Once you pay your own phone bill, a lot of old arguments make sense.

Money arguments at home are rarely about the money. They are about a limit you cannot see because someone else has been absorbing it. The moment a bill has your name on it the arithmetic becomes visible: what things cost, how fast a month comes around, how little sits between the two. The person who said no suddenly looks less like a tyrant.

Take one thing you use every day and find out what it actually costs per month. Your phone, the car insurance, a streaming account. Knowing the number changes how you ask for the next thing.