16 Times Money Completely Changed the Game

Money: can’t live without it, but it sure stirs up trouble. Some say it brings out the worst in people, others think it’s all about how you use it. These stories won’t give you a straight answer, but they’ll get you thinking about how money shapes our lives—for better or worse.

• A tiler I know told me this story: “I met a classmate, and we got to talk. He built his own house and was engaged in finishing. But he wasn’t good with tiles. I offered my help.
  I tiled the bathroom in a day. I didn’t ask for money, he’s a classmate, after all. I thought he’d at least offer me tea. So, I keep silent and keep on working. In the evening, I got hungry.
  I asked, ’Will you at least give me some tea?’ We went into the kitchen, and his wife was cooking soup. So, I thought that I’d finally have some food.
  But my classmate gave me just tea, barely warm. In the evening, I told him he was a greedy bastard. And he took offense, saying that he didn’t have to feed me. And his wife would have to clean the floor after me.” © Victor Sumrak / Dzen
• Heard of crazier, but a guy I know, a friend of my mother’s, went to Texas 30+ years ago. (we are from Norway), and he noticed every single garden had a trampoline. And it was almost always “jump king” — the circular with blue mat ones.
  So he went to the HQ, bought 10, and took it back to Norway. Within days they were sold, and he ordered 50 more, same thing. So he became the only importer and has God knows how many millions to his name today. © alexdaland / Reddit
• After 10 years together, we decided to break up. We had bought a car together. I mentioned that I wanted my half, so he sat down and counted how much he spent on gas for me. He gave me 1/4 of the amount that he had sold it for. But life is trickier.
  When I was taking the plants to move them to my new place, the cat dropped a bag on me from the top shelf, and there was money for the car in it. I thought such things couldn’t happen. They can. But I didn’t take anything extra, I don’t need it. © Lenka Belka / Dzen

• A very beautiful friend of mine married a rich man. They had a daughter. Eventually, my friend filed for divorce. He left the apartment they lived in, but he demanded his share. He also took the furniture that he bought and removed the faucets.
  And when the judge asked, “How can you let such a woman go?” He replied, “I still love her.” By the way, the furniture that he took away when they divorced, just rotted away at his mother’s place in the shed — he had no place for it. © Alina V / Dzen
• Went through childhood in the foster system and fell through the cracks, and ended up homeless a few times. Anyway, I am not a 1 %er but I do make more than 80% of Americans (yearly salary-wise). Money relieved me of stress. When I go shopping I don’t check my bank account before I make a purchase, I have insurance so I am not afraid to go to the dentist or doctor, and going out with friends is fun because I know I won’t be financially struggling from a night out. It ultimately brought me a level of stability I never was used to and I am incredibly grateful. My ’new problems’ I wouldn’t call problems, home maintenance, car upkeep, bills, etc. I am grateful those are my main worries these days. © Unknown author / Reddit
• We came to visit my cousin, 6 hours on the road. My mum asked her for tea, and she said there was no tea. We ate our sandwiches and drove on.
  We never came to them empty-handed. We brought gifts for her son. But there was no tea for us. She knew we were coming.
  And my mother-in-law boiled 2 sausages for 6 people and some spaghetti for dinner. My son didn’t get any spaghetti, and he’s her grandson. After dinner, I saw a pack of sausages in the fridge, sealed. These sausages stayed there for a week. © Irina / Dzen

• My immediate family (sister, brothers) are jealous of me. I would never even think of it. 3 years ago, I bought a country house. My older brother asked everyone, “Where did she get the money?”
  My younger brother, too, because I stopped helping him. Before that, I paid all his expenses. I am within walking distance of everyone, and nobody visits me, as if I am not there. © Sara Manzani / Dzen
• My friend and I graduated from the same college in our hometown. She got a job as a lawyer at an oil refinery, the salary was excellent. I worked as a lawyer in an ordinary company and received pennies. She always sympathized with me, saying, “Don’t worry, not everyone is lucky, maybe you will find a good job.”
  Then I gave up everything and moved to the capital, where I became an attorney. My friend’s factory was closed, and now she works as a lawyer in a small vet clinic. She stopped talking to me, and we used to be thick as thieves. © S "N “M / Dzen
• We have 3 units in our block, all of them have decent doors, but we had a metal one. My daughter nagged me, “Mum, change the door.” So, I went and chose a beautiful, quite expensive door. We installed it.
  The neighbor says, “Are you showing off or what?” And the door does look nice. A month later, he installed a door even more beautiful than mine. How I laughed at him at home. © Lyubov Unarokova / Dzen

• My ex-best mate inherited 400K, quit his job, blew 120K of that money on a car, pissed the rest away on eating out, and now complains the world is against him. Man’s a clown. © PrincePascha / Reddit
• When I signed a massive, massive deal at the company I owed (and I assume my mom told a bunch of people), suddenly friends and family I hadn’t heard from in years wanted to spend time together. Same when my mom passed away, in both cases I wanted to think it was for altruistic reasons, but the timing was just too convenient. The interaction between my existing friend group who also knew about these events didn’t change. © DaveLLD / Reddit
• My old coworker recently won about $300,000 in the lotto. She started posting life updates — finally, she has a bed for herself, since she had been sharing with her 8-year-old. She bought a car and can drive her kid around town. She can now host sleepovers since food security isn’t an issue. Just the most wholesome pics of her and her very happy kid.
  Then she shared how she was overwhelmed by the hundreds of private messages from people coming out of the woodwork looking for handouts. She didn’t even win that much, just enough to make her life comfortable. But people felt entitled to it. © joyfall / Reddit

• In 2017, my sister had no permanent residence, bouncing from couch to couch. She was working for minimum wage, just keeping herself afloat. Something happened and my nephew (son of a different sister) was taken into protective custody, and she and I took on the responsibility together.
  I moved them into my house, which was small, so they had to share the living room. She worked hard and saved to get a tiny apartment for them, struggled to furnish it, and paid the bills, but she did it. Then in 2019, her estranged biological father died, and the trust fund that her biological grandfather set up was passed down to his only living relative — my sister.
  Literally overnight, she became a very well-off person. She owns a nice house now, has a new car, her backyard is like a paradise for my nephew and the 2 other foster kids she took in, and she never has to work again. They want absolutely nothing. No one deserved it more than her. © treremay / Reddit
• I have a sister who is middle class and three kids. I’m relied on to provide certain expensive things for the kids. Once in a while is fine. It’s fun. But because I have no kids, she thinks there should be a constant stream of fun activities and gifts coming from me because “what else are you spending your money on”. the-camster / Reddit

• We have been living with my boyfriend for 5 years, we were in love, but he was in no hurry to propose to me, and always laughed it off. There were no money issues — our salaries are the same, we live in my apartment, and rent out his place.
  Recently I received a good inheritance: an apartment, a house, and money. So after a couple of months, my boyfriend proposed to me with a beautiful ring. I can’t get rid of the feeling that when I was poorer, he was in no hurry to marry me, but now he can’t wait. © Admin / Y-story
• We inherited a substantial amount of money recently. We knew there was an inheritance coming, but it was easily 3x what we thought it was. My day-to-day life didn’t change. I still work, the same job, as does my husband. Everything is the same — except relief when thinking about the future, which is huge. We took half and put it in an account for our kids — their college, grad school, etc. are completely paid for. We then took the other half and hired an advisor we know well to invest it for our retirement. The plan is to park it until we both stop working, still decades away. We also cut big checks to our beloved niece (for school in the future) and two charities that are close to our hearts. The thought that our future is secure is breathtakingly amazing.© GroundbreakingAge254 / Reddit

And here’s a story from a woman who stopped giving her son pocket money. Find out what happened next.