\how much should i charge my son?

[gkl123]

1 month ago my son graduated from uni and has started work, he earns approx �1000 per month. i have �150 a month left after bills, how do you think i should charge him to live at home?? thanks

[Ethel]

The traditional way is one third of net pay.

A third for board, a third to save and a third to spend.

I think this still holds good today, and is still much cheaper than independent living.

As your son is now an adult you really should make a list of ALL household bills so he can see just how much it costs to run the household.

If you feel one third is too much, you can secretly put some into savings for him for when he finally leaves home.

[saxy_jag]

A third is a sensible amount. However when mine reached the stage where he was hardly ever home and eating out more than in, I cut back on that figure.

�1000 a month is good money. If your son was living away, he'd be paying five or six hundred in rent if he had a place of his own, plus all his bills on top of that, so �350 would be a reasonable amount to ask.

[Buenchico]

A quick look in my local paper shows rooms in shared houses around here (East Anglia) cost about �50 to �80 per week. Let's say, �250 per month. If you're providing food as well, that might be �100 per month. That makes �350 per month, which agrees with Saxy_Jag's figure, so it would be seem to be a good 'starting point' to work from. (You could raise the figure if you wanted to take into account such things as laundry or a contribution towards the Council Tax. You could lower it to take into account how much you'd miss your son if he moved out!)

Chris

[Lil H]

hi gkl123,

I lived at home for a couple of years after graduating (earning similar money too) a couple of questions:
1.Does he have a student loan? If so he may not have reached the threshold to pay it back maybe you could insist that he sets up a payment plan instead of part of his rent. It will definitely help him out in the long run.
2. Does he have high travel costs? I know I did, so my parents agreed to take 1/3 of my pay after my travel had been dedcuted, so that was �270 per month.
It definitely helped me out by paying a more realistic rent when living at home, it made the transition to homeowner a lot easier.

[little bexy]

Hi gkl123,

I must say i am very shocked at the amount people are suggesting you charge your son!! I think there are somethings you need to consider :

Does he have a student loan that he is having to currently pay back?

Are you doing all his cooking, washing, buying his food and cleaning his room still?

Are you dependant on his rent money?

Does he have a car? Is he paying for it or are you? Insurance payments?

I feel that �350 is a little excessive and unfair, how is he ever going to save any money to move out if you charge that much? By the time travel expenses, clothing expenses for personal or work, mobile phone bills to pay out etc he will have tuppence left to spend to enjoy himself with!!! This could result in him borrowing money and getting himself into debt.

I'm not saying don't charge him anthing because i do think that its an importance lesson to learn!!

Hope this helps and good luck!!

[themas]

Financial discipline is important and he will learn the realities sooner if he has to pay you a sensible amount. �350 seems to me to be very reasonable but it depends to some extent where you live and what rent costs in the area are - in some places they are around �100 per week for a room.
As regards the last post, if he can't manage on �650 a month then he really does need some lessons in responsible spending.

[Trotbot]

is the 1000 before or after tax?