‘Show us how you survived on $200’: Mom’s attempt to shame her daughter for using her credit card backfires terribly
A mother who took to TikTok to air her grievances about her teenage daughter using her credit card on vacation was likely surprised to find most of the platform took her daughter’s side in the ensuing debate.
The mother in question is Meredith Masony, a popular mom influencer who shares a lot of relatable and helpful content about motherhood and marriage. The problem is that the situation with her daughter is likely one should have remained off the internet. It’s totally understandable for parents to post funny and relatable stories about their children on social media. They may even share moments that frustrated them initially but that, in retrospect, they found humorous. However, in this case, Masony still appeared frustrated by her daughter and seemed to be trying to call her out on TikTok. The daughter ultimately came out on top, though, as the platform predominantly sided with her.
TikTok comes to the defense of Meredith Masony’s daughter
Masony has since deleted the original viral TikTok post, but the video remains on her Instagram page. In the video, she explains that her daughter went away for a birthday trip. Masony and her husband gave the teenager $200 in cash for the four-day trip. She explains, “$200 in cash for the weekend. [For] food, if she wanted to go buy something while she was there because it was a four-day weekend, and they were looking forward to this for so long. So, we were like, ‘Here’s $200.'” Masony was confused when a few hours into the trip, she noticed her daughter had made a charge to the family’s Capital One card. Several hours later, another charge was made.
So, the parents called the daughter that night to ask why she was using the Capital One card when she had $200 in cash. The daughter responded that she thought the card was “for food,” while the $200 was hers to spend as she pleased. She explained, “The $200 is mine. The Capital One is for food because you guys have to pay for my food.” Masony’s frustration broke through at that point, as she stated, “I think every teenager on this planet has lost their minds … absolutely lost their f***ing minds.”
Now, it seems pretty clear that some sort of miscommunication was involved. Perhaps the daughter had used the card for food before or thought her parents would pay for the food separately. It didn’t seem like the situation warranted the daughter getting called out on TikTok and being accused of “losing her mind.” However, another major problem that countless TikTok users pointed out is that $200 doesn’t seem like enough for a four-day vacation. It’s unclear where the trip was, but with the way prices are nowadays, it’s not hard to see how a teenager could easily blow through $200 without including food, especially when this is a highly anticipated birthday trip where one can expect some splurging.
When one starts adding up shopping, souvenirs, food, snacks, transportation, sightseeing, etc, it’s tough to see how $200 can cover the whole trip. BooksBeWild pointed out that if she’s doing three meals a day for $15, that would leave her with just $20 for everything else, and that’s assuming there are no higher-end meals involved that would run higher than $15. “It costs me, like, $100 just to walk outside my house these days,” the influencer joked. Further influencers backed up the sentiment, with one commenter writing, “$200?! Where is she going, 1989?” SisterlyMayhem estimated $200 would maybe last someone two days with today’s prices if they’re budgeting very carefully.
The video even made its way to other platforms, including Bluesky. User Riesha_d wrote, “This lady let her 16 year-old daughter go on a four day trip with her friends and only gave her $200 and is mad the girl used their credit card. They tearing her up on TikTok because 4 days and $200 in 2025 makes no sense.” Some commenters argued that $200 was enough for a trip, noting how they’d gotten by on trips by using money just for gas and groceries. However, again, context is essential as we don’t know where she went and if this is the kind of trip where they’re taking part in free activities and buying groceries or had more expensive things planned. If she went somewhere like LA, even $200 likely wouldn’t be enough for food. User xmr757x challenged those defending the mom, “I want yall to take a 4day trip and show us how you survived on $200.”
Ultimately, while it’s debatable if $200 is enough for a four-day trip, most will agree it’s not entirely unfathomable that the teenager would use the card for food and cash for everything else. The biggest lesson in this story is to just try to hear your teenagers out occasionally. There are better ways to solve a miscommunication than to go to TikTok for a rant, especially because TikTok users never hold back when they perceive an injustice or misjudgment.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
