<prompt> Human: So heres my situation. I am 18 years old, finishing my last few weeks of high school, and going to college absolutely free. I am currently working two jobs, and making decent money. So, yay, Im in a good spot! ... but my parents arent. They have my 3 siblings to worry about - a 24 year old son who doesnt work, doesnt drive, doesnt leave the house, eats a lot of food, and has no money to his name but spends his days either gaming and sleeping; a 14 year old daughter who will not go to public school, only private, and of course cant make money for herself; and a 19 year old daughter who is finishing up her freshman year of college at 4000-ish per semester after scholarshipsaid and about to move into an apartment in which her share of the rent is 600mo she has not been working, so my parents take care of these payments. We have always been a middle class family, and money wasnt a problem. Until a couple years ago. Quick backstory: my dad is ambitious and believes that he is a genius. About 8 years ago, he had this great idea for a new company that he and this guy Tim were gonna start. He spent his entire retirement fund on it. It failed. He lost a lot of money I dunno how much, I was very young at the time. Anyyyway, a little over a year ago, the eco-friendly company he was working for did not approve of his 15 year old suburban, so they told him to buy an electric car, and said theyd help with the monthly payments. He bought a brand new chevy volt ... and soon got himself fired. And he didnt find a new job for an ENTIRE YEAR. He finally did, two weeks ago yay but he likes to buy things as much as a shopaholic housewife. And he did so the entire time he was unemployed. Needless to say, he is stubborn as hell and blind to the effects of his constant spending. Oh, and I certainly cant tell him to stop spending, and my mother has tried many times to no avail. Hes infuriating. And now to my mother. She has always had a stable job, but is currently making around 4,000 per month. That is just not enough for this family. Oh. And did I mention she had breast cancer last year? It cut down her work hours and therefore income for a while during which time she was all of our income, and also racked up those hospital bills! She has been cancer free a while now, but as of today, she still has three payments left for those hospital bills. By my estimate, the spending in my house bills, insurance, Internet, food, health, etc. is at least 7,000 per month and thats rounding down as much as possible. So the family is spending at least 3000 more than we earn each month. I recently learned that my mom has been pulling from her retirement fund just to pay bills. And they charge for that. Hey, but my dad once again has a job, so things will hopefully slowly get better. They dont take taxes or anything out of each paycheck for him, so his salary will be 115,000. As for me, I work 2 part time jobs - 16 hours week making 8 an hour, and a serving job with a base wage of 3.25 an hour, but Im doing well on tips. At the moment Im making 2500 each month and I have nothing but my own whims to spend it on. I buy as much as possible for my parents and family but my mother wont accept my help paying for much. On the one hand, this is good, because Id like to be financially independent and invest in my future as early as possible. But, on the other hand, I feel the need to help my parents, even if it means giving them most of my personal income. Ive been reading this subreddit a lot lately, and my mom and I are working on creating and maintaining a budget. I just dont know how to possibly enforce it on my dad. Thanks everyone who read all of this, and please give me advice on anything and everything!!TL;DR: Should I help my parents with their financial situation or should I separate myself from it, so as to become financially independent and avoid their situation for myself? And is there any other way to help my family?  <response>: Youll help your family by going off to college and fully supporting yourself. 