Employee Uses Company Card to Buy Personal Groceries Without Anyone Noticing, Confesses After Years of Gulit

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jun 11, 2026 2:00 PM EDT

If you held the company card in the palm of your hand, what would you have done with it?

I used to have access to my company's credit card, after they put me in charge of buying a birthday cake for whoever celebrated a birthday in the office. It was great, but also very stressful. The company card was linked to my personal DoorDash account, so whenever I ordered something personal for myself, I had to triple-check to ensure I wasn't ordering it on the company card instead of my personal card. The last thing I wanted was to get in trouble for accidentally ordering my groceries and finding out the company paid for it.

That never happened, thankfully, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen for other people, or that other people don't take advantage of this privilege, like the employee who shared the confession below.

Just like me, this employee was in charge of ordering office supplies and snacks, and they decided to use this opportunity to add their personal groceries and household items to the company orders and charge the business card. They managed to do that for nearly a year and save a lot of money in the process. No one has ever found out.

They turned to Reddit's r/confession, admitting how these actions are still haunting them to this day. Which raises the question, should they feel guilty? The employee feels like they were stealing from an employer who trusted them with an important task, and they used it for their personal gain. However, some people told the employee that the company makes enough money off of them, so they shouldn't feel bad over a few personal items the company paid for…

Scroll down to read the full story, and let me know what you think the employee should feel or do about this unfortunate incident!

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  • A woman using a credit card to shop on her phone and laptop, depicted by model.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    A woman using a credit card to shop on her phone and laptop, depicted by model.

  • I charged personal groceries to the company account by mistake on purpose

    While working as a coordinator at my old company I was allowed to order office supplies and snacks. On multiple occasions | intentionally added my own
    via emberlyndrae
  • personal groceries and household items to the company orders and charged them to the business account. This went on for nearly a year and saved me a lot of money. I always made sure the
    via emberlyndrae
  • orders looked normal so no one would notice. Nobody ever audited those charges or found out.
    via emberlyndrae
  • This hidden truth has been bothering me for years because | stole from my employer who trusted me with the account. I deeply regret my greed and
    via emberlyndrae
  • dishonesty. The guilt from these actions still weighs heavily on my conscience
    via emberlyndrae
  • BlushKisss the guilt lasting years means ur not that person anymore use it to be better going forward
    via BlushKisss
  • leftydog 1961 If d around years ago with the company cell phone and used it for personal use. A year later we got a bill ( this was when the bank of phones had a
    via leftydog1961
  • bunch of minutes) I used all the minutes up in a couple days. Got bill for over $800. Auditor said "due diligence" and began checking everything. Start of the end
    via leftydog1961
  • A model walking with a blue grocery bag on the street.
    via Mathias Reding

    A model walking with a blue grocery bag on the street.

  • MasterAnthropy Lemme be the devil's advocate here OP - you're presuming they didn't know about it and just let it slide or flat out didn't care.
    via MasterAnthropy
  • A small chance of that - but depending on how good you were at your job, how well liked you were, how underpaid you were, and/or a combination of those but still a chance. -
    via MasterAnthropy
  • If you're guilt is really working you over, think of making a donation or something of that kind to offset the bad 'juju' you think you're lugging around.
    via MasterAnthropy
  • robjohnlechmere This kind of thing does happen. I work for a supplier of corporate accounts and I always wonder when I see personal spending if the employer welcomes it or it is
    via robjohnlechmere
  • being hidden somehow. I'm sure there are employers that don't mind funding a snack here, a tool there. I'm also sure there are employees that take advantage.
    via robjohnlechmere
  • It's good that you recognize it was wrong. In the future, it might mean you choose to be gentle and instructive with a thief rather than wrathful. Gentle correction like this can be even more effective than being
    via robjohnlechmere
  • forceful. So for the small bit of bad you did once, you may one day use it to do a great deal of good.
    via robjohnlechmere
  • Bubbly Plant1786 What about doing some random acts of kindness? You were given some grace by a company or by the universe. You could spread some around to others until things feel evened out again.
    via Bubbly_Plant1786
  • AccidentOk5240 Compared to the way companies rob workers blind, and the way the 1% siphon wealth they never earned from workers generating the actual value, this is such small
    via AccidentOk5240
  • potatoes. If companies didn't underpay workers, no one would be tempted to do this
    via AccidentOk5240

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groceries boss employee manager credit card job work purchase confession workplace grocery shopping company
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