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Autistic adult child wracking up huge mobile phone bills

NAS91077

Hi, have just joined the group as looking for some advice. My step-son who is autistic is almost 22 and lives at home with me and his mum (my wife). He is wracking literally hundreds of pounds every month on his mobile phone (we don't know on what exactly, but suspect downloading games but it could be other stuff). He refuses to put the contract into his mums name so she can monitor usage and restrict purchases. He has a full time job so it comes out of his wage, but that's not really the point. We don't know how to manage. Does anyone have any suggestions? 

Parents

  • I agree with the above that financial education is the answer. 

    The moneysavingexpert website has some useful resources on financial education. You can download a free textbook which is now used in schools, containing the kind of things we all should have been taught at school but weren't.

    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/financial-education/

    You could use this to help teach about budgeting and monitoring actual spend against budget on a monthly basis. How much does he want and can afford to spend each month? I assume that answer isn't £700, so the reasons for the difference between actual spend and budgeted can be explored. It will probably help if you treat the mobile spend like any other expense and not make that the whole focus of the exercise.

    The resources should also help him understand the consequences of late payments and debt and how that might cause future problems in life. How can he understand the consequences of spending if he has not been taught these things.

Reply

  • I agree with the above that financial education is the answer. 

    The moneysavingexpert website has some useful resources on financial education. You can download a free textbook which is now used in schools, containing the kind of things we all should have been taught at school but weren't.

    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/financial-education/

    You could use this to help teach about budgeting and monitoring actual spend against budget on a monthly basis. How much does he want and can afford to spend each month? I assume that answer isn't £700, so the reasons for the difference between actual spend and budgeted can be explored. It will probably help if you treat the mobile spend like any other expense and not make that the whole focus of the exercise.

    The resources should also help him understand the consequences of late payments and debt and how that might cause future problems in life. How can he understand the consequences of spending if he has not been taught these things.

Children
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