Because yeah, he makes more than minimum wage. He must be rich.

#9 Who said anything about being rich.

Lying for two years about something as serious as education AND not paying rent, is kinda bad.

I agree about the lying part but not the rent. Where I come from, it isn't normal to pay rent to your parents if you don't move out. But I've learned that it's quite common in america. Anyway, he seems to have stepped up and took responsibility. He found a decent job and does well.

I think OP is the problem. how does someone live with you for 2 years and you don't EVER see them doing homework, or bragging about grades, or showing off awesome test scores?

When you're old enough to help your parents with bills, you should if you want to continue to live with them. If you don't have a job, or if you're financially struggling/going to school, then your parents should understand. But if you make MORE money than your parent, you should at least help with groceries/utilities. It's just respectful. A parent spends 18(ish) years struggling for you so it's only right to pay them back when the time comes.

#22. He didn't take any responsibility. He lied and basically stole from OP for two years. If he knew the options were school or pay rent then he was stealing how ever much rent would have been for two years.

I paid rent the month after I graduated high school because I didn't go to college. All the way up until I moved out a year later and started paying real rent.

It's common in Canada too. If you have a job, you should be contributing to rent.

#22 If he'd taken responsibility, he'd be paying rent. He lied to avoid that and cheated his mother. That's hardly being responsible.

While I don't think you should have to pay your parents back for raising you those 18 years, expecting them to help out when they get a job after they are 18 is not unreasonable. The rent probably isn't as much as rent for a different place and just to help out with bills. Op probably worked his ass off trying to support the douchebag and himself, possibly other family, while the son got to keep all his money and any money op gave him to spend on anything he wanted while op had bills to pay and grocery costs.

33- maybe all of that was part of the act.

With our economy a lot of parents can't afford to support their kids over 18. I didn't have to pay rent until I was 20, but it was my choice to still live my mom then. I couldn't afford to be on my own, and neither could my parents.

"Actually, I'm not even mad. I'm impressed."

If the son can simply lie and talk about assignments and things I should think it isn't that hard not to notice he is actually working instead of uni

I don't know about you, but when in college I drove myself and did my assignments alone. Never once did my mom need to step foot on my campus. I could have easily gone elsewhere all day and she'd never have reason to question it.

My step-sister did it for a year and a half.

#7 that's not it at all. First the FML said he was living rent-free because his son said he was in college. Second of all the rent thing is generally because at that age the child can take care of themselves and so with rent the child can get a sense of how apartments and rented property works, and so the child doesn't become a free-loading bum. Next time don't be so quick to judge, you don't get to decide how someone raises their child.

It's called responsibility. And you completely missed the point of the FML. She was apparently ready to let him live rent free so long as he was in school.

And that's how you make crappy kids.

Haha, having your kids not pay for rent if they are living under your roof when they are 18 or older is idiotic. They will never learn how to use their money wisely and how to be responsible. They'll be used to having their parents paying for them when it's not supposed to be that way. And how dare you call OP bad parent? If she were to be a bad parent she wouldn't have gave a flying **** about her son and not have him live in her house for free.

It's not common in Europe for example to pay for rent when you're 18+ and are still living with your parents. There are other ways to learn to be responsible with money. Most of us go to uni or college and have a job (and probably started young, around age 14/15. Some sooner, some later).

We turned out fine, if I say so myself. We use the money to save up for our own place, by schoolbooks or whatever. Don't be so quick to judge, yourself.

Is he's earning money he should be taking responsibility. He wouldn't even need to be paying all the rent but surely just helping out is a sign of respect for what your parents have done for you.

20, Why assume OP is female just because this is about parenting? It clearly says he's a male. And can you really say OP gave a "flying ****" about his son to begin with? I mean he did go two years without having any idea what his son was actually doing...

I had to pay rent when I got my first job, as did my siblings. I took it as a way to learn how to be good with my money and control spending plus my mum was a single parent (and was for most of my life) and it helped her out a bit more financially. I see no issue with it :)

It clearly says OP's son didn't have to pay rent as long as he went to school. Regarding the rent, if you can continue to care for your children without any financial help, that's great. But many parents struggle. My mom struggles. She's struggled as long as my brother has lived, for 30 years. So yes, now that we're all grown, we should absolutely help her if we're going to live under he roof. She deserves to relax. Some parents do it to reach responsibility, but I absolutely just see it as being a respectful child. Set rent that's hard to afford: maybe not. But you should AT LEAST help in some way.

Maybe you should read the entire post before commenting. it clearly stated that he wasn't charged rent because he thought he was in school. if he's making more money than his parent does then he should either move out or help pay for stuff around the house instead of mooching and taking advantage.

he thought he was in school?? hahaha.

24 Most people in North America also get jobs at 14 or 15. It's common to live with parents rent free during University or college here as well. The only difference is that it's common to move away from home at 18 here, so if you haven't and you have a job, it's a good lesson to learn how to budget rent in from the get go. North America has enough space to accommodate this.

More and more college-aged kids are actually starting to live at home longer. Also, I don't agree with kids having to pay rent. I never had to and I know how to budget my money just fine, thanks. As a parent you should want your kid to save up as much as possible so when they do move on their own they have a cushion in case anything happens. It's also not the sons fault that he's being paid more than OP.

I never paid rent when I lived at home, and I turned out fine. For me learning financial responsibility didn't start when I got a job in my teens, but when I was a little kid with chores and allowance, so I don't see paying rent as the only way to teach that. I did pay for part of the phone bill because I wanted a fancy phone and I bought all my own clothes. Mostly my parents wanted me save my money for when I moved out. Paying rent is understandable in a struggling financial situation though. I was just lucky my family was never that bad off.

#7 1. OP WAS letting his son live rent-free, because he thought the son was in college. 2. If the son paid rent or board, it would be to contribute to the household expenses now, not to repay anyone for raising him. 3. We don't stop being parents, but in most cases we do stop being the parents of a dependent minor. OP's son is a working adult, not a five-year-old. There's no reason for him to mooch off his parents, even if he's still living in their house.

Wow, reading this comments has really surprised me, I assumed most people had to pay their parents rent if they had a job, student or not. I'm a university student myself and have still had to have a full time job the whole time I've been studying because my mom charged me so much rent. It wasn't for me to learn how to budget myself, it was pretty much my entire pay check a lot of the time. I'm actually jealous of all these people getting to live rent free and save money while living at home!

yes, it is common, even in Europe. I can name at least 50 friends of mine including myself who contributed to rent while working part time and in college, never mind skipping it altogether and just working (rent goes up then).

@11 Not everyone panics when finals roll around. I have a final next Tuesday, and I have my entire weekend booked to spend time with friends instead of frantically studying.

@23, Good luck with that...

If you learn and study throughout the course then when finals come along all you need is a quick recap. If you forget everything taught to you at the beginning of the course before the final, how will you know it to use it for your job 4-5 years from now? Pay attention in class, do the assigned homework, and if there is a textbook read each section as you go over it in class. Get your questions answered as early as possible and generally just speak to the professor when you need to. If you do these thing you should be fine for finals.

In my experience, no matter how prepared you are for finals it is still stressful. Every semester of my undergrad (save the one in England) had at least one conflict of exams that I had to work out, and some of my professors assigned homework on top of exams/papers because they were insane.

I agree with #23 not everyone panics for finals. I know that I tend to get lazier as it gets towards the end of the semester so I always make sure to do better during the first half of the semester so that I have wiggle room on grades at the end. Unless the final is worth 40% of your entire grade which most professors won't do, then they really aren't that bad.

Guess you and I had very different school experiences, because in my undergrad nearly all of my finals were worth at least 35% of your final grade, if not more. One time we only had one assignment, test, or even quiz: a final paper. That was awful.