Yeah I know, Alot of my friends say "Well dont charge me alot I'm your friend. Its nice that there my friend but when welding wire and gas is not cheap then I have to make something off my work.
You're young so you're ripe to learn a life lesson here:
"If you have a capability that your acquaintances do not have, you are instantly labelled a "friend" by those acquaintances."
It will teach you to differentiate between a friend and an acquaintance.
There's no problem helping people out, but I found more often than not a simple favor eventually becomes an ongoing expectation.
I have an IT business and I cannot count the number of my friends and neighbors who have the balls to call my business help desk, log a call, and expect FREE service the same day.
I have another friend who cannot weld so he "drops by" at least once a week to find I'm not home and drops off his unassembled project with a note "weld these three places please" and he leaves a $5 in the mailbox. I keep refusing and he keeps begging. I offered to teach him how to weld using my welder and my wire, and he doesn't quite get the message.
My cousin is in the process of remodeling their home in northern NJ. He calls me every weekend (just about anyway) asking for advice on what to buy, how to do a particular job, etc. I can hear it in is voice that he would much prefer I not explain it and simply drive up there and do the job for him in exchange for his wife's cooking.
I used to do this, however once I reached 500 manhours a year
on his house while my house is overgrown with 6' high weeds and various other issues, enough is enough.
The moral of the story is learning to set boundaries, and that's the life lesson - how to do that.
Again, no harm no foul helping a guy out, but just make sure you don't become their sole lifeline for 2000 things that eventually will sour that friendship.