"AITA for charging my friends for my homemade meals?"
I (29M) have always been passionate about cooking and experimenting with new recipes. Over time, my culinary skills have developed, and I have become quite adept at creating delicious and unique homemade meals. Many of my friends have tasted my creations and have expressed their love for my cooking.
Lately, my friends have been requesting that I cook for them on a regular basis, as they find my meals to be restaurant-quality and a delightful change from their usual routine. While I enjoy cooking for others and seeing them appreciate my food, it is quite time-consuming and requires a lot of effort on my part.
In light of this, I started charging my friends a small fee for the meals I prepare for them. I believe that my time, effort, and ingredients should be compensated for, just like any professional service. I am not trying to turn it into a full-fledged business, but charging a reasonable amount helps cover the costs and acknowledges the effort I put in.
However, some of my friends are now upset and accusing me of being greedy and taking advantage of our friendship. They argue that since I enjoy cooking, I should be happy to share my food without expecting any compensation.
They claim that charging them diminishes the spirit of friendship and turns our gatherings into business transactions.I am conflicted now, as I feel that my friends are being unfair in their expectations. So, AITA for charging my friends for my homemade meals?
Let's see what internet users had to say.
NTA. You're not taking advantage of them. They are taking advantage of you to get free food. You're perfectly within your rights to charge for something that costs you time and resources. If they don't like it, they can have their restaurant quality meals at a restaurant.
You're right, your friends are being absolutely unfair and they are trying to guilt and manipulate you into agreeing to their, frankly, exploitative requests.
spicengirl writes:
Oh my god they’re not narcissists. Can we please stop using that word for anyone who is being inconsiderate? It’s trivializing. They’re just plain ignorant, selfish, and greedy. Doesn’t help that OP is referring to it as a “fee” and referring to their friends finding it “delightful.”
Just be upfront.“Listen, I love cooking for you guys sometimes, but it’s a lot of work and costs a lot of money. There’s a reason restaurants charge, and why my food more closely resembles what you would find in a restaurant. I wouldn’t expect you to knit me things for free just because you like knitting.
I would want to compensate you and support you because I’m your friend. If you knitted me one thing once as a gift, I wouldn’t ask for monthly gifts for free afterwards. I don’t want to “charge” you for my cooking.. but it would be nice if, on evenings you expect me to cook you all a meal, you all pitched in for the cost.
I don’t think that’s being unreasonable, and I feel taken advantage of otherwise. If that doesn’t seem reasonable to you, maybe we just do potlucks from here on out, and I’ll bring whatever dish I feel like making, and not feel pressure for it to be fancy or expensive or labour intensive.”
If you cook and you invite them - it's expected that you will pay for it. It's your treat.
If they request you cook for them - they should compensate you for the ingredients, your time, skills, use of space and utensils, as well as the clean up after the meal. It doesn't need to be monetary, they can bring you ingredients and help with prep work and clean up, and you do the rest. As long as you agree on the conditions and the cost in advance, NTA
NTA. They’re asking for a service and need to pay for it. Food ain’t cheap.