A mum was stunned after asking her son to chip in £80 per month towards living costs, only for him to be "completely f***ing livid".
Her son earns around £800-£900 per month and is currently saving up to attend university. The mum is about to lose £60 child benefit, and is finding things "really, really tough" at the moment.
Taking to Mumsnet's popular Am I Being Unreasonable (AIBU) forum with a post simply titled "[AIBU] To ask my 18 year old for board", the mum penned: "He earns 8-900 pounds a month and I've suggested he gives me £80 a [month]. Would make up for the £60 I will lose from child benefit. He's at College and due to go to University in September he's saved around £2,000 for this already.
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"He is absolutely and completely f***ing livid about this situation. Things are really, really tough for us at the moment if that makes any difference. Vote away, vipers."
The mum's post was met with a variety of responses from fellow Mumsnet users, keen to share their thoughts. One said: "He's done well to save but he knows he'll need it for uni. It's not his fault you lose benefits you came to rely on. Don't punish him for it."
Another said: "He's earning a decent wage so paying board is the right thing to do. Me and DB [dear brother] both had to pay £40 per week back in 2000/2001. DM [dear mother] said if we didn't like it we could move out and see how we liked paying rent and bills. We paid the board."
A third Mumsnet user commented: "It wouldn't even occur to me to charge him TBH [to be honest]”", while another said: "He has very few other outgoings. £80 / month will not put him in the poorhouse or damage his uni savings, but it might help him to understand that life costs money."
One Mumsnet user said: "Welcome to the real world little boy. Oh no, actually in the real world you'd be sleeping rough or paying £200 per week."
And another added: "It's not ideal because it would be good if he could save the majority towards uni but the fact is he's an adult and he's earning a wage and the family is struggling. It's not as if you're asking him for a massive amount. I think it's [fair] enough if you're in a difficult position."
At the time of writing, 66% of Mumsnet users voted the mum was not being unreasonable to ask her son to pay board. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
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