When a kid flies the nest for college, most parents’ reaction is to check in with them regularly, and perhaps even send an “I miss you” text.
Unfortunately for Brian Jung, he didn’t receive such message from his dad, and was instead shown how energy-efficient the household had become once he and his brother moved out for their first year of college.
The 22-year-old from Ithaca, New York, posted a two-picture slideshow on TikTok—one of which is him and his sibling while traveling over the summer and the second a screenshot from his family group chat of the family’s electric bill now that the Jung brothers moved out.
Brian Jung and his brother left for college around mid August, meaning it took just a month and a half for their energy bill to reflect their absence.
@stefffanos
“My dad wanted to show off how energy and water efficient our family has become after my brother and I left for college,” Jung told Newsweek.
Jung’s dad explained in the text that the boys’ mom wanted him to share the “excellent report card” they’d received via mail from National Grid.
“My initial reaction was amusement because my dad has always boasted about how our family has been an energy efficient household,” the college freshman told Newsweek.
His second thought was to post it on TikTok, as videos featuring content from his dad are funny and relatable to his audience.
Jung’s clip garnered over 700,000 views and comments from other social media sharing anecdotes from their parents’ hacks for saving money on household bills.
One user commented that their family uses $1,300 of water and they were getting the blame for the cost. “My brother and I left for college and it only went down by $200,” they said.
Another user shared that their dad used to turn the water off completely so they’d have to rinse their hair outside with a hose. “He admitted that the garden sprinklers were the problem the whole time when I came back from school,” they wrote.
The average U.S. household spends around $1,500 on water services, according to the Center for Sustainable Systems.
For energy, the average household spends approximately $2,200 per year, with electricity accounting for most of the energy costs (about $1,400 annually) and the rest split between natural gas and other fuel sources, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
By the looks of it, Jung’s dad was right to brag. The screenshot showed he got a “great” rating from National Grid and the family’s energy use was lower than efficient homes by 22 percent.
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