My friend scrounges all the time and it’s so annoying

If not for the fact that good friends are hard to come by, I would not even be friends with my best friend right now. We’ve been pals since we were kids – went to the same schools:  primary, secondary and university. We also share most things in common and have the same sense of humor. We enjoy each other’s company so it’s easy to be around one another. However, this best friend of mine has a major flaw. She is a big time scrounger.

Every time we go out, she would complain about the cost of everything from the meals, cinema tickets, ice cream, etc. she’d complain so much that I’d end up paying for most of the items for her. She loves to browse stores for bargains and would make me feel like crap for splurging on items I really want because she thinks they are pricey (I end up hiding to buy the expensive stuff). You want to keep having a good time? Then better not mention money because the moment you do, her face will change and she’ll turn cold. Worst of it all is that she would take stuff from me – jewelry, clothes and the most annoying of them, food; she’d open my fridge to eat stuff in it and a lot of times, she devours these things like she’s trying to make sure she has a full stomach before going home. It’s pretty irritating but I don’t have much of a choice because we have been friends for so long and truthfully, I don’t think I can get the opportunity to make new ones at my age. So, I have to keep tolerating this very annoying aspect of her by constantly reminding myself of how long and well we know each other.