“Why don’t you want to come to my wedding?”
“I want to come but I can’t afford a ticket overseas.”
“Whatever, if you want to stay home and miss out on life that’s your decision I guess.”
Apparently me saying no to this wedding was the last straw for them, because they’re always asking me to do things I can’t afford and they don’t seem to understand why I can’t despite me telling them every time that I am poor. So now I’m the bad person because I’m totally being poor and “holding myself back” on purpose.
If they want to burn this bridge they can fuck right off. I’ve had enough of this shit.
This isn’t applicable to your situation - which just sounds wack - but a good rule (which is super fact and situation dependent) when you have a friend group with greater disposable income is to be easy and open handed with money when you have it, even to people who can afford it more than you can. It shows that you aren’t a tightwad, and your friends will be more forgiving and open handed with you. It’s a really delicate balance though, and depends on your friends, but making sure your friends see you as generous but money deprived is better than them seeing you as a miser.
See Dickens for this trope in spades - the lovable guy who is too generous for his own good is virtuous while the Golden Dustman is wicked.