. The fact that you didn't even get $20 makes me think she only wants the ticket if it's basically free.
    via u/MissK2421
  • 23
    strangenamereqs Jesus, I'm glad I'm not a teenager anymore. And what kid is spending $20 for lunch every day??? Anyway you gave her multiple chances and she never really came through ao she lost the chance at the ticket. End of story.
    via u/strangenamereqs
  • 24
    PandaEnthusiast89 The daily $20 lunches are the craziest part of this story to me - I feel guilty buying my occasional $6 latte! If she gave that up and packed her own lunch for just a week, there's her concert ticket.
    via u/PandaEnthusiast89
  • 25
    grumpybadger456 NTA - she feels bad about spending $100 in a day, but doesn't feel bad at all that you have paid $100 for her ($400 for all of the tickets) in one day and now have no idea when you will get her share. I'd happily onsell that ticket, and consider this a warning to never never pay anything upfront or mix money into this friendship again.
    via u/grumpybadger456

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concerts cash paying back spending money concert paying Ariana Grande reddit story lunch entitled ticket tickets reddit thread Reddit money entitled people
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