What would it take for you to let your little sister stay in your spare room, with your family, while she studied?

For one Reddit user, it’s $500 (£383), help with chores and two Saturday night babysitting shifts a month, all of which was written into an unofficial contract to avoid any confusion. 

Since her sister would have been paying $1,200 (£918) a month to live in a shared room on campus, this seemed like a pretty sweet deal.

But, while this setup has worked perfectly for the last two years, her little sister recently got a boyfriend and no longer wants to sacrifice two Saturdays a month to look after her sister’s children.

In response, the Redditor said it was her little sister’s responsibility to pay for her kid’s childcare since she now refuses to do it. 

A fair exchange? Her sister thinks otherwise. 

‘Now she is complaining that with her paying the sitter it is using up all of her disposable income,’ wrote the older sister on Reddit’s Am I The Asshole thread. 

‘She said she may as well stay on campus next year. I agreed and told her that was a great idea – she gets her freedom and I get my hobby room back.’

Unfortunately, the two sisters’ mother got involved and said the older sister was being unfair.

‘My mom called me and said that my sister wasn’t my unpaid nanny,’ she wrote. 

‘I told her that I had already agreed that she could live on campus next semester. 

‘Then she said I was being a bitch because that would increase the amount they are paying for her and that four months away from her job and boyfriend was cruel.’

Following the phone call with her mum, she was unsure whether or not she was right for asking her little sister to fund the babysitter, even though she felt like she was losing out on money.

Commenters were torn.

The top comment said that her sister isn’t an unpaid nanny, as she’s being paid in a subsidised room and board. 

‘Having to babysit every other Saturday night is not unreasonable,’ they wrote.

‘If your sister worked elsewhere she might have to work evenings and weekends as well.’

Another Redditor agreed: ‘Two nights A MONTH IS NOT A BIG DEAL, and she is only paying $500 including the water, electricity etc. Also her sister agreed to this in the first place.’

Another commenter suggested that it was actually the parents who were in the wrong. 

‘Let’s remember that neither sister not parents are entitled to the use of OP’s [original poster’s] home,’ they wrote.

‘This was a deal sister thought was OK for two years because she had no BF, so didn’t value her Sat nights. Now Sat nights are fun time with BF, so she values it highly.’

They said that no one is forcing anyone to do anything, but if the younger sister does decide to move out, her parents will have to pay more. 

‘Parents are trying to force OP to take a different deal, and that’s not OK,’ they continued. 

‘The real issue is between parents and sister – parents don’t want to pay more for sister. Except for whatever reason, the parents would rather push the burden on OP, which is crazy.’

However, others said that OP was exploiting her little sister.

‘OP got a stay-in cleaner and sitter while being paid $500 a month… My mom paid for that when I was young,’ said one person. 

‘As I see it, OP had the real deal here.

‘I don’t know about your relationship, but if it was my sister she would not be paying rent, only for food, electricity and such I would take some money that could be refunded by doing extra chores or watching kids. Your deal seems kinda exploiting.’

Another agreed: ‘It sounds like you have a maid and a babysitter paying you $500/month to live with you. 

‘You are quick to compare her rent to what she would pay on campus (not even off campus with three roommates or something). 

‘If she charged you hourly for childcare, not to mention the cooking, you’d owe her at least $25k in wages, maybe more depending on how many kids you have and what the rates are in your area. 

‘You’re being cheap and taking advantage of her.

‘You take what you pay the babysitter you hired per hour and multiply it by the number of hours your sister works for you, deduct the $500, and that might be fair.’

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