We all want money, but most people probably wouldn’t want so much it destroys their lives and relationships. Unfortunately, that’s a thing that often happens when a large sum arrives unexpectedly. Suddenly, everyone has dollar signs in their eyes and hands out for cash. That’s when people learn who their real friends are, it seems.
On the subreddit r/AskReddit, user u/REDxSAM wanted to know, “Redditors who suddenly came into a lot of money, what was your horror story of people begging for money?”
And boy, did people have horror stories. It seems like money caused more problems than solved them in many cases. Scroll through for stories that are the epitome of “be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.”
1.
I once took second in a poker tournament and won $150k. There was an audience of about 200 people when it finished. Common practice was ppl ask winners for a “lucky chip”. I was almost mobbed by people begging for lucky chips as I left the casino. Had to be escorted by security and paid a friend $300 to follow me in their car and we drove all over town for two hours to make sure nobody was following me home. —TLKim
2.
My buddy is a poker player and once witnessed a guy who won a bunch of money come screaming back into the casino a half hour after he had left with his winnings.
Apparently someone rear-ended him as he was driving home and when he got out of his car to check the damage the driver who hit him mugged him. He obviously saw the guy win, followed him out and rear ended him so he would stop driving.
Casino basically shrugged and said they couldn’t do anything….obviously. —Well_thatwas_random
3.
So I wouldn’t consider it “a lot” of money but I won $5000 on a scratch off that was given to me on my birthday by my aunt. It was just a $2 scratcher and obviously nobody thought I would win that much. I scratched it in front of everyone and they were all super excited for me except my aunt who demanded the ticket back because she paid for it. I even offered to split half with her.
Long story short, she took me to small claims where the judge pretty much laughed and she didn’t get shit. Haven’t talked to her since —marinekid09264
4.
I unexpectedly inherited about four years worth of take-home pay. Before I knew how much it would be, I told my best friend I’d be getting a few thousand dollars. She immediately asked me to take her on a trip to Europe. That was the biggest thing she asked for but she made other small requests as well.
When the money came through and it was a lot more than I’d anticipated, I did not tell my friend. Instead, I started distancing myself from her. I also did not tell any of my other friends.
I did tell my boyfriend. He did not ask for anything. I took him on a trip to Europe. —PopcornSurgeon
5.
My Grandma died a week before Christmas, and she left her house and 1/4 of her small fortune to me (the rest of the money went to my brother and my two cousins). My uncles and aunts have been a pain in my back ever since. Claiming that the money/house are theirs,etc. And I’ve also been approached by people who I haven’t seen or talked in a while. Even my Ex who dumped me for some douchebag rugby player, started talking to me again and inviting me to places, and she’s still dating the same guy. Anyway, I’m not naive enough to lend those people money or befriend even. Luckily I have good friends and my brother as advisors. —DannyMorrow29
6.
My money came in the form of accidental death inheritance after my dad died in a motorcycle crash. His girlfriend at the time was furious that he left everything to me. She tried to convince me to give her money and when I refused she took everything, and I mean everything from his house overnight. She rented two U-Hauls and her and her brother raided the place. Furniture, household supplies, food, clothes, everything was gone. By the time I got there there only things left were a few t-shirts she left on the floor and a couple empty cans of soda on the kitchen counter. She even took things that held no monetary value, like a calendar I made my dad for father’s day one year. It was just colorful card board and pictures of us I had glued together. She took it all. She started selling what she could on Facebook, mostly his woodworking tools and fishing gear, and she fled to somewhere in the next state over. We tried to get help from the police but they didn’t do much. She did a lot of other things that were bigger legal issues I guess (for instance she ran a fake gofundme claiming the funds were going to his funeral and managed to get over 10 grand from his coworkers, but I’m the one who paid for the services.) Last I heard they finally found her in some woodsy town but I don’t know what happened. It’s honestly too emotional to deal with, and I’ve accepted the fact that she most likely destroyed or sold everything already anyway, it’s been two years since this all happened. It’s horribly sad, though. —Mor-Rioghan
7.
So a few years out of college my girlfriend and I were living in a sort of large communal apartment with 5 other people (2 bedrooms, 2 couches in the common area). I had just gotten a significant promotion at my job and that situation was exceptionally below my means, but my GF was convinced that these were her people and they were all going to become great philosophy writers and poets by living together and sharing experiences. They were all unemployed or underemployed, and experienced moochers, so I was very careful not to let them know I was saving large sums of money with the intent of moving out soon and taking my GF with me (or not…)
One day the other couple had an argument about rent and to try and keep them from coming to blows my GF promised them that I’d cover it for them and showed them one of my paystubs which I guess they showed everyone else. I got home from work and walked right into an “apartment meeting” ambush, where everyone else informed me that they wanted me to contribute “more meaningfully” and they’d put it to a vote before I got back. I told them that I was already paying for their food that they kept guilting my GF into buying for them, topping up the apartment emergency fund instead of stealing from it like the rest of them, and many other things and that I wasn’t going to cover other people’s rent as well.
The next day when I was at work, someone went into my room and destroyed my laptop, which was the only thing of value I owned at the time. I collected the few things I wanted to take, told my GF I was breaking up with her, and walked out.
Edit: I just realized I’m effectively the bad guy from Rent. Well, Rent sucks. —ThadisJones
8.
My mom has this ugly football themed van. Every since I was 10 we would go around in circles about how “it will be mine one day” but I told her from the start I’ll pass I hate vans… And football. Bought a different car and the van broke down after she put over 300k miles on it. I get my first income tax which was almost 3k and she tries to sell me the van for 2k…i tell her NO and she drops it to 1,000 since I can “easily afford it” I still refuse and less than an hour later she sends me a picture of a 1,200.00 dog for sale with “this is what I want for my birthday. He’s in Kentucky I’ll send you the address”
She wanted to use MY money to get a dog and was hoping to be sneaky and trick me into buying a broken ugly van to fund her multi state trip to pick up her “dream dog”… She didn’t speak to me for months after and still tries to sell me that POS for more than it was worth when it ran. —Mephistopheles_Cania
9.
I inherited my beloved Grandma’s house alongside with some other properties. As the house and the properties are near a very rapidly developing city, prices have skyrocketed and lead to me inheriting about $1.5m in value. That may sound awesome at first, but it truly isn’t. The house is a very old brick house, built in the late 1700s, and the properties are so small and widely distributed i can’t really sell them for a good price. As the house is a listed historical building, every little repair has to be done by state approved professionals for restoration and conservation of old buildings, which basically doubles if not even triples the costs. I rented it out, but the rent i get is barely enough to cover the costs of repairs, insurance etc… I am lucky if i get even by the end of the year. But as this house is where my family used to live for the last 4 generations before my dad bought the ranch and moved there with my mum, i want to keep it in the family as long as possible.
Now, somehow, word has spread that i inherited a lot of money. I did my best to stop these rumors, but it didn’t work out. I’ve never had many friends, but the ones i have are true quality friends. They will do everything for me and i will do everything for them. After i got the house and the rumors spread, i got invitations to dinner in some really fancy restaurants, i was invited to sport events (i don’t even like sports) and some other very costly activities. All these came from people who claimed to be my “friends”. Needless to say, they expected me to pay for everything. “You’ve got so much money, what do these $500 matter to you.” – “I’ll pay you back sometimes.” etc… were the common phrases i got to hear. The best one were: “You are way to young (28 btw.) to have this kind of money, so just give it to us!”; “You don’t deserve to have so much money! You have never worked a day in your life!” (Been working at the power plant since i was an apprentice at 18, worked my way up to deputy manager/shift supervisor, while the guy this came from was unemployed as long as i can remember and lived from welfare).
I have now learned who to trust and to spot telltale signs of “vultures” —gustavotherecliner
10.
Got a 7k settlement from a car accident. I accidentally left the check on the corner table in the living room. My dad walks into my bedroom and asks if I can lend my mom any money. I work minimum wage retail and ask him how much does she need. He says how about half of that 7k check.
It has been almost 8 years. I haven’t seen any of that money back. —ftmech