Originally Posted by Sarah Mae

That's exactly what I am doing--telling the truth.

I was advised to say that I will be paying rent.. and I will be. There's no lie in that.

I haven't been able to pay rent because I have no income.. but my mom and I have already made an agreement that I would stay here for free, but as soon as I had a source of income, that I would pay rent and some of the bills. It's just me and her here, and my half would be about $300. While I won't get that much from SSI, I was told to suggest $200 as an amount, and asked my mom if it would be okay if I gave her the $200 a month and then paid one of the big bills. Our two biggest are the internet/cable bill and the electric bill. Both range from $100-150 a month. So I would be paying less than half of the mortgage, and half of the major bills (not including her personal bills, such as her cell phone and credit cards).

If I wasn't going to give her the rent, or if I wasn't going to pay for a bill, I wouldn't tell them that I would. I would never lie about all of this because I know you can get in a lot of trouble--and there is absolutely no reason to lie.

But I am just taking what was suggested by the lady I spoke with and using that as a guide as to how to split up the major bills (mortgage, electric, and internet/cable).