What's fair rent for working children living at home?

MamaJAH

My daughter is now living back at home after working abroad for the summer, she spent the winter in numerous low paid part time jobs and we didn't take any money from her! However she is now in full time employment and I have suggested to my husband that we 'charge' her £40 a week, he thinks this is a lot?

What do others think?

Pollycat

To get any reasonable answers you need to say how much she is earning (so people can see what percentage the £40 is of her wages), how much she will be spending on travel etc.

What will the £40 cover?
All food?
Will she buy her own toiletries?
Will she be doing her own ironing, cooking, cleaning?

Millionaire

I used to pay £250 a month to my parents and that was over 10 years ago. So I think £40 is cheap.

Really depends on what she earns and if she contributes anything else and I would take any debt into consideration as well.

martinthebandit

£40 a week seems on the low side to me, how about you suggest to your husband that it should be £80 a week but out of that you will secretly save £50 a week for your daughter so she can put it towards a deposit for her own place?

I am assuming that you don't actually need the money.

MamaJAH

Pollycat wrote: »

To get any reasonable answers you need to say how much she is earning (so people can see what percentage the £40 is of her wages), how much she will be spending on travel etc.

What will the £40 cover?
All food?
Will she buy her own toiletries?
Will she be doing her own ironing, cooking, cleaning?

She should bring home approx £900 a month
I shop each week and have a great selection of home made food, there is always food at home if she wants it but she prefers to breakfast in starbucks and eat out a lunchtimes.
She buys her own toiletries as in shampoos and bath products as she prefers her specific brands but toothpaste etc are bought for her.
If she puts laundry in the basket it gets washed, 9 times out of 10 she leaves it piling up in her room and does it herself, she cooks for herself if she doesn't fancy what we are having (family meals are a thing of the past)
She says she's going to clean more than she actual does hence re-instating the cleaner with part of her 'board' money so we never ask her to chip in with the cleaning!

MamaJAH

Millionaire wrote: »

I used to pay £250 a month to my parents and that was over 10 years ago. So I think £40 is cheap.

Really depends on what she earns and if she contributes anything else and I would take any debt into consideration as well.

She doesn't have any debt and doesn't contribute anything else unless you count the netflick she has on the TV which her sister and Dad watch with her sometimes....

martinthebandit wrote: »

£40 a week seems on the low side to me, how about you suggest to your husband that it should be £80 a week but out of that you will secretly save £50 a week for your daughter so she can put it towards a deposit for her own place?

I am assuming that you don't actually need the money.

£40 isn't a lot of money, so no I don't suppose we actually need the money, but like everyone we have noticed an increase in our outgoings, especially once she came back to live, so the extra money will help with the extra shopping bill and using half of it to re-instate the cleaner will alleviate the arguments we've been having - she's a messy little mare!

It is as much the money to help make living conditions a little easier as it is the message that she shouldn't take us for granted I suppose!

We're just looking to see what is reasonable 'keep' for 2012

Pollycat

MamaJAH wrote: »

She should bring home approx £900 a month
I shop each week and have a great selection of home made food, there is always food at home if she wants it but she prefers to breakfast in starbucks and eat out a lunchtimes.
She buys her own toiletries as in shampoos and bath products as she prefers her specific brands but toothpaste etc are bought for her.
If she puts laundry in the basket it gets washed, 9 times out of 10 she leaves it piling up in her room and does it herself, she cooks for herself if she doesn't fancy what we are having (family meals are a thing of the past)
She says she's going to clean more than she actual does hence re-instating the cleaner with part of her 'board' money so we never ask her to chip in with the cleaning!

Thanks.

I think £175 per month is on the low side if her take-home pay is £900.

You could look at it from a 'what would she be paying if she was living in her own place' perspective.

Forgot to mention bills. I'm assuming the £40 will cover all bills.
Your utility bills will almost certainly increase - electricity, water etc also maybe phone & broadband depending what deal you have and possibly food bills too.

I'm not sure what your last sentence means.
Do you mean that you are going to pay a cleaner with some of the £40 per week she gives you?
If that is the case, I think that's a bit odd.

Do you think she will save any of her salary?

If you don't I'd definitely think about martinthebandit's suggestion and charge her more but put it away for her future.

I know she's your daughter but allowing her to fritter away the best part of £700 per month could lead her to be posting on the Debt Free Wannabee board sometime in the future.

MamaJAH

Pollycat wrote: »

Thanks.

I think £175 per month is on the low side if her take-home pay is £900.

You could look at it from a 'what would she be paying if she was living in her own place' perspective.

Forgot to mention bills. I'm assuming the £40 will cover all bills.
Your utility bills will almost certainly increase - electricity, water etc also maybe phone & broadband depending what deal you have and possibly food bills too.

I'm not sure what your last sentence means.
Do you mean that you are going to pay a cleaner with some of the £40 per week she gives you?
If that is the case, I think that's a bit odd.

Do you think she will save any of her salary?

If you don't I'd definitely think about martinthebandit's suggestion and charge her more but put it away for her future.

I know she's your daughter but allowing her to fritter away the best part of £700 per month could lead her to be posting on the Debt Free Wannabee board sometime in the future.

£40 would be cover all bills.

The bit about the cleaner does sound odd on its own - sorry - when eldest daughter lived at home we had constant arguments about who's turn was it to help with the housework so we had a cleaner each week costing £20 a week, which they split the cost (neither paid rent just £10 each for the cleaner) when the older one left, the middle one continued paying it until she went to live abroad for the summer.
What we are now suggesting is she pays £40 rent, £20 into the pot as it were and £20 to re-instate the cleaner like she used to do before she went to work abroad.

Younger child (17 in full time education) doesn't mind cleaning up her own mess in the bathroom but doesn't think it's fair she now has to do her sisters too and she has a point - the arguments are endless!

She's a walking clothes horse, I'm not sure what she will save, I quite like the idea of taking more off her to save for a deposit, but at the same time i think she needs to do it off her own back. One good thing is, if she hasn't got money she just doesn't spend it, no credit cards no borrowing or anything...

teffers

£50 a week as a base.

If they want the Sky Sports package (etc) then that's extra lol

It's not just about them contributing it's about letting them peak through the curtains at the real cost of life outside

Pollycat

MamaJAH wrote: »

The bit about the cleaner does sound odd on its own - sorry - when eldest daughter lived at home we had constant arguments about who's turn was it to help with the housework so we had a cleaner each week costing £20 a week, which they split the cost (neither paid rent just £10 each for the cleaner) when the older one left, the middle one continued paying it until she went to live abroad for the summer.
What we are now suggesting is she pays £40 rent, £20 into the pot as it were and £20 to re-instate the cleaner like she used to do before she went to work abroad.

Younger child (17 in full time education) doesn't mind cleaning up her own mess in the bathroom but doesn't think it's fair she now has to do her sisters too and she has a point - the arguments are endless!

So in effect, you're only charging her £20 per week board.
Imho, that's far too low.

I think if she won't clean her own room and share the chores in the rest of the house, you should insist she pays the cleaner out of her own money, not out of the board you're charging her.

You've started this by not putting your foot down with your eldest daughter.

I think it's a good lesson to learn - instead of chucking money at someone else to do work for you that you don't want to do, do it yourself.

I agree with your youngest daughter.
Best way would be for your other daughter to learn that life can sometimes be hard and sometimes you just have to do things that you don't want to do.

Work out a fair rota and get them to stick to it.

lady1964

We charge both our working DDs 20% of their take-home pay but they are also expected to do their fair share of housework, cook once a week each and do their own rooms, ironing etc.

It may be that you feel 20% is a little on the low side, so you could round it up to £200 per month and maybe put £50-£75 per month into a secret savings account for her, especially if you don't really need her 'rent' money to help pay bills. £200 per month still leaves her a decent amount each month.

What outgoings does your DD have to pay for each month? Phone, car insurance, petrol, going out etc? Maybe get her to add all those things up, have a budget for going out & clothes, deduct that from her salary and take a percentage of what is left....

That way she learns to spend within a budget, her monthly bills are paid and she knows how much she will have left and she could save some money each month into an ISA or into a savings account.