WIBTA for not letting my stepdaughter spend £200 on a tiny leg for Roblox?

A Redditor and his fiancée are wrestling with a dilemma over their stepdaughter’s spending. She wants to use her savings to buy a coveted Roblox item—a virtual leg and some extras—for £200. Despite it being her own money, her parents worry that approving this might not teach her the best lesson about the value of money. They’re unsure if restricting her choice would make them controlling or if they’d be justified in drawing the line. Read the story below.

‘ WIBTA for not letting my stepdaughter spend £200 on a tiny leg for Roblox?’

I (m46) and my fiancée (f41) live with my son (18m) and stepdaughter (13f) in the UK. Both of our kids are bit spoiled, and get pretty much everything they want for birthdays etc. As a result, my stepdaughter has managed to save up £200 since Christmas – not because she’s not buying things she wants, but because she didn’t want anything.

She got very into reading, and we just bought her the books she wanted because we think it’s a great thing to encourage. She really likes Roblox, and has been trying to explain to us that there’s an offer on right now for £200 (approx $250) that would get her 22,500 Robux (the in-game currency) rather than the normal amount of 20,000.

This would also get her some special golden headphones (in the game, not in real life), and she would be able to buy this (apparently) super prestigious outfit called the Korblox Deathspeaker. It’s basically a way of showing off how much money you have in the game.

But she only wants the leg – the outfit has one tiny leg which other people would be really impressed with, so we’ve been told. I saw a Reddit post saying “Korblox is LITERALLY a toothpick for rich people to have on their leg.”

We’re stuck on what to do with this. On the one hand, it’s her money, she saved it up, and if she spends it on this then she won’t have any money left. And maybe she should have the autonomy to do that if she wants.

But on the other hand her pocket money would come in, so it’s not like I think she would feel any kind of impact from it. And it’s £200 for a tiny leg. I can’t even type this without feeling so ridiculously embarrassed to ask the question.

There are families who live on less than this a week. How can we talk about the value of money and approve of something like this? My fiancée and I are really aligned on this. So Reddit. Would we be the assholes if we told her she can’t buy this thing?

Here’s what the community had to contribute:

Jashuawashua −  This right here shows just how predatory that game is. a 13 year old asking to spend 250 bucks on some cosmetic items in a game for kids. I really dislike the whole let her learn her lesson mentality, you don’t need to hurt your children to teach them a message.

a proper explanation why this is bad should be enough. if you really feel bad let her do it but make it known that no more money will be spent on this game, this is “it”.

Comfortable-Gold-982 −  Have you as a parent researched Roblox? It has a horrendous reputation, firstly for using m**ipulative and addiction-forming methods to extract money in huge sums from kids (case in point) but also as a breeding ground for unsavoury people looking for easy access to kids. NTA if you prevent the purchase, but seriously look into this more deeply and maybe make sure she’s being safe in a more general sense. This game is grim.

Competitive_Jump_744 −  NTA. while yes, it IS her money, you still have to teach her HOW to spend this money. 200 dollars for something for Roblox is just ridiculous.

CaptainAureus −  It’s threads like this that really highlight how many children use this site lol. NTA, obviously. $200 spent on Roblox is an obscene waste of money. 

StAlvis −  NTA. As a result, my stepdaughter has managed to save up £200 since Christmas – not because she’s not buying things she wants, but because she didn’t want anything. Sounds like it’s time to recompute how much allowance she actually needs, then. How can we talk about the value of money IDK but maybe stop buying her every book she wants would be a start. Take her to the **library**.

JurassicParkFood −  NTA – if it were $20 or even $50, I’d say let her learn from a dumb decision. But $250 is far too much to give her access to for something so pointless.

tritoonlife −  Never spend real money to get f**e money. NTA

Nrysis −  NTA. While I do agree with letting her make her own choices and mistakes, at that age I also feel it is still appropriate to have some oversight of her spending to prevent her doing anything too wasteful with it. In this case I don’t necessarily see an issue with her spending money in games, but I feel the type of item and its use in game is a problem.

Items that have a meaningful purpose in hand I can see the benefit in, so spending some money in GTA to get access to different vehicles and weapons that you couldn’t otherwise use, and that have a use in game makes sense.

In this case however, the item is a skin with no purpose other than to show off how much money you are able to spend on a frivolous item, and that I see as just a bit tactless and insulting.

I don’t even necessarily object to spending a reasonable sum to personalise your character with non-functional skins, but at this value it is nothing other than showing off.

Everyone will draw the exact line in the sand at a slightly different point and cost, but I feel it would be appropriate to step in and overly her in this situation, explaining why you feel it is inappropriate.

Realistic_Decision99 −  YWNBTA. Allowing your kids to do anything they set their mind to won’t get them far in life. First of all it’s a stupid thing to spend so much money on. Then they need to realise that life doesn’t always go their way and it’s difficult to make money these days. Your statement that the 13yo is autonomous is just plain nonsense. If you allow her to do this now she will soon figure out that you probably won’t stop her from getting her way.

SWC8181 −  NTA. You’re the parent, your decision. However. I parent differently. I let my kids do totally dumb s**t with their own money. I feel they need to learn how to budget and the consequences of dumb decisions. I’d rather her learn these lessons at 13 than at 25.

Once they hit 7th grade, my kids had to come up with a budget floor all their cloths for the year and follow it. They had to make a spreadsheet justifying it. We decided on $500 twice a year. We now buy them zero cloths (including uniforms, sports apparel…). It’s on them.

They did what they wanted with the money. They could but no cloths and spend $500 on candy. Fine. Don’t ask me for new soccer cleats. It’s amazing how much they learned from that. Two are in college and I feel they are truly responsible with their money. The earlier hey learn and are allowed to fail, the faster it sticks.

Would they be too strict for saying no to this purchase, or should they let her make her own choice—even if it seems extravagant? How would you handle a similar request from a teenager? Share your thoughts below!