Woman buys a $349 espresso machine without consulting her roommate, who then refuses to pay her share: ‘She said I’d end up using the machine, so I’d be getting it for free, and that you can’t opt out of something that is already in the apartment’

Author image for Olivia Arocena
Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor
Sep 13, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Someone wanted to have an espresso every morning

And that's okay. Everybody is allowed their own little luxury; the thing is, if you can't afford it, you shouldn't try to drag everyone around you to help you get it.

Moving together is the fastest (and most extreme) way to get to know someone deeply. I've lived in many cities, with many different people, and with all of them I had transformative experiences that completely changed my mind about them.

People who seemed really put together were actually really messy inside the house, or people whom I was best friends with turned out to have huge, hidden parts of their personality I didn't like at all and had never seen. There are things you only learn when you cohabitate the same space.

In this story, the roommate basically wanted to coerce her friend into paying for the coffee machine by giving her no other option to make herself coffee, but that's obviously unfair. There is no question about it.

If I were her, I simply wouldn't use it and, of course, wouldn't pay for it, even if that means not drinking coffee or buying myself a cheaper coffee machine. Of course, I would try to talk to my roommate, but seeing how she handled things is definitely enough for me. 

And I even think OP should keep an eye on that, especially on the entitlement the roommate displays by thinking she can decide whatever without asking and that the rest must follow along.

Maybe she felt her roomie said yes telepathically? Hey! We might be ignoring that she might have had special powers. She knows that in the near future, her roommate will be really interested in owning an espresso machine.

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  • Cheezburger Image 10663235328
    via engin akyurt

    The woman after buying her expresso machine

    Picture does not depict real parties



     

  • AITA for refusing to split the espresso machine my roommate bought after I said no?

    I have lived with my roommate for 2 years and we split all the normal things (rent, internet, the wifi router when it d d). We have never once argued about money. We had a drip coffee
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • maker that came with the apartment. It worked fine and it made coffee. She's been bringing up an espresso machine since around March. The first time it was just a link dropped in our chat with 3
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • exclamation marks after it. In May it came up again while we were putting the groceries away, and in August she raised it twice. in the same week, both times with some version of we would get so much use out of it.
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • My answer never changed on any of those occasions, which was that I'm not in on that. I'm putting money aside for a car because mine is 14 years old and the transmission has started making a noise I don't like, and I'm not
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • splitting something that expensive over coffee. I said it more than once and I was honestly not vague about it. Last Tuesday I got home and it was on the counter with the box already
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • flattened next to the recycling. She had pulled a shot and left the cup in the sink. She was pleased with herself and I could tell she had been waiting for me to come through the door and see it.
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • That evening a request for $174.50 turned up on my phone. The note on it just said espresso, with 2 exclamation marks and a little coffee cup emoji. I said no, because I had already told her no. She
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • GRIND SIZE COARSE EXTRACTION 000 000 POWER GRIND AMOUNT FILTER SIZE DOUBLE ד
    via Luke Porter

    The expresso machine untouched

    Still frame for contextual reference only

     

  • said I use the kitchen and I'll end up using the machine, so I'd be getting. it for free, and that you can't opt out of something that is already in the apartment. So I haven't touched it
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • since, and I bought a $14 pour over cone that I've been using instead. Both of them are sitting on the counter now, about a foot apart, which she says is me making a point.
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • She's right that it's a point. I don't know how else you make one when it is already sitting on the counter. AITA?
    via ProfessionWorking605
  • cuocu You didn't agree. She bought it, it is hers.
    via cuocu
  • Maaheso NTA. Eventually you will stop being roommates and then she will want to take the espresso machine with her, not every item needs to be split in half. She is a mooch.
    via Maahes0
  • Cheezburger Image 10663235072
    via Luke Porter

    How coffees at home will look

    Representative only



     

  • TaxiLady69 NTA. Shared expenses must be agreed upon prior to purchase, otherwise the person who decided all by themself now has to pay all by themself. She's an idiot if she thinks putting it in the kitchen means you have to pay for it.
    via TaxiLady69
  • Top-Swordfish3512 NTA - First thing first you told her no. She set a C py trap and you didn't fall for it. Keep not using her machine. Note: She is a manipultive person. Keep an eye on that.
    via Top-Swordfish3512

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friendship bad roommates friends roommates toxic relationship
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