Dad charges his 20-year-old son $400 for rent, utilities, and groceries, then the entitled son gives him the silent treatment; sparks parenting debate: 'He lives at home’

Every parent's baby grows into a kid, then a teenager, and finally a young adult, but at what stage should they start learning about the financial responsibilities of the real world? 

This dad and his wife were struggling with finances recently, and because their 20-year-old son was living with them, fully employed and spending his money on new computer upgrades for his video games, this dad decided it might be high time he started teaching his boy about rent. 

However, this credible teaching moment soured instantly when the son scoffed at the $400 monthly request, refusing to acknowledge that he was still living out of his parents' fridge, off the family's electric bill, and by the seat of his parents' dwindling savings account. He's no longer a child, but this immature tantrum in response to a reasonable request is making him seem like a toddler going through the terrible twos again. 

I started paying my own bills the day I turned 18. Moved out, attending university, and living a life away from my parents' house, I knew I was on my own with my groceries, my rent payment, my utilities, and my phone bill. Forced to budget from my part-time job, times were tough at first, but now a frugal sense of stability is instilled in my adult mind. I know I can always count on myself to get my bills paid and my needs met. 

This kid, though, was 20 years old, fully employed and making more money than his parents did at that age, and still expecting to be treated like a high schooler asking for gas money to go to the movies. Frankly, in a world where you can barely find a crumbling studio for $1000, groceries cost $200+ per trip, and the electric bill seems to be on a randomly set sliding scale, $400 a month is a measly request. Help your parents out, stop being a freeloader, and grow up already, Jake. The world will quickly move on with or without you, and if your parents' generosity runs out, you'll be catapulted into a world of adulting you never thought was possible.

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