Man Says He Would Rather Move Out Than Pay His Mother $600 in Rent, Asks if He's Wrong
Money often leads to conflict espescially amid the rising cost of living. In a popular post on the subreddit, AITA, a man asked the community if he was wrong for telling his mother that he would rather move out than pay $600 in rent.
"I'm 25-years-old, was paying $60 a week rent for a few years. I recently started a new temp job that pays pretty decent, and they decided to keep me with the company last week," he writes. He then talks about how soon after he shared the news with his mom, his mom texted him, "Rent starts up again, $150 a week.”
He then tells the readers that upon reading this text he simply told his mother that he would rather move out. " I already pay for my meals, I only have my small bedroom to call my own in their house," he added.
The Reddit user says that with that money he could easily rent a studio apartment "3 or 4 times the size" of his room for a few hundred more. "Or could rent a room with friends for less than my mom is trying to charge me," he added.
The OP also says that it's not like his mother was cooking and cleaning for him every day and says that he was hardly "raking up their bills."
"I never really even cross paths with my parents besides when I am getting off work," he says.
He goes on to tell the readers, that his mom is not happy about it. " But I'm also upset the person who birthed me is trying to get me to pay what I would pay a landlord for rent just to sleep in her house. Even 100 a week I would have been more inclined to be okay with, but 600 a month just to be able to sleep at my parent's house seems a little high," he adds.
According to the OP, if he is paying $600 a month then the thing is that he deserves his "own spaces around the house also as I would with a landlord."
The reaction to his situation was pretty mixed, to say the least. One of the top comments picked up excerpts of his post and wrote," Y'know, parents have bills and utilities to pay, also. You're only entitled to free room and board until you're a legal adult,"
"Lol, if you can swing it for $600 go for it. Where I come from, $600/month would get you a shared bedroom, a half-bath, and access to a garden hose with a 3-minute shut-off timer to shower with," the commentator added.
The OP took to the comment to clarify a few things, he writes, "Dad is the breadwinner in our house, my mom pays for vacations and a couple of utilities but my dad pays for the mortgage, groceries, and most of the bills. The funny part is he doesn't want rent from me, it's my mom who wants it. It's part of why I am especially not keen on the idea." He also says that if his parents needed the money to pay bills, then "It wouldn't even be a question".
Another person took to the post to write a huge comment criticizing the OP, "INFO: where do you live? What’s the cost of living? Have you looked at the rental market recently? $600 for a studio, what about utilities, internet, renter’s insurance??" the user writes. The user also urges the OP to calculate other costs in his budget, like furniture, laundry, and more.
Most people seemed to fire at the OP for having very little idea about the real estate market. Between 2019 to 2021, the median monthly rent increased by 3% while the median renter's income fell by 2%. This means there's little chance that the OP would find what he is looking for without blowing through their budget.