Dear Miss Emily:

Recently. my neighbor/friend helped me out with towing my vehicle using her AAA . She offered this to me and i was very appreciative and showed it by many hugs and thanks. The next morning, she called me to express how she was unaware that she only had a number of times to use the AAA and made it a point to tell me how much she saved me by doing this act of kindness. She never out right asked me for a pay back, but she had to let me know, again. She called wanting me to go to her mom's house to pick up a cat when I was already in bed . I told her I was very sorry ,but could not  drive to her mom's house at that hour. I appreciated the acts of kindness and gave her 20$ for her time. But I do not like this feeling like I OWE her something big. How do I handle it, and what do I say regarding this?

-------------------------------Miss Emily's advice------------------------

Hold your ground with this neighbor. You had no idea when she offered the AAA tow that it was going against her limited amount of service. It seems you do some nice things for her, and the score is even. If, for some reason, she goes past her service for the year, offer to split the cost of the one she has to pay. But until then, you owe her nothing. Please don't let her make you feel guilty because she did you a favor. Absurd!