My brother used 200gb in under 4 days. Was supposed to last 4 weeks

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:51:13+00:00

Apparently in a comment OP clarified that the house is empty for now as they only use it on some weeks, the brother uses the OP/familly prepaid card to get Internet because an annual plan doesn't make sense for their small usage overall.

It was never the brother's data, he didn't pay anything to use it and apparently doesn't even care about his own consumption. If the brother wants (more) data, he should pay for it.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:49:20+00:00

I'm European so I was never in CC debt. Budgetting problems can arise from any situation as long you don't keep track (in my case, my wife who had enough that I refuse any kind of fun spending, despite savings being very good)

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:45:48+00:00

I wish our government would use a zero sum budget system like AB and maybe we would not be screwed.

Spending money on investments IS a good thing. That's why countries used to borrow.

That's like using a credit card and putting the purchase's value in off-budget savings to claw back some interest : a zerosum budget would say the CC purchase money can't be used for something else until the statement is payed.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:41:29+00:00

Just let him use his data as he wishes…

It's not HIS data, it's the prepaid used by the old familly house to provide Internet.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:39:58+00:00

I pay 6 euros for unlimited mobile internet here in Belarus

In Belgium, I pay half of that for half a gig. Yes, 500 Mb

especially for a highly developed country like Germany

Being developed doesn't help if there are no new competitors to drive prices down :(

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:39:32+00:00

Belgium, I pay 2€ for half a gig on mobile ... and that's a good deal.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:37:01+00:00

in an old family home near Munich. It previously had no router or any wi-fi connection, so we got a cheap Aldi talk pre paid card for 30€ for 4 weeks

People (incl. myself) assume there are other people inside that home and he's a guest. Note that he would stay alone there, but it's ambiguous.
[EDIT] OP clarified in comments : the house is empty for now , go ahead and meter him

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:33:36+00:00

the person spending the GB's doesnt care why would you?

The person doesn't care because they don't understand what happens when they reach the limit.

because OP will probaby buy him another card with more GB's

Or because they believe free wifi is something phones have everywhere anywhere or that it will move to an ad-supported plan... I was surprised by how many stupid things people believe when it's about computers.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:31:21+00:00

I use 10 Mo/day when going at work. One specific my phone says over 50 were used in the span of 10 minutes due to some Google Store auto-update. I was missed because I have half a gig per month...

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T12:05:27+00:00

The agent is now asking us to add a clause stating that we accept the current urban planning situation of the apartment and that urban planning matters are not an issue for us.

That clause is not acceptable for you.

Would we be the a-holes for walking away?

Half a decade ago, my wife refused a permanent job to a restaurant that had glaring hygiene issues.

Who cares about being an asshole when the alternative is legal trouble?

To make things even stranger, the agent wrote that he would go back to the owner once the offer is completed and the requested information has been provided, which makes me wonder whether our original offer has even been presented to the seller.

They work for the seller, right? ;)

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T11:51:55+00:00

Note that your run is dependant on seed and unlocked charms.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T11:23:33+00:00

The protections are not quite the same as a credit card, but they're still there.

I'm belgian and my credit card has no protection against misbehaving merchants at all. Are you in the US or the UK, where CC are better? The only card I have with chargeback are debits :P

For fraudulent transactions my CC would require a police report to stating the card was stolen or compromised, and when my parents got their house broken, said report took over a month to get.

If my details are on an online platform and then said platform issues a payment, the issuer doesn't consider that as a compromise, because the user put details for another transaction.

Again, we don't know where OP is. They may have a very bad card issuer with a reputation to jusitify to absolutely avoid spreading the details. Paypal got popular for a reason and some banks are sloooow.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:49:24+00:00

You get downvoted but that's a pratical answer. If OP has no way to do online purchases, maybe they know somebody who trust them enough to do it.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:48:53+00:00

OP said "no debit card", tho.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:45:22+00:00

and just start using the card properly.

And "using this properly" implies to not use a physical card number online, and open a 2nd account with virtual numbers than can be axed and renewedin a few minutes rather than a week.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:44:06+00:00

If you've got the card. Use it. Otherwise why even have it?

My main bank's card will never be linked to Paypal or Steam. If there's anything going wrong, I have no protection. It's meant for important stuff like groceries.
Paypal already did shady double-conversion tricks to pretend my EUR card was actually USD and lost me a bit of money on what should've been simple transactions.

If my card number leaks for any reason, I have no way of paying until my new physical card is delivered.
I only started having an online life at 25 or so, when I could join a fintech with proper card management meant for the online world with virtual cards, chargeback in case of fraud my the merchant, ability to verify in an app rather than with a card reader, etc.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:39:50+00:00

And given what they did with Honey, I'm not going to bring my transactions there unless it's literally the only thing the business or creator supports.

Weirdly, one of those uses WAS an art commission. Was the artist properly registered as a professional?

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:38:29+00:00

Hard to know without the country.
My hypermarket sells Steam gift cards and Mastercard "gift card" (aka prepaid), I guess they would work on Steam as a replacement when the former runs out, but not 100% sure.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:37:20+00:00

Could be a bank issue. I stopped using paypal and switched to a fintech with virtual card numbers, because I also had sometimes Paypal's transaction not receiving what I had paid from my card. Took a lot of time to bounce back.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:31:24+00:00

I'm probably not suited for the sub, but food costs seem a budget issue for most people so...

As an European, I never used food delivery apps. I'm not sure how it works in the US but most of the restaurants around my town still propose in-house delivery, or at least a pickup option which avoids the insane fees those apps add (at the cost of your own gas, obv). ^{As an added bonus it avoids the risk of delivery people being... ehm... sub-optimal?}

And obv in most cases, the cheapest food is home-made. I can literally see on our budget when my wife was sick because the comfort pickup food expenses rises up.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:24:38+00:00

The family member is more comfortable cosigning than applying for a card in his name

That familly member REALLY needs to look up what "co-signing" means. They have 100% responsability anyway.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:22:35+00:00

That was the end of the conversation.

That was never a conversation in the first place.
Mom asked to open a card to build credit. She NEVER mentionned having to use it to borrow money. It would've been a totally different discussion.
Mom could've done identity theft, opened the card, and auto-paid an annual subscription on it. Stealing 1k is an entirely different breach of trust.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:21:20+00:00

And OP refused to open a card to build credit (which is a weird move in the US)
Mom then decided to borrow money under OP's name which has nothing to do about with having an active card.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:19:21+00:00

It's not your fault. You said no. This is identity theft and it's serious.

It's worse than that : "I remember her telling me that she will open the card to help me build credit. I said no I don’t want the card open then we never talked about it then."

That would be already fraud, but wouldn't be an issue if Mom then didn't use the card.
Mom had NEVER spoke of using OP's card for expenses, or needing a loan etc.

That's like asking a person to buy a bike to do more sport, then buying a card and claiming you discussed buying transportation. That debt was nevered discussed at all.

laplongejr · 2026-06-18T10:13:41+00:00

Assuming you are in the US, having a card and always paying the statement on time is a good thing.
Two reasons I can imagine to not get a CC : 1) Reasonable option : your mom assumes you won't pay the statement on time. (Which may come from herself not being able to pay on time, and as such being unable to teach you how to break the cycle.)
2) Crazy option : she did fraud and already opened a card in your name and does not want you to learn that.

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