Dig money?

r2015

My grandson has just started working and my daughter and his father and him are at loggerheads as to how much dig money he should pay from his £990 per month net wages.


He lives with his mother and father, she is unemployed at the moment and getting benefits and his father is retired and just gets his OAP.


She wants him to pay £400 a month and he thinks £100 a month.


He will be 21 next week.


What do other children pay?

Oakdene

Is that £400 including all bills? If so then that isnt bad considering a rental cost would more than likely be around the £400 without bills included.

LMG1305

Personally I think £400 is too much, especially when he's earning £990 a month. That's around 40% of his monthly wages!

I think £200 is much more reasonable, maybe £250 at a push if they want to put some savings aside for him to have back when he moves out.

Having seen similar threads like this, I think the average tends to be around £50 per week.

oystercatcher

Look up the cost of a room locally in a house share and use that as a guide.
It could depend on whether the parents would prefer he moved out or stayed at home as to how much more or less they wish to charge .
It's good for youngsters to be shown the cost of food shopping and bills too so they realise how much real life actually costs. I doubt grandson could afford to move out on £990 a month but he may not realise this and may still feel he has a god given right for parental support whatever happens so he can spend all 'his' money on beer and computer games . Time for a reality check Haha !!

Pollycat

£400 out of almost £1,000 sounds a bit on the high side.

But you do need to clarify what his board money will cover to put the amount into perspective.

jamiehelsinki

£200 per month and I would put £50 of that away for him without him knowing.

I'm all for teaching kids the value of money but to many on here want to rip their kids off.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

if he's just started work then he'll look upon his wage as 'his' money.

If he's been staying at home contributing very little, getting all his meals, washing/ironing and maybe only having to tidy his room once a month, he'll be thinking I've had it good for years, why should I have to pay now.

£400 does seem a bit high, unless as suggested in another post, some of that will be 'saved' for him.

If this is first time he's had 'loadsa money', then he may just want to 'spend spend spend'. :beer:

Tammykitty

A third of the cost of running the household.


Normally I would say £400 is way too much, but with the mum unemployed and the dad on state pension, the son should be helping.


Are they on housing benefit, and therefore having a non dependent deduction on the housing benefit - The son should definitely be covering this plus then a third of the household bills

annandale

Is he being asked to pay such a high amount because the mum is out of work and the dad is retired?

If so I think that's unfair. It's one thing paying your way and learning the value of money. It's another to be asked to put 400 pounds into the family home at the age of 21.

I would very much doubt that his share of bills plus food would equal 100 pounds a week.

His wage is his money. He's working to earn it. It's totally right that he contributes but 400 pounds a month is extortionate.

prosaver

wont they have to pay council tax now hes working?

thats about 100 a month for starters.

Rosemary7391

Really depends why they want £400 and he wants to pay £100. If they can't afford to keep him with less, that needs explaining to him. If he wants to save like mad to buy a fancy car or a house, parents need to decide if they want to and can afford to subsidise that. If he's getting all food and bills included in his rent and is intending on spending £890 a month on "stuff" he needs a reality check!