Mom Rejecting Pregnant Daughter's Plea To Use College Fund for House Backed

A Reddit post from a frustrated pregnant mother with four children has gone viral, getting over 18,000 likes. In the post, the woman explains that she and her husband "started adding to college funds every month for each of our kids pretty much as soon as we found out we were pregnant. I won't say the exact amount but my husband has an excellent job so it's more than most."

The college funds were kept hidden from the children as "it didn't feel necessary." However, now one of the children is preparing for college, the secret is out. The mother described how another daughter got pregnant at 16 and now has two children, with another on the way. "They are engaged but don't plan to marry until they can afford it." On finding out about the college fund, "she got really excited and went to call her fiancé and tell him the good news. I was confused and told her she couldn't have the money, she asked why and I said it's for school. She got upset and left my house."

Weddings can be expensive affairs. The Knot reported that the average wedding in the U.S in 2019 was £28,000, with the venue hire being the most expensive part is the venue, costing an average of $10,000 alone.

The mother's plan was to just split the remaining money between the other siblings as they may go to college. She describes how in a phone call, the daughter was "crying and begging me to let her have the funds so she could finally afford a down payment and maybe even a wedding. I told her she could have the money if she went back to school and whatever money was left over she could use for whatever she wanted. She got super mad and started yelling at me and saying it's her money. I told her that it was MY money and those were my conditions and she hung up. Now we are being harassed by her fiancés family (they aren't as fortunate as us) calling us assholes and a lot of other names. Saying it's all gonna go to waste if she doesn't use it, were setting her up for failure, etc.."

Speaking to Newsweek, Zoe Burke, editor of Hitched.com (part of The Knot Worldwide portfolio) told us how to create your perfect wedding on a small budget.

Burke said that the venue is undoubtedly the most expensive part of the wedding. To reduce the costs, she suggested: "You could look outside of the typical peak wedding season (May-September), as costs are often cheaper in the winter months. You could also look at a weekday wedding to further reduce your costs."

Burke's top three tips for creating a stunning wedding on a budget are:

• Be harsh with your guest list – Once you know who is coming you can look at a wedding package you can afford. You can always invite people to the evening do.
• Don't feel beholden to tradition - If you're all about the food but you couldn't care less about the decor, then don't waste money on centerpieces when you can spend it on food.
• Don't go overboard with your wedding party – don't feel like you have to have a million bridesmaids if you're trying to keep things on a budget, they can still do readings and toasts etc, but you'll free yourself from the costs of bridesmaids dresses, gifts etc.

She said: "A wedding is an event that celebrates formalizing your relationship, and you can tailor it to suit the two of you to a tee!"

Back on Reddit, opinions were near-unanimous. User Timeless Beauty wrote: "The part that boggles me is they can't afford to get married, but can afford to have another kid."

User saurons-cataract commented: "Yeah, using her fund for a one day event isn't smart. A home I could understand once they were financially stable, but not a wedding."

Zealiida said: "Also. They are making babies they obviously don't have money for (love is not enough) - and their priorities if they get the money is to spend it on the wedding day? Wow."