For those of you with older kids at home, what do you do regarding dig money?
I’ve got an 18 year old and the agreement was that as long as he pitches in around the house (bins are his responsibility - emptying into the wheelie bins and putting out whichever one it is that week) and attends his college course then he can keep his money. He’s at college 2.5 days a week and then work for the rest, clearing around £900 a month.
The issue is he is always fucking “forgetting” to put the bins out. Even when I’ve bought him a fucking echo so he can set up reminders etc.
There’s myself, my wife and the 5 kids (10-18) so there’s a fuckton of rubbish. Missing it even once causes massive ballache. Thing is, he’s always forgetting.
Came to a head this morning because, once again, he forgot. This is after messaging me last night 15 minutes before he was due home asking to have someone stay, so I changed all my plans to accommodate. And the shit didn’t put the bins out again.
I feel like I’m going round in circles with him and it’s beginning to really affect me. Stressing to fuck over bins, what even is that!
Only thing I can think of is to start charging him dig money now. I’m sick bending over backwards for him not to pitch in with this one thing.
Does that seem reasonable? Or am I being a crabit bastard? What amounts are people taking from their weans etc here? Was thinking £100 since I easily spend more than that on keeping the lazy shit each month.
Edit to add - Dig Money meaning money he pays towards household expenses :)
Aye that’s my thinking at least. It’s been going on for ages as well, and no matter what I do or say it’s just not getting through.
I’m trying to set him up to be able to cope on his own and if he can’t (or worse, won’t) engage and start pitching in with such a small ask then he’s gonna be fucked when he’s trying to stay afloat on his own.
There has to be a consequence to forgetting it, otherwise he won’t care. Teen have gotten stern takings to so often it doesn’t feel like much of a consequence. Charge him £5 every time he forgets?
This is it, you might feel bad or like you’re being harsh (and he probably will too, because being a kid and not having to think about bins is brilliant), but it’s ultimately for his own good so he doesn’t end up one of these “I had a roommate who didn’t even know how the washing machine worked” stories in a couple of years time.