How much rent should I pay my parents??

cccsusan

Hello there, I’m hoping I can get some insight into my issue! 

I have been at university for the last three years with a part time job on a 4 hour contract - Most of what I earned has gone into savings and remained relatively untouched. Because I was only earning a max of £300 a month, my parents were VERY lenient and didn’t make me pay rent but I did what I could to contribute to the household - replacing broken appliances, paying for takeaways and meals etc. 

Fast forward three years, I have bagged an apprenticeship and although I’m working full time, my pay is shoddy. I really really want to help my parents out and not feel like I’m getting away with anything but, on a wage of £400 a month, I’m simple unsure what to offer to them! Please note that I am putting money into an ISA account, I pay for my own phone bills, subscriptions etc and run my own car. 

Any suggestions are welcome! Thank you

TBC15

Give it all to them, and see what they give you back. Stumping up with your paycheck was expected about 40yrs ago in the NE.

typistretired

This is a discussion you need to have with your parents. They may not want you to contribute but prefer you save for your future

NedS

How much can you afford to pay?

If they are renting and claiming help for rent on Universal Credit, the government will deduct £75/month from their UC housing allowance due to you (a non-dependent adult) living in the property, so that is how much the government think you should be contributing.

RetSol

cccsusan said:

Hello there, I’m hoping I can get some insight into my issue! 

I have been at university for the last three years with a part time job on a 4 hour contract - Most of what I earned has gone into savings and remained relatively untouched. Because I was only earning a max of £300 a month, my parents were VERY lenient and didn’t make me pay rent but I did what I could to contribute to the household - replacing broken appliances, paying for takeaways and meals etc. 

Fast forward three years, I have bagged an apprenticeship and although I’m working full time, my pay is shoddy. I really really want to help my parents out and not feel like I’m getting away with anything but, on a wage of £400 a month, I’m simple unsure what to offer to them! Please note that I am putting money into an ISA account, I pay for my own phone bills, subscriptions etc and run my own car. 

Any suggestions are welcome! Thank you

How do you do all this on £400.00 per month?  I don't get it. It doesn't sound to me like you can pay your parents anything.  It seems to me that the only way forward, for you and for them, is for you, eventually, to get a better paid job, n'est ce pas?  If you have squirrelled away some savings while you were a student, you may be feeling guilty when the reality is that your parents chose to give you what support they could while you were a student. You probably also have student debt to pay off.  You don't need to feel guilty about the past - simply honour what you feel life requires of you in the present and the future. 

cloud_dog

20%.  That is what I contributed once I was in full time employment.  And, that is what I expect my child to contribute also.

John464

Depends on the circumstances.
When I lived with my parents as an adult I paid my share of the bills.
If they had been paying rent I would have paid a share of that.
But they were homeowners so there was no rent to pay.
Just house maintenance so I paid a share of that instead.
But its very hard for young people today.
If you are doing your best and skint, they have plenty of money and don't mind, then don't worry about not paying your share.
As long as you are not taking the !!!!!!. 

Ciprico

I was an apprentice earning £28 a week. I was expected to pay 25%.
A pint of beer cost £1.80 back then.
(Wrong, was 80p, could go out on a Friday night armed with a tenner, get drunk and buy a Chinese takeway on the way home - happy days!)

ZeroSum

123mat123 said:

I was an apprentice earning £28 a week. I was expected to pay 25%.
A pint of beer cost £1.80 back then

Can still get a pint for that much at plenty of places

st182

When i earned £80 a week at the start of my apprenticeship, i paid £20 not saying that's the right ratio, but it didn't do me harm and i learned quick about money. I did have a full time job before that and my wage practically halved, but i do believe it was when i learned the value of money most! Later on between then and moving out my parents capped my board at £50 a week for helping out earlier- my older brother was at university and the money i gave them helped with some of his cost in that period, so I got rewarded later!
I do regret not putting the extra I would have payed to one side and treating them when i moved out- but 20 years later they get a meal out every month so I'm trying to sneak it all back slowly!!!
And just a note, good on you for contributing- the vast majority of my colleagues who have older children don't get anything!

st182

PS pint of beer then was £1.30, good old websters