Can't be bothered to cook for son

[palmtreesands]

We only have limited fridge and freezer space so him buying his own shopping is not an option.
Dh eats at work and I like to take a massive salad to work among other things and pick so don't eat again in the evening.
Ds comes home from work expecting a home cooked dinner and I find it such a headache, if I haven't cooked or we've eaten I out as we sometimes do he expects their to be ingredients to make himself something to eat.... their often isn't and I am racing up the shop to buy him something to make but as I said food has to be included in his monthly contribution otherwise he'll come back with shopping that we don't have room for.
Aibu to let this stress me out so much, I'm hot and bothered and don't want the headache of feeding him but he pays £400 a month to live here so expects there to be food to eat and I can't be bothered with the hassle of always making sure there's something in when we don't have family meals.

It's been a minimum of 24° here for ages

Where are you that it's so hot you can't cook?

Yup - 24-28 here for ages

nowhere to store it

This is like a Fawlty Towers sketch.

I'm amazed that some parents stop caring for their children when they are adults. You dont want him to shop for food and you can't be bothered. There should be food in for him to cook, after all there is food in for you to make your work lunch. Be kind

@Nanny0gg well I asked where she was, I'm in the middle of the country and the temp has mostly been around 20C, it's going up to 24C today but today hasn't been typical, it's warming up this week. Even then, it's not a heatwave, it's summer.

In this heat??? It's 20 degrees!!!

So you don't have fridge space for him to meal prep or buy his own food, but he wants home cooked meals? Sounds like you need to upgrade your fridge. You're taking £400 a month off him for what, exactly?

I like to take a massive salad to work among other things and pick so don't eat again in the evening.

This thread has got to be a wind-up surely 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Right so you eat the trademarked Mumsnet Massive Salad once a day and nothing else. Your husband never eats at home (he fasts every weekend, does he?) but fills the fridge with beer and snacks. There is miraculously just enough room for your Massive Salad (TM) ingredients but nothing else. Nobody eats breakfast.

I think cooking an evening meal is the least of your worries.

Don't worry Hun, you will soon get him so pissed off he will leave!

Buy him a small fridge of his own; he can provide and cook his own food. He's a grown up.

If she does this what is he supposed to eat as he isn't allowed to keep any food in the fridge or freezer

With the £400- is it half or a quarter allocated for food? Whichever it is then do an online shop for that amount to arrive on the Monday eve so he has the ingredients to make a meal for the week. It’s just about being organised which is hard when we are working etc…. but you need food in for him. Then he can sort his own meals out. My 17 year old sorts most of her meals out as she often isn’t interested in what I’m cooking.
if you can’t fit food in for one extra person for the week then you need to buy a small fridge, or a little box to store somewhere in kitchen or re organise the fridge with storage baskets in it.

I’m not sure how you can’t fit a weeks shopping for someone somewhere. Also can he not use up the meat you have in your freezer and then you can buy veg , potatoes and store in a basket under the table if you have to. Come on…..

@Wigtopia what exactly does this £400 include? No food or drink, can't use the fridge or freezer, not allowed to do laundry?

I was also thinking this. It’s 20 degrees, grey and raining where I am so feels colder. Hardly sweltering!

I also charge my working adult son £400 a month and half of MN was up in arms that I was charging my child anything.

It includes his food and he takes his share of cooking family meals along with myself, his dad and his sister.
It also includes laundry but he does his own sheets and towels and also puts the odd load of family laundry on (it doesn't really make sense for him just to do his own).

I would have said my arrangement was fairly normal for someone who is a family member living in the family home.

Much hotter than 20c where do you live @pearvines ? OP is pregnant as well! Why does her son sound pathetic?

Live on takeaways, obviously.

OP what will you do when your baby arrives, is weaned and needs a daily evening meal?

The fridge is apparently filled with his beer. If she tells him he (a working adult) is now responsible for his own food, I am sure he will be able to rejig the fridge to remove a few beers to store food. Beers do survive outside of a fridge.

Why are we assuming he (again, a working adult) is so incapable that he needs to have everything solved for him including how to make space in the fridge for food?

The baby will have to survive off the Very Big Salad and beer

Honestly you all just have to get your act together, there isn't another option is there? Buy a bigger fridge or a beer fridge. You can do it online and it will get delivered to your door, it'll take 5 mins to order it.

Once you have the fridge reduce your son's rent and tell him to do his own weekly shop. Or another option is schedule a delivery once a week, everyone has the password, you add your salad bits, he adds whatever he wants to eat for the week, it gets delivered to your door. Job done.

Much hotter than 20c where do you live @pearvines ? OP is pregnant as well! Why does her son sound pathetic?

Midlands, I've just been googling some historical weather data and couldn't find a single town in Kent or Cornwall that was over 23C last week. Although it was a spot check, think some people are exaggerating that it's been consistently hot. It hasn't been overly warm, it's been a nice mild week as most of August has been. But it's warmer today.

Well if I was the son I'd be taking out the beer out of the fridge, reducing the £400 monthly spend and buying some fresh food. If anything about this thread is real though I'm going to assume he wouldn't know what or how to cook.