How long do you pay your kids cell phone bills (and other things you pay for)?

[golfingtime]

Different from when we were kids and there were so few electronics and gadgets and costs associated.

My son moved back home after university 3.5 years ago. This is fine as he was finishing a few courses and needed to save money, look for a job and get his life in order. He is working (a good job) and generally a good kid and he did bring with him a dog, which I always wanted and prior my spouse refused to have. She's basically my responsibility now, so I'm happy.

My son is about to turn 27 and it hit me "I'm still paying for his cellphone".

The good news is he is more responsible and I no longer get those ridiculous bills where he went way over data and next thing you know it is $300-400 for the month and you have to try and deal with Bell/Rogers.....

I think my daughter took responsibility once she started her job at 23-24, but yesterday my son got his first car and was ordering a few things he needed for it (like a cellphone holder) and it dawned on me that maybe it is time to let him pay for it?

So how long did/have you footed the bill for things for your kids that they should be responsible for themselves?

[Albatross]

My kid is 11 and he pays for his phone with chores

[golfingtime]

My kid is 11 and he pays for his phone with chores

Good for you..... I think we indulge, my spouse often thinks differently and I don't win those arguments.....

[51Phantom]

time to cut the cord for sure

[golfingtime]

time to cut the cord for sure

More laughing at myself (and shaking my head) and will. Just an observation.

[Marty Canuck]

Don’t even get me started.

[Weirfan]

time to cut the cord for sure

Two schools of thought, don't think there is a right or wrong,

some parents promote independence and responsibility at a young age, whereas others might be more nurturing and want to help out more.

I can see still helping financially while the kids are going to University however, when they are at a stage in life when they can buy their own cars etc ....probably time to let go.

My kids are both in Uni and while they purchase their own physical phones, I/we still pay the cell bill , groceries , tuition , books etc but that will end once they are done and working. The bill is only $110/ month for two plans so not a killer. Now if they were racking up charges like $300-$400 a month....that would be a whole different story. I'm not sure how that even happens....mine know their data limits and get text alerts and me an email alert as they approach the max. Plus data gets turned off once they reach the monthly max.

[jaybee]

When I was younger as soon as I got a job I had to start covering certain things, and then obv as the job salary increased, so did what I had to cover. In some cases like car insurance if I wanted to drive, I would have to pay for half of it each month until I could obviously afford to pay all.

My parents set up auto withdraw payments coming out of my account to ensure I wouldnt miss anything, but I had to know that I was still paying for these things and how it would affect the amount in my account any given time that X amount would be withdrawn on the 14th and 30th of each month for various things.

[Ignatius Reilly]

Two things:

If he can afford to buy a car he can pay for his phone. He may not get the car or the phone he really wants but that's the point: learn to budget and figure out what is really worth it and what's only worth it if someone else is picking up the tab. He may have to defer getting a phone holder until it fits his budget. Until then, no phone while driving. I used to pay attention to style, horsepower, 0-60 in my dad's lame purchases. Once I was paying for my own cars, I looked at gas mileage and reliability first.

2) You didn't have a Bell/Rogers issue you had a "son" issue. Getting stuck with a big bill (which is part of the TOC you agreed to) is not their fault. It's your sons. As above, stick him with the $3-400 overage bill once and he's going to pay attention in the future. And if you don't.... since you referred to "bills" I assume it wasn't just once.

[Petedv]

Sounds like you have done a good job raising him so far but makes sense for him to start paying it going forward.

[SW20 MR2]

For me, I had a part time job towards the end of high school and thru university. I lived at home throughout school, and it paid for all my day to day expenses like gas, cell phone, eating out, etc. I used my parents' car in high school, and they bought me a used car in university. Even though I lived at home, I really tried to help out with things around the house and at my parents' business.

I have no problems supporting them if they are doing all of the right things. That is, have a job (don't care what), helping out around the house, not blowing most of their money on useless crap. That's not to say that they can't have hobbies, but if they're going drinking every weekend and blowing $100 a night, there's no way in hell I'm paying for a cell phone bill, insurance, etc.

For my kids, I think the answer will depend on the kid. My 13 year old son is very responsible in school, but not so much outside of school. He is also very impulsive. I could see him being the type where he will blow his money on stupid stuff. Meanwhile, my 10 year old can control his impulses, and I get the sense that he will be very frugal with his money in the future. I could foresee a situation where I may need to treat them differently just to teach a lesson.

[golfingtime]

For me, I had a part time job towards the end of high school and thru university. I lived at home throughout school, and it paid for all my day to day expenses like gas, cell phone, eating out, etc. I used my parents' car in high school, and they bought me a used car in university. Even though I lived at home, I really tried to help out with things around the house and at my parents' business.

I have no problems supporting them if they are doing all of the right things. That is, have a job (don't care what), helping out around the house, not blowing most of their money on useless crap. That's not to say that they can't have hobbies, but if they're going drinking every weekend and blowing $100 a night, there's no way in hell I'm paying for a cell phone bill, insurance, etc.

For my kids, I think the answer will depend on the kid. My 13 year old son is very responsible in school, but not so much outside of school. He is also very impulsive. I could see him being the type where he will blow his money on stupid stuff. Meanwhile, my 10 year old can control his impulses, and I get the sense that he will be very frugal with his money in the future. I could foresee a situation where I may need to treat them differently just to teach a lesson.

No easy answers & more I thought just an interesting thread to start.

Just told him and of course no argument and he will pay going forward.

[nearace]

I have bought and paid for cars,water heaters, daycare you name it ,gotta help the kids imo.

[Bern]

I'm just shaking my head at the thought of a 27-year-old still living at home. His life is passing him by.

[markoaleks]

Counter to the way I was raised which would be the plot to a bad movie -I and my wife made sure early in our marriage to maximize our 2 kids RESP savings and ensure when they hit Uni years , they were not saddled with any debt, school loans etc. Both of them completed school with no debt and both went away to school. Result is a CPA and a software engineer who are both on the road to success personally and professionally too.
Life is short and we wanted to make sure our lads were ready to hit the ground running proverbially when they finished university.
Also to not sweat the small stuff and also for them to responsible too- a delicate balance for sure!
Where we lucky with them or did we set an environment for them to succeed? That might be something for someone else to evaluate