How much to charge 18 year old for board & lodge

Pinky9

My sons 19 and 17 are both on apprenticeships. They earn £700 and £390 before tax respectively and I charge the 19 year old £100 per month and the 17 year old £50 per month.

It is purely a contribution towards the cost of their keep and they both give it willingly. Surprisingly tho, the eldest is hopeless with money and as I have a 3 year old son too I pay him to babysit for me if I go out as otherwise he would have no money for the last 2 weeks, even though I know he would do it for nothing! My 17 year old earns very little, pays £80 per month for a loan for his motorbike and £100 insurance plus his contribution to me and always has money left at the end of the month even tho he has a girlfriend!

In the long run, it seems it depends on the child (or young adult) as to what you should charge. I do feel that I should ask my eldest son for more - just to try to help him learn to budget, even if I ended up giving him some back at the end of the month. My problem is I have to be fair - why should one pay more pro-rata than the other!

Any ideas on how to get the eldest to learn to budget - i've run out of ideas!

loopy_lass

well.. when i left school i was accepted at college, with an £11 per week grant, mother took £10 per week for B&L, so i got chucked out of college as i couldnt buy all my equipment my grant was suppose to pay for. \She even made me take a coat back to the shop because i had spent her b&l on it.. well i thought it was ok as it was winter and i didnt have a coat... but no... it had to go back as she wanted her money!!! Mother seemed pleased when i was chucked out of college and promptly told me she had got me a job at a local garage cleaning cars, she charged me £25 pw (in 1982) and my younger brother who was earning more than me £20... (well he was her natural son after all) ... we also had to pay 1/3 of car tax, MOT (even tho we couldnt drive, 1/3 of all bills and we had to pay her petrol money if she gave (me) a lift. If i did overtime she took all of that off me as it was extra! and when i went on holiday for a week, i still had to pay to keep my room open (her words) and there would be an extra charge for extra washing on my return... SO ... when my daughter is working, i intend on taking a minimal amount off her, putting it into a savings account and re presenting it when she either gets married, buys her house or has a baby..... not repeating my experience ....

hth (made me feel better venting that one lol)

loops

Pinky9

Good for you loopy. I really didn't believe wicked step-mothers existed anywhere but in books - you've set me right on that one.

Well done you for being a survivor and very best wishes for the future.

Pinky

jcr16

my hubby always paid an amount to his parents when he had a job. i think he paid about £130 per calender month when he earned about £500. and i paid about £20 a week if my mum asked. she would only ask me for money if she needed it , other than that they were happy for me to be rent free. as i had moved out and had my own flat but when my baby brother was diagnosed with cancer my parent asked me to move back home. so they didn't see why i should pay when they asked me back. i was happy to contribute when needed tho.
but i think when my children are working we will take a reasonable amount from them and if we can afford to i would like to save it all and give it to them either when they get married or to put down as deposit on house. or something beneifical for them.

bluezone

My older 2 sisters began paying after college - 18 and they paid 30 a week. I went straight to a job but my parents gave me until I was 18 before I began paying so it was fair, due to me being 6 years younger I started paying £40 a week which we all thought was fair. In with this I used to buy my own toiletries and helped out with cleaning, and shopping etc. My take home was approx £500 and I was saving £200 towards driving lessons and a car.

I think paying keep is a good idea cos its gets you used to standing on your own 2 feet when you eventually move out. I know that now 8 years later I could not afford to live off £40 a week with a mortgage, utilities, food, cleaning, washing etc!

Can I move back home pls?

tysonwatts

From my experence i belive children should be made to pay board and lodgings once they leave full time education. As it starts them on the road to budgeting, i am very good at budgeting how ever my husband and sister are not. Rent, tax and bills do have to be paid. Neither my husband or sister was ever charged and had all there wages as free money this has caused major problems for my sister who finnaly moved out 2 years ago at age 25. While she still has her job her life has suddenly changed , where her money was spent on clothes make up and socialising it is now spent on rent council tax, utility bills and food, she has learned to adjust but still doesn`t have enough money to pay the credit card in full each month. My husband was in a lot of debt when i first met him, his parents where still giveing him money to keep up his life style as he was out of work. During the time he lived on his own he never paid any utility bills had taken many items out on credit that he hadn`t repaid, and had a large outstanding dept to the council tax department for when he was at work.
He was being expected to live off £80 a fortnight , which he couldn`t manage to do evan though he never paid anything else. To him £80 was a night at the pub and a new cd. Old habits seem hard to break.
I never had any idea the level of dept he was in for years.
His dept is now all cleared and i mange the money,
I do hope to be able to save money for for my children for a good use but i also belive they must be taught they need to pay there way.

shays_mum

I would prefer it if they actually saved for their future, with the situation with housing being so expensive, you'll never get rid of them!. My dad used to take half my wages & buy shares etc, boy! was i pleased when it came to getting married & starting my own family:)
I have 2 kids of my own & i intend to do the same for them, at 18 i was a fool with money, that's why i'm here many years later trying to save some!!. Anyways, goodluck

Hermia

I'm currently at home thanks to the fact that I live in London and both buying and renting are stupidly expensive. My mum charges me for half of the utility bills and I pay for my own food etc. She doesn't charge me rent at all because I want to move away and eventually get enough for a deposit for a house. She basically allows me to live rent-free on the understanding that I put the money I save on renting into my savings account. If I was wasting all my wages she would be less understanding!

freebie_junkie

when i have kids im gonna be the middle ground between my parents and my fellas parents
mine: kicked me out o fthe house at 20 (whilst in full-time education) with a note for the housing office to say i was homeless, had to do 25% of household chores despite one parent not working from age of 14 and had to buy own toiletries, do own washing and cook for self from age 15+

his: his broter is 18 and he is 23 he works full time and bro is at college. he pays no rent and does very little round teh house. his bro does nothing round teh house and still has his mum make all his food for him and tidy his room, borrows teh car for free all the time and bailed out when he spends all his tesco earnings. tehy both get toiletries bought for them- expenise ones! and also have a family meal every night theyre home.

i reckon youd agree that neither of these is ideal- a happy middle ground eh?

hilstep2000

I started work earning £16.50 a week, and gave my mum £5, everytime I got a rise, I gave my mum some. I got married in 1981 and was paying £25 a week then. My 19 year old has been paying me between £150 and £200 a month (her wages differ each month) without a quibble. I am a single mum, and she says hat if she was living alone it would cost her loads more. I don't see that it's greedy to charge your kids, makes them responsible adults!