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Charging rent for 21 year old
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How much do you think it would cost you if you actually looked after yourself?!
I think £130 is quite reasonable considering he earns £900, I recently moved out and paid my mum £200 and earn't approx £1,000.
Your son is only 21, it would be good if he had some money for himself after paying his debts, you and trying to save a bit.
Whilst there are other bills to be paid, £50 for room and probably £20 on food is the extent of it if he goes down that route, so £280 per month.
I would suggest £150 - £175 per month, or a room in a shared house and the freedom that goes with it, could become attractive.
6 years ago when I was 19 I earned just under £900 and out of that I could afford a £300pcm mortgage, CT, gas, elec, tv licence, Sky, mobile, landline, run a car, and STILL have enough left over for food and nights out 3 or 4 times a month.
If he is constantly overdrawn then maybe it is time to bring his attention to this site and bring him down to earth with a bump. Show him bills and just exactly how much it is costing you to keep him on the paltry sum he is paying you, it may seem like a heartless thing to say but he should either up the payments to you to a reasonable amount that you both agree on, or he should find himself somewhere PDQ to live to show him just how much he should be paying - if he has to make sacrifices then so be it, I'm sure you are having to at the moment without any help so don't be frightened to show him the cost of living.
Good luck.
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I do think that's a massive over generalisation - I think most of us know exactly how much it costs...who can get away from the constant bombardment of property/gas/CT stories. I actually moved out, and had to come back home due to a relationship break up...most of my debt was down to those dark days....I had to pay over £300 a month for rent for a flat I wasn't living in, and I still gave my mum £165 housekeeping, and I did it gladly - I appricate all they both do immensely....and I wish I could give them more, however that figure was worked out on my incomings and outgoings.
Admittedly, I can't move out on that kind of money, I know that....I don't earn the kind of money needed to move out on my own.
I think the OP should sit down with her son, and talk about his incomings and outgoings honestly. If nothing else, he obviously needs some guidance with how cash/credit works...is there any point putting his housekeeping up to £300 if he's going to end up borrowing the money back, or getting into serious difficulities?
I am currently thinking of raising it to £150 which is £30 more and saying I want him to cut down on his outgoings. I already hold his ISA book with his consent and he saves £50 currently pcm - yes, I would like it to be more. I have a block on the phone so they cant ring mobiles and out of area numbers(following a collosal phone bill)
Ideally as may have suggested I would like to secretly save for him for when he leaves home. Rent would be about £700 before bills in this area! I do think it is very hard for young people to get started themselves but I agree that undercharging them is not the way to go..............
He might complain now, but will be very thankful when he buys his own place.
I earnt £950 a month and paid £200. This was when i was 16/17. After that i didnt live at home. I moved to my girlfriends parents house, and then paid £250 a month.
When at home it covered everything. Apart from extra's i wanted. The £250 at my girlfriends parents covered living, i had to do my own washing etc.
On a student loan of £4000pa, I pay my gran £30pw (£130pcm - 39% of my guaranteed "income") for rent, washing, food, plus an additional £10pcm for my broadband.
Any other money I want I have to get a part time job for.
If I was working full time (which it seems your son is), as another poster mentioned, I would expect to pay the going rate for a room in this area - £60pw (£260pcm), my broadband, plus a share of the food bill. This would probably add up to a total of £300 or so pcm.
I think you also have to consider what job he is doing. Is it an apprenticeship where his money will go up yearly and he's struggling to get by? Or is it a dead end job that he took because £900 per month seemed like a fortune to him and now he's wasting the money away on... what?