How Much Board Money To Charge For My Cousin to Stay and Study,

samcantcope

Hope someone can help, my cousin who is 14/15 yrs old, is coming to stay with me and my family so she can start her GCSE, she comes from Japan, my uncle is trying to move back to england, but will take him a while, so he has asked us if she can come and live with us which we r happy to do, he has asked me to work out how much board we will need to charge him, we were thinking about £200 a month, which will include all meals, electric water, and rent etc. does this sound too much? has anyone had experiences in this,

Alikay

I don't know how much things cost in Japan or what your uncle earns, so I'd try and find that out - if the cost of living out there and your uncle's salary are much lower than in the UK it might take a huge chunk out of their family budget. There again, if he's very well paid, £200 per month is a lot cheaper than paying for a boarding school and recognises the big responsibility you're taking on.

If it were me, I would only want to cover any additional costs having my cousin to stay would incur -probably a lot less than £200 a month. I'd just want to help out my family, rather than seeing him as a lodger, and therefore liable for fully sharing costs.

samcantcope

I want to help out as much as I can, But I dont work as we have 2 young children, so we dont want to be too much out of pocket. I might tell him to suggest something as we honestly do not have a clue.

thank you

Gemmzie

My aunt houses students from all over the world who are 18+ and they get their main meal each day for £80 approx per week (depends slightly on other things).

So I'd think £200 was a bit on the low side considering a 14/15 will be basically another child to look after. Cooking, cleaning etc plus the parental guidance you'll be offering her.

pavlovs_dog

also find out whether he expects the money he pays you to include her pocket money

Savvy_Sue

can you work out roughly what your food bills are at the moment? A teenager tends to eat as much as an adult (or more!) so add an appropriate percentage on to that.

I wouldn't expect an extra teenager to increase other bills that much, but then our house is full of 'em already ...

But yes do check whether you'll be expected to give your cousin pocket money, bus fares, dinner money and buy all school uniform etc, or whether these will be 'extra' as required.