How much should I charge for my son & daughter @ home (age 23, 20)

Alan50 · 20 November 2006 at 10:11PM

Any guidance please, my son and daughter have now left Uni/College and are still at home. They have started new jobs with salaries of 15K & 12K. I currently charge them £30.00 per week for everything in:
1. Food
2. All utilites
3. Broadband
4. Sky package (value 37.00/month)
5. Cleaner (2 times a week)

I am a single parent, but have a good income, I do not wish to overcharge them, but has anyone information on what is a fair rate?

EthelBloggs · 20 November 2006 at 10:15PM

I reckon if it's the three of you.. take everything and add it up then divide by three and go from there, if u want to give them a bit of a break and let them pay less or whatever u've got a starting figure to base your calculations on

Alan50 · 20 November 2006 at 10:26PM

Not much chance of a third of the above, but thanks anyway

EthelBloggs · 20 November 2006 at 10:36PM

lol, well you can reduce it proportionately.. it just gives you a starting figure, if im making sense?

code-a-holic · 20 November 2006 at 10:38PM

When i was 18 i was getting 12k, i paid my mum £160 a month - and considered it a bargain! Cheaper than getting their own place. My husband paid £130 a month to his parents when he earned 13k.
We didnt have broadband or a cleaner either so i think you should be getting a lot more!!!

pollyanna24 · 20 November 2006 at 10:39PM

We are taking in a family member who's 18 and bf has said he will charge whatever his dad was charging him. I know this is either £125 or £200, but not sure. Think he's on about £15K per annum.

A rule which I have heard of before is to charge a 1/3 of their takehome pay. Then they have 1/3 to spend on themselves and 1/3 to put into savings.

worriedfirsttimebuyer · 20 November 2006 at 11:13PM

I think a third of their take-home pay is a bit harsh.
They'll never be able to save up and be out from under your feet!

Sultana · 20 November 2006 at 11:26PM

I would work out 1/3 of the food and 1/4 of the utilities each and ignore the rest unless you would not have them if they weren't there.

misscutiepie1984 · 20 November 2006 at 11:27PM

im 22 years old and live have a room in a house which is costing me £400 pm and i have to buy my own food on top and pay for my own sky, internet and tv.... i reckon about £200 - £250 would be a fair amount or 1/4 of their take home

hope this helps

Amy

Smashing · 20 November 2006 at 11:33PM

£200pcm, minumum. Preferably £250 considering all the 'extras' they're getting. It's not about overcharging them - whether or not you earn a good income, it's about learning to live in the real world.

You could also ditch the cleaner and get them to muck in.

Savvy_Sue · 20 November 2006 at 11:35PM

worriedfirsttimebuyer wrote:

I think a third of their take-home pay is a bit harsh.
They'll never be able to save up and be out from under your feet!

They should if they're saving a third as well, which is what was suggested.

There is no 'one size fits all' answer to this question (as I think we've seen when we've discussed it before!) However, whatever you eventually decide to charge, I think it's important that adult children understand how much things actually cost. So adding up all your bills and dividing them by 3 is certainly a starting point, because then everyone has a clear idea of what it takes to maintain this particular standard of living. Decisions can then be made about whether that's a standard we want to maintain, and what we have to do in order to do that.

Alan, if you can afford to subsidise your children while they're at home, then they should know that's what you're doing, not in an "Aren't I good to you" kind of way, more an "I'm happy to do this, but you need to know I'm doing it so you know how the world works" kind of way.

Also depends how long you WANT them to stay with you ... and how much you want to encourage them to move out ... :rotfl:

How much should I charge for my son & daughter @ home (age 23, 20)

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