The Student Room Group

Does your parents make you pay rent?

I live with my mum who’s a single parent we moved here from Poland and since she stopped getting benefits she’s always been asking me for a rent money. I’ve moved out to supporting acodomation when she started asking me for money when I was still in college and only earned £60 pound behind the bar I simply had no money to give her then moved back after finishing college and had to pay from between £50-£70 a week from my weekly bar wage £160. She’s working hard full time sometimes 12 hours a day and I know it must be hard for her to pay for full house but what are your thoughts on that? Recently I’ve got a full time job and she expect me to pay half half on the house which I think it’s ridiculous I want to save up for driving license, car and uni so I’ve got something on the side eventually when I start but it will be very hard with paying over 400 pound for a house plus food. I come up with idea to move into a house share where bills are included it comes out cheaper and I can save up and live independently but she calls me selfish for that? What are your thoughts guys. I feel guilty for leaving her with all the bills but I can’t be paying such a big amount if I want to achieve anything
Original post by Anonymous
I live with my mum who’s a single parent we moved here from Poland and since she stopped getting benefits she’s always been asking me for a rent money. I’ve moved out to supporting acodomation when she started asking me for money when I was still in college and only earned £60 pound behind the bar I simply had no money to give her then moved back after finishing college and had to pay from between £50-£70 a week from my weekly bar wage £160. She’s working hard full time sometimes 12 hours a day and I know it must be hard for her to pay for full house but what are your thoughts on that? Recently I’ve got a full time job and she expect me to pay half half on the house which I think it’s ridiculous I want to save up for driving license, car and uni so I’ve got something on the side eventually when I start but it will be very hard with paying over 400 pound for a house plus food. I come up with idea to move into a house share where bills are included it comes out cheaper and I can save up and live independently but she calls me selfish for that? What are your thoughts guys. I feel guilty for leaving her with all the bills but I can’t be paying such a big amount if I want to achieve anything


Tbh you’ve got to be selfish because at the end of the day it’s your future on hold, parents shouldn’t put that burden, I’m 18 and if my parents said to me I need to start paying rent i would give them a kick in the back side and tell them straight up....
Original post by luqman12673863
Tbh you’ve got to be selfish because at the end of the day it’s your future on hold, parents shouldn’t put that burden, I’m 18 and if my parents said to me I need to start paying rent i would give them a kick in the back side and tell them straight up....

...that you can't afford to pay them and will have to move out? :P


OP It sounds obvious your mum is in trouble and either NEEDS the rent money, or has other issues, you've been happy enough to move in and out when it suited you. I might not blindly hand over everything but i'd be looking to help my mum in a case like this, not leave her all to it.

How much is the rent anyway? you've went from 50 to 70 to 100 a week? there's a fair difference there. 200 sounds quite reasonable to me to rent a room and you need to pay for a roof over your head, whether you want to save for things or not, savings are what you have AFTER you're paid bills and you can't expect your mum to put you up for free if you're earning a wage and she's struggling.
If you parent(s) are struggling and you have a job yourself, it's only right that you contribute something to the household, whether that's paying for some of the bills or the food or whatever. However your parent(s) need to be reasonable - asking for over half of someone's wages is unfair but asking for a smaller portion is okay. If you want to save up for a car etc that's fine, it just depends on how you're using the money left over form your wages after you've given your mum what she needs. If you're sensible and save most of what you earn (obviously there are things you'll always have to pay for, toiletries, public transport, whatever) then you'll soon be on the right track.

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