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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Jess Flaherty & Tim Walker

Mum shocked by son's 'livid' response after being asked to pay £80 a month board

A mum has spoken of her shock over her son's angry reaction to being asked for board money. Taking to online forum Mumsnet to get opinions from fellow parents, the mum says she asked her son for £80 a month, only for him to be "completely f***ing livid".

She says she was stunned after the simple request for her son to chip in for living costs was met with such anger. Her son earns around £800-£900 per month and is currently saving up to attend university, she added.

However, she says she is about to lose £60 child benefit, and is finding things "really, really tough" at the moment. On Mumsnet's popular 'Am I Being Unreasonable' (AIBU) forum, with a post titled "[AIBU] To ask my 18 year old for board", the mum wrote: "He earns 8-900 pounds a month and I've suggested he gives me £80 a [month].

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"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.

"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. One, calling herself ssd, 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."

But Fairgame84 disagreed: "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."

PonyPatter44 added: "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." Abba123 quipped: "Welcome to the real world little boy."

TidyDancer summed it up in this way: "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 far enough if you're in a difficult position."

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