How much should my son pay for his keep?

[thevilain]

How much should my son pay for his keep? What is a recommended guideline that is fair to us both?

[redcrx]

this has been asked many times and usually it averages out to be about a third of their take home wage.

I used to pay my mum about that but it was about 18 years ago.

[thevilain]

Thanks. That does seem a bit steep or am i being too soft?

[yogasun]

I'm obviously being very soft with my son if that's what it should be. Hope he doesn't see this!!

[EmEd1984]

depends how old he is! my mum regrets not asking me for keep, as do i - she said she would've asked for maybe a couple of hundred a month (i was earning about �800) and put it all aside for a deposit on a house without telling me, which would've been brilliant!

it'll help him get the hang of monthly budgeting for when he really needs to as well :)

x

[dot.hawkes]

it is only fair that he pays a portion of the upkeep and running costs of the house. If you work out the amount he uses in electric i bet it is far more than you do, kids these days use all sorts of equipment that is not cheap to run. If you have 5 rooms in your home, divide your mortgage/rent/council tax/utility bills by 5 and the 5th is what he shoulod contribute for his room. ontop of that add in food and toiletries/ household products like washing powder etc and divide that by the number of people in the house. bet you get a shock and so will he!

[LoftyLottie]

I would agree with about 1/4 to 1/3 of takehome pay. Still very cheap. Having said that, I would probably put some aside to help them get their life together later.

I don't think parents that only take a token or none at all are doing their kids any good - they have to learn to survive and that's best done at home where the shock will be must gentler than if they were out there in the big wide world alone.

Most kids living at home have rent, rates, bills, food plus cleaning and laundry all catered for (and in my case they were always given a sub if necessary and free chaufferage!!

[LoftyLottie]

'much gentler' Why don't I stop to edit - my typing gets worse!!!

[LoftyLottie]

I paid my Mum �2.00 when my take home pay was �7.50. Ha, ha that was in 1965!!

[redcrx]

just think how much it would cost him if he were to move out.

as suggested you could keep it aside for when he gets his own place

[Velvetee]

25-30% of his monthly net income is reasonable.

[sleepy1]

i always said i would not take money off my kids ...but i think i will and put the money away for them ...seems a lot off people do that now ....

[thevilain]

wish i could put some away but money is very tight with 5 mouths to feed and happy-to-spend-wife! (In case she is looking that was a joke!) Seriously we live on the breadline and live from month to month.

[redcrx]

so youre right to ask your son to contribute if hes earning anything. He should also be made aware of what it costs just to keep roof over his head.

[theonlyone]

A 1/4 of his monthly take home pay ...
and he buys his own toothpaste etc..
as if and when he flys the nest he will
have a big shock !! You have to be cruel
to be kind ....

[nannon]

My parents havent/would never ask me for rent (not that i have lived there since i was 17 and always in full time education!) but i think thats wrong! I think the suggections of 1/3 of take home money is very fair. On average any of my friends who live at hom gove about �50 a week which i think is a very fair amount - i wish my rent was that cheap!!!!!!!

[coweyes30]

When i lived at home i paid 25 a week plus the phone bill every quarter as i has a phone in my room and half the sky bill because i had the movie channels added too.This was 14 years ago and i earned between 400 and 700 a month.

[ethanryan]

i used to earn 600 pound a month and gave my mom 200 pound, yes this seemed a lot to me then and i always moaned but this included, roof over my head, electriec gas water, phone bill, internet access plus all the food.
my mom had 4 kids and a single parent so things were also tough but she had to do it. when i moaned she told me if i dont like it then i should have stayed on at college and then i wouldnt have had to pay.
you may think it is alot to ask but like me, when he moves out into his own flat or house, what will he have to pay, on my first house i had to pay each month 550 rent 110 council tax 40 gas 40 electric 40 water 30 phone bill, plus my food shopping and money to get to and from work. so just the bils were 810 without any food shopping or money to live. why dont you list all the things you pay out and show him, make him understand that you are not robbing him of his hard earned cash, life is tough and he needs to realise it while he is young.

[ethanryan]

a friend of mine when he was 18 moaned about paying 150 pound a month even though he earned 800. his mom had an old garage at the bottom of the garden so his dad fitted electric to it and had a electric meter fitted. his parents moved him into here and told him he had to pay the electric tokens, he had to provide and cook his own food and wash his own clothes. it def taught him a lesson cause 3 weeks later he moved back into the house and agreed to pay, he is now 24 and still lives with his parents