Study Shows How Expensive Having Friends Can Be

Everything in life has a price. Groceries, clothes, and travel all cost money, but there’s something that many may not consider an expense, and that’s the cost of friendship.

If you think about it there are so many expenses associated with having friends. Anytime you hang out with a friend you’re spending money. Grabbing a bite and beer, going to a football or baseball game, or attending their birthday party.

A very costly expense of friendship is being asked and accepting to be in a friend’s wedding. It seems ridiculous, and it is, but a lot of money could be saved if we didn’t have friends. It’s similar to having kids, it costs money, but we feel that it's totally worth it.

There’s a new report from BadCredit.org that analyzes just how much it costs to be a good friend in 2024. The report found the average annual cost of maintaining friendships in the United States is $5,184.

The study also found that more than half (52%) of Americans say friendship as an adult is quite expensive.

More than a third (37%) of participants say the cost of living has forced them to neglect friendships. We’ve all done it at one time or another, declined an invitation just because we didn’t have or didn’t want to spend the money.

It was also discovered that nearly two-thirds (65%) have reduced their social activities to focus on saving money for major life expenses.

Many people are keeping track not only of what they spend on their friends, but what their friends spend on them. Over one-fifth (21%) say it’s not equal, and claim that they spend more on their friends than that friend spends on them. Because of this, one out of every ten people has ended a friendship, it was just too expensive. Those surveyed spend an average of $393 on drinks, dinners, and other activities with their friends.

A person’s income also plays a role, many can’t keep up with a friend who makes significantly more money than they do.

Even though it’s costly, nearly half (47%) say they would like to have more friends, and more than three-quarters (76%) of those surveyed say they’d like to spend more time with friends. One-fifth (21%) plan on spending even more on their friends.

Americans are lonely: 47% wish they had more friends and a huge 76% wish they saw their friends more often. In fact, only 1 in 5 (20%) only see their friends once per month. 

Honestly, until I read this study, I’d never thought about “the cost of having friends” with one exception, weddings!

I was in a few weddings when I was younger, but I was talking with a friend’s daughter and she told me she was asked to be in five weddings this year. With everything from the Bachelorette party to the dress, she said it was costing her nearly $13,000 overall.

Sometimes the cost is not money, but the friendship ends when people part ways because invitations are declined.

Check out the full study here.

Happy National Best Friends Day! While on the surface, this may seem like one of those "fake" holidays you often see, there's actually some history behind it.

According to Calendarr.com, U.S. Congress declared June 8 as National Best Friends Day back in 1935. Why June 8, though? That date was chosen due to it falling between spring and summer, so the weather would likely be nice enough to enjoy an outdoor activity with your BFF.

However, the holiday really took off thanks to social media. Various platforms provide a fun, easy way to share photos of your best friend along with hashtags like #NationalBestFriendsDay.

As with any holiday, a little celebrating is in order. Here are just some of our favorite best friends from film and TV. Enjoy!

If your friend’s dad threatened military school if you two flunked your history class, you’d travel through time to pull out all the stops to keep your friend at your school, too!  

Going to your ten-year high school reunion is kind of like time travel. For Romy and Michelle, it’s their way to stick it to the “A-Group” who bullied them for those formative four years.

Few friendships are as beloved as Cory and Shawn. Boy Meets World fans saw them grow up from middle school to college and all of the ups and downs that come with those years.

Evan and Seth are graduating from high school and are about to go their separate ways to college, but there’s nothing that brings two friends together than the hopes of potentially hooking up with their dream girls at the biggest party of their lives.

They don’t fit in and are too sardonic for Lawndale High or really any high school in existence. Thankfully, they have each other to lean on and viewers got to make fun of their fellow classmates with them.

Think of them like a super-rude, modern version of The Odd Couple. Their shenanigans throughout the entire “View Askewniverse” honestly deserve their own list.

Bound together thanks to rock and roll and an amazing cable access show, Wayne and Garth were “goals” decades before that phrase became a thing.

They should be too dumb to function, but Harry and Lloyd’s absurd stupidity leads them to equally absurd adventures. At the end of the day, they truly do care about each other. Also, Harry is right; you can't triple stamp a double stamp.

Desperately trying to satisfy the munchies, escaping Gitmo and finding a new Christmas tree. Is there nothing these two stoners can’t do?!