how much board should I charge

jezebel

I pay £200 per month, which is roughly 1/5 of my monthly earnings - my dad agreed on this percentage when I first moved home, despite objections from my Mum that it was too high and I respect that. I lived away from home for a year and paid twice that on rent and bills.

£40 sounds reasonable to me, especially if it includes washing, ironing, cooking and food etc - your daughter may not like it now but she would have a shock if she had to move out. Alternatively is there anyway that she can pay you in chores etc as well, eg babysitting for younger sibs while you're at work or helping out and pay a little less in monetary terms?

LondonDiva

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

i had to pay a third

pp
xx

me too!:):)

System

My daughter earns about £900 a month and pays started paying us £130 a month board. However, as part of the perks of her job we get our telephone rental, internet and cable television free so we dropped it to £100 a month as when we used to pay it ourselves, we used to pay around £60 a month for the services. This way, both she benefits and so do we.

jrrowleyws

Everyone missed the point that she has to share a room with a sibling, realistically, i'd rather move out pay a bit more and go into a shared house. If she's working she is atleast 16 and IMO, you need privacy before 12 atleast, and deffinately when your over 16!

System

My daughter is in a room the size of a postage stamp. If she doesnt like it, she is entitled to find somewhere else.

Oldernotwiser

I think that the assumption that you should be doing the washing and ironing for an 18 year old is very worrying. Paying for her board is one thing (and I think that £40 is on the low side) but this shouldn't mean that she shouldn't have to muck in and do her share around the house.

Perhaps she might prefer to move into a shared house and have her own room but it would cost her rather more than "a bit" more. Depending on the area she'd be likely to be paying at least 50% more for rent, plus a share of the bills and her food. Not a particularly realistic option on £200 per week gross wages!

nearlyrich

My DD started her first fulltime job just before Christmas, she gives us £150 a month and she has a loan from DH for her car which she is paying too. We sat down and did a budget together and worked out a realistic amount from her take home pay.

We share the chores like washing and cooking in this house but I haven't ironed for my children for years they are more than capable if they need something super smooth.

Noctu

How old is she?

Considering she has to share a room with a sibling, there's no way I'd be asking for an "average" rate of board. As another poster said, if she's working she has to be over 16 - the poor girl will have no privacy!

Having said that, I'd expect her to do her own washing, ironing, and chip in with the cooking (depending on how you do it in your house), and help out with the food shopping. I'd charge her board, but as long as she has to share a room with someone, I'd be looking to charge her half of what I'd "normally" charge, e.g. something like £20-30 a week. If you're about to charge someone board based on the average rent of a flat in your area, you need to consider the fact that she has to share all her personal space with someone else. There's a good few student flats round here (Leeds) which ask for around £60/week, if a person was expected to share a room with someone else they'd be paying half of that.

Personally, no offence intended, if I had to share a room with a sibling when I got to a working age, I'd be looking for a flat/shared house/somewhere else!

hilstep2000

My daughter pays me £150 a month. That's for everything. She and her BF are looking at places to rent with two friends. She is going to have to find £150 a month for rent alone, without bills, food etc. I bet she's home in a couple of monhs! LOL!

dianadors

I used to pay a third in board, put a third away in savings and spend a third. I had to share a room with my sister(and sleep in a bunk bed!!) until I got married. Unfortunately circumstances are not always ideal. I could have moved out, but this would have cost me more than a third of my wage and I wouldnt have been able to save for my own house.