Mom asks Reddit users for advice on son’s $15K debt​on March 23, 2025 at 6:56 pm

One mom’s stance on her son’s sky-high credit card bill has generated great interest.

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The mom, whose identity is unknown, set off fierce debate on the Reddit community after refusing to bail her 20-year-old son out of $15,000 in credit card debt.

She said her son has a decent job but has accumulated his debt through excessive spending on designer clothing, dining out and weekend getaways.

Despite the high-rolling lifestyle choices, the son has reached out to his mom for help, and not for the first time, she said, adding her son has previously brought smaller financial issues to her to solve.

Per a people.com report, the mom said she previously covered her son’s rent and handled unexpected car repairs.

“Every time,” she said, “he swears it’ll be the last time and that he’ll get his act together with budgeting, but that never happens.”

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That cycle of dependency has led her to question if continuing to help her son financially is actually beneficial to him. By continuing to rescue him, the mom reasoned, she fears he’ll never learn to manage his finances effectively.

“I love my son to death and want him to do well, but I’m scared that if I keep rescuing him, he’ll never learn to handle his finances,” she said.

The mom said dishing out $15,000 of her own money would require dipping into her retirement savings, which she had been accumulating for years.

She said she also struggles with family expectations and personal guilt. Her parents always emphasized the importance of helping children in need, including her when she was younger.

“My parents bailed me out when I was younger, so my son could see my refusal as hypocritical, like I’m not giving him the same support I got,” she wrote. “It makes me feel like I should step up for him, too, but I’m starting to think that might just enable him more.”

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The mom said she understands that, by refusing to help, her son could face major financial consequences such as damaged credit and even bankruptcy.

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Additionally, her decision could hurt their relationship.

She has asked Reddit users for their thoughts, of which they have a few.

“Absolutely do not extract your retirement savings for this. Instead, sit with him, and ask him to sit down with you to figure out the problem,” one person wrote.

“He needs to go to the bank and consolidate his debt into a personal loan. Make him pay it off, with bank interest (but lower than credit card interest would be), so he actually starts to learn to live within his means,” another wrote.

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