Sibling discovers they paid $19k in rent while little sister paid $0: 'My dad comes in and tells me I'm [wrong] for not paying rent'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Oct 13, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

This sibling is discovering with clarity that their sister is their parents' favorite kid! It's got to hurt to discover that your parents favor one of your siblings so strongly, and for this person, that discovery has come with a literal cost. 

Parental favoritism can be pretty subtle, because after all, many parents will never admit they like hanging out with one kid more than another. They'll insist that they have no favorites… but come on, they totally do! As long as they treat all their kids more or less the same, this isn't often a problem. But many family dynamics revolve around one sibling always getting their way while the other siblings get penalized for speaking up about it. 

Most parents don't let one kid live rent-free while the other pays $1000 a month, though! That kind of rent disparity is bound to cause problems. This person found out about it and tried to confront Mom and Dad, and you can read all about how that went down below. 

Next up, read about this woman who's pushing her mid-30s sister to dump that "non-committal" boyfriend in order to actually find her husband who wants kids: "She knows it's delaying… a longer-term goal." 

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  • Man in white shirt looks at table full of vegetables while woman in plaid shirt with braided hair points to herself and talks to him
    via Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Background: 1 graduated from college 4 years ago live at home with my parents. My sister graduated 2 years ago and also lives with my parents. We both got jobs pretty much straight out of
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  • college. I pay my parents $800/month in rent since my first paycheck. This is a throwaway and it's still fresh and I'm really emotionally charged right now. Last
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  • night my parents were talking loudly about their financial problems. in the living room. I overheard and I offered to help by paying more in rent (I was thinking $900-1000) since it covers
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  • utilities/phone/internet. My parents were grateful. Now, prior to this, I never asked my how much sister pays in rent. I always figured my parents charged us the same. So absentmindedly I asked
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  • a follow-up question. Me: How much is [my sister] paying [for rent]? My Mom: Nothing. A long a pause.
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  • Me: What do you mean she doesn't pay rent? My Dad (visibly angry): Your sister doesn't pay a thing! My dad explained how my sister recently
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  • bought a brand new car and hasn't paid insurance on it so my dad had to pay for it. She doesn't pay rent. She doesn't pay utilities/phone/anything . So for the past 2 years she's been living rent
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  • free while I've been paying my parents. So later that night we had a family sit down talk. My sister didn't want to pay rent, especially at how much I was paying. She
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  • offered $100. My parents suggested she pay $300, I pay $800 which my sister and I both rejected. The conversation ended with this:
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  • Sister: F YOU.I'M TRYING TO LIVE MY LIFE. [These were her exact words which p ed me the off to holy h I) So my sister storms off to her room and it's
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  • now me, my parents in the living room. I'm extremely upset at this because it's massively unfair. My mom is upset that everyone's angry at each other and my dad's angry my sister won't pay rent and she
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  • won't move out and both my parents don't want to police involved. So I say my part before leaving. Me: I'm not going to pay any more rent until
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  • she does. (It's only fair right?) And if I do pay rent, I pay whatever she's being. My mom: What if she pays $300 and you pay $800-
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  • Me: No. My mom: But [me], we really need the money... Me: That's too bad. I get up and go off to my room.
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  • So this morning my dad comes in tells me that I'M AN AH LE FOR NOT PAYING RENT. That I should pay rent because it's the right thing to do and all this sh. I'm like, "what the h I? make [my sister]
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  • pay rent!" My mom, who's listening in. "You've seen her! She won't listen to us!"
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  • Me: WELL THAT'S TOO BAD. My mom (really angry): WELL WE WOULDN'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM IF YOU DIDN'T TRY TO MAKE YOUR SISTER PAY RENT.
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  • That was the last straw that blew it for me. I slammed the door on my parents. As I'm typing this my parents are in the living room discussing how both their children are
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  • rotten and sh was better back in the home country/back in their day when kids listened to their parents. Like _?
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  • Woman in plaid shirt sitting in kitchen setting surrounded by fruits and vegetables typing on phone and holding credit card
    via Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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family drama family feud rent money renter family sister money Renters parents
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