When to charge board for room

Sncjw

I would suggest to your daughter to Find a job now to earn some money to have ready for when she goes to uni to pay for her expenses. Also to look now before the uni students come back to their home town and transfer to their more local work place to home.

Tabbytabitha

sevenhills wrote: »

I am happy with things in the short term, just trying to get an idea of what other parents do once their child goes to uni.
I am hoping that she will work, I dont think I will charge, but I will expect her to buy more of her own things, supermarket shopping etc.
She is wanting to buy a car, so she is not broke, not sure if the realities of car ownership will stop her.

Will she need a car to get to university? If not, she should be prioritising getting a job and contributing to the household before considering spending such a large amount of money on a luxury.

Fireflyaway

I don't like the idea of charging a family member to live with you. Especially a child you brought into the world. Seems odd that at one point you are happy to pay for nappies, clothes, food, school uniform etc etc but then decide they should be paying you.... These comments are not personally directed at you op. It's just my feeling towards the subject in general! My child is only 12 but they are welcome to stay as long as they want. It's not going to suddenly cost me loads more because they reach 17 or 18 or whatever. Actually the cost will probably be less as I'm assuming by that age they buy their own clothes , pay for mobile etc. You would be paying for heating and water etc anyway.
I'd ask a child to move out if they became troublesome but I wouldn't charge board.

Spendless

sevenhills wrote: »

I am happy with things in the short term, just trying to get an idea of what other parents do once their child goes to uni.
I am hoping that she will work, I dont think I will charge, but I will expect her to buy more of her own things, supermarket shopping etc.
She is wanting to buy a car, so she is not broke, not sure if the realities of car ownership will stop her.

How much student loan will she get?

For a student living away from home on the max maintenance loan, student would need to pay rent out of that to halls or student accommodation.

For a student living away from home on the min maintenance loan, it is highly likely that the parent/s will need to contribute towards the rent. We are going to pay for all our son's 1st year. There were some Unis we looked at when considering places, where the cheapest halls was 50% more than the entire loan he will receive. I have friends and family members who have told their child/ren that they can't afford to contribute to their rent and they can therefor only apply to local Unis and commute.

As the reason the child gets less is because there is an 'expectation'that the parent/s will contribute due to the higher household income, I wouldn't expect a parent to be charging rent from their student loan, as I would expect the parental contribution to be that the child lives at home for 'free'.

If the child gets more money, where they would pay their rent solely from the student loan (if living away) then no parental contribution is 'expected' to top up and in those circs I'd expect the parent to ask for a contribution towards the household bills.

maman

Fireflyaway wrote: »

I don't like the idea of charging a family member to live with you. Especially a child you brought into the world. Seems odd that at one point you are happy to pay for nappies, clothes, food, school uniform etc etc but then decide they should be paying you.... These comments are not personally directed at you op. It's just my feeling towards the subject in general! My child is only 12 but they are welcome to stay as long as they want. It's not going to suddenly cost me loads more because they reach 17 or 18 or whatever. Actually the cost will probably be less as I'm assuming by that age they buy their own clothes , pay for mobile etc. You would be paying for heating and water etc anyway.
I'd ask a child to move out if they became troublesome but I wouldn't charge board.

I agree.

I don't think we know why OP's daughter is moving back as opposed to continuous but I wouldn't want to ask my child to pay to live at home.

I suppose I'm fortunate in that having encouraged my own DDs to be sensible with money, all I want to do is help them. That could be to help keep debt down as a student or to save for a house deposit when working or even to have some fun and travel!

I do appreciate that not everyone is in my position and could be really short of money and need help if they take in another person to their home.

HampshireH

My experience

1st year at Uni. Lived in halls. Worked from January part time. It took that long to find a job. Accommodation was paid for by my loan and parents gave me An amount a month to help me with living expenses. I received it term time only. What I had left over from working I was encouraged to save.

2nd year uni. Lived in shared house. Worked 2 jobs part time (1 at uni and 2 when home in holidays. 1 was a placement transfer from the uni job as was retail) parents gave monthly contribution but half of what I had in year 1. My jobs covered all my expenses excess rent etc. Their "top up" was for food. I only received it term time. Encouraged to save any excess income (not much).

3rd year. Lived at home & communted. Worked 2 part time jobs equivilent to full time hours. No financial support and paid all my expenses including commute. Didn't pay rent. Encouraged to save excess income.

Left uni. Worked full time and paid rent (250 per month) for 6 months until I moved into private rent with a friend.

By the time Ieft home I could afford to privately rent, run a car etc. With savings in the bank for any emergency.

It was 15 years or so ago and things were cheaper but it's all relative.

If not studying I would expect my kids to contribute to the household income.

It installs respect for finances and life lessons about ownership and responsibity.

goodwithsaving

HampshireH wrote: »

It installs respect for finances and life lessons about ownership and responsibity.

But I learned that without my parents being tightarses. They paid for my accommodation at university, welcomed me home between terms and have allowed me to moved home temporarily when I have had one crisis or another. The proviso was that I could join in on their meals but if I wanted my own food/shampoo/etc, I would buy it.
I didn't suddenly cost them more just because I had turned 18.

I had a healthy income from working whilst at university (which I used to bring my student debt down). I wasn't naiive or stupid just because my parents chose to help me.

I was fortunate to have help and didn't take it forgranted. I've since saved my backside off and owned three houses under the age of 30, so can certainly manage money. I know the value of ownership. I go home and help them, so I also know how to respect my parents.

Had I lived at home for an extended period of time, the rent would have been a nominal £100/month but they didn't want to make money out of a child that frankly, they had chosen to bring into the world.

Mojisola

goodwithsaving wrote: »

Had I lived at home for an extended period of time, the rent would have been a nominal £100/month but they didn't want to make money out of a child that frankly, they had chosen to bring into the world.

But when that 'child' is an adult, he/she should be willing to at least pay their own pay and cover all the extra bills. Paying for your own food doesn't mean your parents are making money out of you!

Would you expect your pensioner parents to still fund your lifestyle because they chose to bring you into the world.

LilElvis

HampshireH wrote: »

If not studying I would expect my kids to contribute to the household income.

It installs respect for finances and life lessons about ownership and responsibity.

Personally I don't see that handing over a couple of hundred pounds a month to your parents teaches a child anything. Do they know how much the gas bill is? The council tax? A pint of milk?

I was fully supported during university (no loans at the time and didn't qualify for grants) and for the first few years of working. I had a bank loan for 3 months after graduating to repay my £450 overdraft but since then I've never owed anything other than my mortgage and that was, effectively, paid off when I was 43. Paying "keep", "board" or whatever you want to call it wasn't what taught me financial prudence - it was following my parents example and prioritising long term financial security over wasting money on frivolities, by knowing how much it costs to actually run a household and having a safety net for the unexpected.

Mojisola

LilElvis wrote: »

Personally I don't see that handing over a couple of hundred pounds a month to your parents teaches a child anything. Do they know how much the gas bill is? The council tax? A pint of milk?

Paying "keep", "board" or whatever you want to call it wasn't what taught me financial prudence - it was following my parents example and prioritising long term financial security over wasting money on frivolities, by knowing how much it costs to actually run a household and having a safety net for the unexpected.

They would if the parents went through the household accounts with their resident adult children - as yours must have done for you to know how much it costs to run a household.

It certainly makes young adults realise what a bargain they are getting for their keep money when they see what household bills amount to!