charging my child rent

[kikimon]

Hi, how much should i charge my child rent? He is 18 and has a full time job. How much should i ask him to contribute a week towards the household bills? Any suggestions? thanks

[Schlomo78]

Hi kikimon, I guess it depends how much he earns and what your circumstances are. When I lived with my mum when I was younger I worked part time and bought home �45 a week, of which I gave her �15. I have a couple of friends that still live at home and earn pretty good money one of which gives her mum �45 a week (or is supposed to!). Obviously he needs to cover his keep but if you ask for too much he won't have much for himself and it could end in arguements!

Hope this is of some help.

[kikimon]

Thanks Schlomo, It looks like i should ask him for about a third of what he brings home or there abouts. This still leaves him enough for himself as he gets all his food and washing etc at home. thanks

[Schlomo78]

No probs. :O)

[Solarjunkie]

I suggest the going rate for a bedsit as shown in the local paper. This to include food, laundry, TV licence, electricty etc, which means that he gets an idea of what the real world is like, plus a cushy ride (presuming you want to spoil him a bit!)

But not charging him full price should be dependant on his saving a sensible amount each month & not bluing the lot on CDs and beer. And taking his turn at the cooking, shopping and other household chores - if he had his own place, he'd have to do 100% of it.

[Polotoo]

Hello!

When I lived at home my mum let me choose how much I paid her for keep! At the end of each week when I got paid we worked out what I could afford, then added a tenner (I think) and thats what she got! However, 'cos shes a little gem, I used to get the whole lot back every 6 months or so, to go towards Christmas/holidays/clothes!!! Was showing me how to easy it is save. And when I did move out, I got a nice nest egg to buy some things for my first place!!

One of my friends mum's used to charge her 25% of her earnings, flat fee and extra if they had take-aways etc, on top of this she had to do her own washing/ironing and share the household chores!

My brother in law still lives at home (he's 32), never lived on his own and only pays �25 a week, has all his cooking/washing/ironing etc done for him. Lucky thing! The difficulty is he now isn't able to budget and we worry what will happen when he lives on his own, he is always in debt (how?!?!?!?!), and I'm sure it will only get worse.

I think you should charge a 'reasonable' rate, as presumably one day he'll move out which will be difficult enough, but if he's already used to living on a budget it will be so much easier.

Anyway, that's my pearls of wisdom, hope it helps!!

[faith77]

I used to give my mum �50 a week, I'm glad I did now because nothing prepares you for how expensive it is to not live with ya mum & dad. I didnt pay towards bills but I got my own smellies coz mum would only buy naff ones. This was about 7 yrs ago though.

[fishbait]

Im with faith77, its been 10 years since living with mum and dad but a nifty fifty was what i used to pay. I guess the going rate today you could probably double that?? You would be looking at that rent alone without bills so a good education for your son.

[plonker]

Show him all the bills and get him to pay 1/3 - he is using all the facilities ie. phones, heating, water, food, etc. I paid my parents 1/3 of the bills and a bit more towards the room. It did not make any difference that they were working full time too - it is the bills at the end of day that count. Then again, he could also save a bit towards a mortgage and have his own flat.

[kikimon]

Wow what a great response i had from all of you. thanks very much for your imput. I will have a good think about it all and will take all your suggestions in account. Thanks again. Its great to know i can get help and advice from people who have been there.

[leandrews]

I saw a programme on this topic, and it said the best thing to do was to put a third towards keep, a third in to savings, leaving a third to go out and buy things.

Always seemed fair to me!

[dot.hawkes]

work out the cost of your bills overall and divide it by how many adults in the house working full time. (then refuse to cook wash and clean until the 18 year olD gives in and dishes up 20 quid every other week before borrowing it back for friday night)

[Greedyfly]

I paid rent from the age of 16 - mine was about �50 a week if I remember rightly.