At what age did you finally start cutting off fake friends without feeling guilt?

It really hit me around 30. Before that, I held onto friendships out of habit, even when they drained me. I kept making excuses for people telling myself they were just busy or going through something. But then I realized some friendships only existed when I was the one putting in effort.

The turning point was a friend who only reached out when she needed something. No real check-ins, no effort just favors disguised as friendship. One day, I stopped responding. No big fallout, no explanation. I just let it go. And for the first time, I felt peace instead of guilt.

Now, I have fewer friends, but every single one of them is real. And I’d take that over a hundred fake ones any day.