As we move through our 20s and 30s, the decades people typically get married (and we’re on our lowest salaries at the beginnings of our careers), we all know economic power fluctuates between friend groups dramatically. I have friends who earn three times what I do, others double, and some around the same as me or even a little less. In most contexts though, I’m at the lower end of the spectrum compared to friends in very different industries (you don’t go into journalism for a love of money, I’ll tell you that much). It doesn’t become more apparent than at a wedding, fancy birthday meal out, or far flung trip involving four-star hotels. It’s never just about accommodation and travel either, it’s the gift, the outfit, the cabs, the logistical planning of how to get there. Where couples can go halves and help each other out with the actual spending and the effort to organise, single people are left to do it all for themselves.