Our college DD uses our Netflix and Hulu (legally), and shares the Prime that DH and I have. I can’t imagine not using Amazon only a time or two a year! DH does most of his Christmas shopping on it, I send stuff to DD all the time-in the last couple of weeks-a necklace, dress, curlers, and several textbooks at the start of the semester )WAY cheaper than other book sources). We have a grandfathered cell plan so DD is on that too.
My ex kept our DD on is insurance till she aged out, and on his cell plan until he started using it like a club (I pay, you call/answer when I say so). She got her own phone and a new number and controls her own calls, being 27 and all.
My kids are on a shared cell phone plan with me – but everyone pays their own way. Because I am the base user I pay a little bit more, but no more than I would pay if it were me alone. I handle the payments, but AT&T lets us break up payments and apply each to a different credit card – so all I have to do is log in and allocate among the cards on file with our account. My son has been off and on my plan over the years – he had is own plan for years, but I invited him back on the ours about 4 years ago when he split up from his ex-wife, and obviously couldn’t continue sharing with her. Daughter is married now, but her husband gets his phone supplied by his employer.
Son also has access to my Netflix account – daughter has never asked. I think we all have our own respective Amazon prime accounts. I just looked at Netflix has changed the way the account works, so it looks like if I wanted I could downgrade to a plan that would only allow viewing on one screen at a time and save $2 a month… but that’s silly. (It wasn’t that way before – way back when I had simply signed up for the cheapest streaming plan they offered, and then more recently they bumped up the price).
I also am sharing a Microsoft Office 365 subscription with son & his girlfriend. (The basic plan they sell allows 5 users).
In other words… we share stuff but at this point nothing that costs me anything more out of pocket.
Our older son (28) doesn’t use anything. Younger son (25) is on our cell plan, uses Amazon Prime and has access to Netlflix and maybe the other stuff. We had HBO breifly and he used it. Also Hulu plus. I think he’s still on our insurance, but assuming he makes it through OCS we’ll probably take him off. And yes I think we might share office and Norton anti-virus with him too as we could cover five computers.
My D is a HS senior, just turned 18. She has paid for her own cellphone since she was 15 (she has an iPhone that she bought, I just have a GoPhone). She’s also paid the difference in cost of my car insurance since she began driving and was added to the policy (when she was 16). She works a lot during summers and school breaks and is good at budgeting to cover these expenses all year.
Youngest is on my cell plan because it’s cheaper. She set up a automatic payment from her credit union to our checking account because I felt cheap asking her for a check each month but didn’t want to just pay for her phone when I wasn’t paying for sister’s. She also has one of our credit cards for emergency use and charging tickets home. It’s one we have had forever, and she became an authorized user many years ago, so her credit history includes an account as old as she is…with never a missed payment. She feels rather guilty about this, since it gives her an advantage in her credit score that others her age don’t have.
Edited to correct Apple’s wonderful “autocorrections”
Yes, please use AmazonSmile! It’s so great for charities. I donate to a local shelter and they get a few hundred here and there from Smile- a HUGE difference to a tiny rescue.
Also consider the Amazon Prime card- 5% cash back on all amazon purchases. I put all my amazon purchases on there and just pay it off weekly.
ETA: Just to be clear, my original “leech” comment was made in jest since some talk about adult children leeching off them. I am in a much more stable financial position than my parents and am happy to pay for these things to make their lives easier.
I agree–our tiny nonprofit was encouraged by S to set up an AmazonSmile account because he spent so much on Amazon. We’ve received some donations through it–small but it all helps.
Amazon Prime - tied to my Amazon credit card for authorized purchases - mostly textbook rentals
NetFlix
AAA
Cell phone - family plan with discount from dad’s employer (my mother also on our cell phone plan)
Car Insurance
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Musical Instrument Insurance
Dorm/Renters Insurance
Credit it card with her dad for food/gas/misc
Medical Credit card (pre paid) for deductibles
I share a cell plan with my younger daughter. I pay the bill and we use her employer discount. Although five minutes ago I received an email confirmation of a payment- she got a bonus at work today and passed part of it on to me by paying the bill.