“You’re a Tenant Now”: Mom’s Sudden Rule Change Leaves This College Student Frustrated

A college student thought he had a pretty solid deal lined up—until the fine print started changing mid-semester. Now, the Redditor is wondering if he’s in the wrong for wanting to focus on school instead of squeezing in a part-time job.

Before starting college, the OP’s mom promised to cover tuition, housing, food, and books—as long as he maintained a B average. Coming from a very academic family, it felt like a tradition being passed down, so he happily agreed.

The Redditor chose to live at home and commute, keeping his costs low while still holding up his end of the bargain. He even worked summers and managed his own car expenses, all while earning top grades at community college.

But things took a turn during his first semester when his mom suddenly stopped covering books and food. Still, he pushed through, eventually graduating with honors and continuing to work during school breaks.

By his junior year at a state university, new rules appeared—he now had to complete four hours of work weekly, either through chores or a job. The OP chose chores, but says the system quickly became inconsistent and frustrating.

He claims his mom started deleting logged chores and limiting opportunities to meet the required hours. Then came a new ultimatum: get a job or pay $200 a month in rent.

With a modest yearly income and existing expenses, the Redditor says the demand feels overwhelming—and a little demeaning. Now labeled a “tenant” in his own home, he’s left asking if prioritizing his education makes him the bad guy.

Before starting college, the OP’s mom promised to cover tuition, housing, food, and books—as long as he maintained a B average.

AI-generated image

Here's the original post by a since deleted Reddit user.

Before I (20M) entered college, my mother (52F) set the stage that if I went to a state college, that she would cover tuition, housing, books and food, as long as I kept my grades over a 3.0 / B average. My mother's side of the family is very academic, and so this seemed to be "carrying the favor along" as that is what my grandparents did for her. With that being said, I'm pretty shy so I opted to stay at home and commute. As far as transport goes, I am responsible for diagnosing / fixing my car, along with paying for gas and insurance.Every summer, I work full time for 8 weeks as a summer camp counselor. I've been careful with my money ie investing and budgeting. In my first semester of college, I went to a CC and I started working part time. My grades were all A's, and then my mom told me she wouldn't be covering books or food anymore. During my second semester of college, I was promoted to manager, and I ended up working 40 hour weeks, this was too much, so I quit as I really value my education more. I really feel that this experience turned me off as far as working during school goes, as it distracted me from my studies. The other two semesters at the CC went fine, and I graduated with honors. Again, I worked full time at the summer camp. Fast forward to my last semester (junior year at the local state university), she told me that I needed to start working 4 hours a week, or do 4 hours of chores a week (the idea is based on the fact that she worked 4 hours a week as a babysitter in college).I believe that this is fair, so I opted to do chores. She set up an excel file where I submit everything I do and how long it takes. She only partially paid for this semester, and she still owes me $1,000. So now, during this current semester, it's only gotten worse. She has been deleting entries into the work tracker. She also stopped giving me enough opportunities to meet her "4 hours", and I told her that it's impossible to meet her requirements, so in response she told me that I need to get a part time job or I need to pay her $200 a month for rent. I told my mom that it's basically impossible to get a job for 4 hours a week, but she doesn't care. She doesn't need the money, and she's only doing it to be hard on me. I only make about $4,000 a year, so $2,400 a year is a lot. I also pay her $1,400 a year for car insurance alone. I have a bit of savings from investing and prior work, so I'm overall OK, but I have found this to be really demeaning. She's also been calling me a "tenant" and telling me that I'm on "tenant status". Last month, she told me that I could do $100 a month, but that lasted 3 weeks, and two days ago she came and demanded $200 from me. All of the "rules" that she makes are wishy washy and she can't stay consistent, she's even still been expecting me to do chores along with paying her. I've paid her rent at least 3x. The rest of my family is nice to me.AITAH because I don't want to work part time in college?

Let's see how the Reddit community reacted.

ashmaht

NTA.

GalacticPillow231

Sounds like your mom wants you out.

Swirlyflurry

You could easily do Uber or Doordash.

Comfortable-Rip-2549

This is not what you agreed to.

Odd-Smile3013

She could make you get out and pay for it all yourself.

InsuranceUnable5758

What is this really about?

procrastinatorgirl

She wants you to move out.

feetflatontheground

She will regret this in a few years.

Daemonxar

She's trying to push you out.

Thatonecrazywolf

Time to make a hasty exit.

Pladohs_Ghost

If you don't like it, move out.

Human-Musician-8363

ESH.

angelerulastiel

YTA.

Happily-single

At the end of the day, the OP isn’t questioning responsibility—he’s questioning consistency. And when the rules keep changing, it’s no surprise he’s left wondering if this was ever really about helping him succeed in the first place.