Thing 2 volunteered in our county at the VFD and also lived there, so he saved a LOT of money working for for first Calvert Co Gov't and then for PGFD. He's paid off 4 vehicles: the 1st one was paid back to me, because I loaned him the $800. to buy it. His next car was financed & I co-signed for him. I told him from the beginning if he was late ONE TIME, it became MINE. He paid all the insurance on the car, gas, etc. A couple of years later, he paid that car off and got a Silverado (used), which was a 2nd vehicle. He has since paid off the truck, and traded the old car for a newer car that he drives back & forth to PG Co to work. In July, he bought his first home at 28.
I helped him out in the beginning by helping him get started with that money to buy the first car. But he never came to me to borrow money or to buy anything. He lived in the house for 6 months when he went to the Criminal Justice Academy after he was hired by the Corrections Dept. I didn't charge him rent, but he did buy all his own food, and a lot of times when he went to the store, he would buy groceries for the house, too.
A couple of years later, when he got accepted into PGFD, he also moved back into his room here in the house to attend their academy. THAT time, the agreement was that he would pay a certain amount of money equal to about 6-7 months rent when I decided to replace the carpeting in the house. So, that's what he did. Both of those times, the expectations were very specifically spelled out and there were boundaries set.