Mom of 3 explains why she’s charging her kids for rent, food and utilities

A savvy mom of three has revealed that she charges her three kids for rent, food and utilities.

Milly, a UK-based mom who runs the TikTok channel budgetwithmilly, detailed her unique approach to personal finances in a video shared on the platform.

Read more: Best Savings Accounts for Kids and Teens

Personal finance is one of those issues every parent should be talking to their children about at some stage. Unfortunately, the reality is that many are simply not.

In 2022, a CNBC + Acorns Invest survey of 1,149 parents found that just 15 percent of moms and dads polled said they spoke with their children more than once a week about household finances.

They found 13 percent of these respondents talked about money with their kids once a week and 16 percent did so once a month.

Read more: How a Personal Finance Expert Teaches Her Kids About Money

A further 24 percent, meanwhile, admitted they discussed financial matters less often than that while, an astonishing 31 percent admitted to never having these kinds of conversations with their children.

Milly told Newsweek her mom never taught her or her two siblings anything about money. “My mom didn’t know anything about finances and money,” Milly said. “She was in debt, lost her job, and we also have been homeless living in a bed and breakfast and much more.”

Milly taught herself everything she knows about finances and was determined to pass on that knowledge to her kids, Stiffany, Hannah and Jordan, who are aged between 8 and 12. “I didn’t want my kids to go through what my siblings and I did with our mom,” she said.

Read more: Best Checking Accounts for Teens

That’s where the idea for charging from their allowance for rent, bills and utilities came from. “We wanted to give them an understanding about paying bills, and this is why we charge them for rent, food and utilities a pound each, from their £5 allowance they get each week, for doing chores around the house,” Milly said.

Milly is a keen advocate for making your money work for you. “My one piece of advice for someone to better themselves with money would be to learn how to earn, use and multiply money,” she said.

That’s something she has sought to instill in her kids. While charging them for rent, food and utilities helps them understand the importance of financial planning and value of money, Milly is constantly seeking ways to extend their financial education further.

“We also want to give them an understanding of how to use the rest of their money towards investing, savings and spending,” she said.

As a parent of three, she sees this as her duty and something that, without her intervention, would be lacking from their lives once they reach adulthood.

“The school system doesn’t teach kids about the real world with money and finances,” she said. “This leads to young adults in the future to struggle and live paycheck to paycheck and be in high amounts of debt.”

Her decision to have her kids pay bills from an early age has not been without its critics on social media. Commenting on the TikTok video outlining her approach, one critic said: “Right so you choose to have a kid and then charge them rent when they are under 18” with another asking: “What do you do if they don’t pay it? “

Some, however, were all in favor. “This is amazing,” one said. “Your kids will understand prioritizing bills before luxuries when they are older.”

Milly hopes her video spreads awareness of the positive ways parents can set up their children for the future. “I do believe our kids have benefited from this, as this will help them in the future and not be afraid to handle money and their day-to-day bills, not be in debt and be able to handle their finances,” she said .

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