How much board to charge?

ladyholly

Two reason for asking for board. One you need the money and two he needs to learn that being a working adult costs. Food, electric, laundry etc is not free. If you can afford to you could save part of what he pays to help him when he moves out. Buys a car or whenever you feel appropriate. Don't tell him you are saving it so it will be a surprise for him. 

moneyonmymindsam

Hi
From what you are saying after rent/board (@roughly £5 a night) and travel fare to work your son has £750 a month left which is a lovely amount to have just for savings/spends! 
I think the amount is reasonable and is good for him to get used to being an adult/budgeting skills etc. 
It may differ by council but check this out with them... 
If you or someone who lives with you is an apprentice, you may be entitled to a 25% discount off your Council Tax.
Hope this helps, Sam x

Pollycat

Whiterose23 said:

Parents make a lot of strange decisions based on their sense of ‘fairness’, with plenty of emotion and some guilt thrown in.
My two are 22 months apart so I do try to treat them equally re money but they are very different; my son is very careful with money and always prefers money as gifts for birthday etc so he can save, whereas my daughter is less concerned about it and would prefer to receive a nice gift or have an afternoon out. I just do whatever I know makes them happy but I don’t add it up necessarily. On saying that however, I will ask them for the same amount of board once they’re both working (and if they’re still living at home),
whatever they’re earning.

Would that be fair if one is earning double what the other is earning?

Or would it be fair if you asked one to pay £300 and the other to pay £150 because one is earning twice what the other is earning?

Difficult one.

MovingForwards

@Pollycat my mom did a flat rate, regardless of earnings.
When I left she split my missing keep between my two remaining siblings. When the middle one moved out the eldest then got charged for both of the missing keep money.

In 27 years the keep has not increased. Difference now is eldest sibling pays for the internet and own food, plus does own washing / washing up.

Can now see why sibling hasn't moved out as that's a pretty cushy number, aside from still living in the family home at that age 😂

Whiterose23

moneyonmymindsam said:

Hi
From what you are saying after rent/board (@roughly £5 a night) and travel fare to work your son has £750 a month left which is a lovely amount to have just for savings/spends! 
I think the amount is reasonable and is good for him to get used to being an adult/budgeting skills etc. 
It may differ by council but check this out with them... 
If you or someone who lives with you is an apprentice, you may be entitled to a 25% discount off your Council Tax.
Hope this helps, Sam x

Hi Sam, thank you for this; I had no idea re the apprenticeship/council tax. I will definitely check it out.

Whiterose23

Pollycat said:

Whiterose23 said:

Parents make a lot of strange decisions based on their sense of ‘fairness’, with plenty of emotion and some guilt thrown in.
My two are 22 months apart so I do try to treat them equally re money but they are very different; my son is very careful with money and always prefers money as gifts for birthday etc so he can save, whereas my daughter is less concerned about it and would prefer to receive a nice gift or have an afternoon out. I just do whatever I know makes them happy but I don’t add it up necessarily. On saying that however, I will ask them for the same amount of board once they’re both working (and if they’re still living at home),
whatever they’re earning.

Would that be fair if one is earning double what the other is earning?

Or would it be fair if you asked one to pay £300 and the other to pay £150 because one is earning twice what the other is earning?

Difficult one.

I don't know about this ... why should one of them pay more for the same living situation just because they are earning more? I wouldn't feel comfortable saying that just because one is more fortunate/successful, he/she should pay more. At the moment I'm asking for 16/17% of  take home pay from my son, so I could say the same for my daughter when she starts her first job, but if she was earning £30k and him £20k for instance, then it wouldn't really be fair to take extra from her. Ultimately my aim is to just to cover the essential money I'm losing, as well as maintaining a decent standard of living for us all at home, plus of course helping them to budget, rather than increase their board depending on their success. I think the only reason I would ask for more would be if something went very wrong such as if I lost my job and couldn't cover the mortgage, and that would be temporary until I could pay them back.

Whiterose23

MovingForwards said:

@Pollycat my mom did a flat rate, regardless of earnings.
When I left she split my missing keep between my two remaining siblings. When the middle one moved out the eldest then got charged for both of the missing keep money.

In 27 years the keep has not increased. Difference now is eldest sibling pays for the internet and own food, plus does own washing / washing up.

Can now see why sibling hasn't moved out as that's a pretty cushy number, aside from still living in the family home at that age 😂

So the sibling who is still at home pays more board to cover for the money lost by his/her elder siblings moving out?

MovingForwards

@Whiterose23
We each paid £25.
When I moved out that was then split between the two remaining older siblings to pay. 
When the middle sibling eventually moved out the eldest was then paying £75pw and it's not gone up since. 

Gets a pretty cheap deal compared to renting / owning their own place. However, at siblings age the nest should have been flown over two decades ago and showing no signs of moving!

mydreamality

I think that it's good to ask him to contribute as what you request will be a minimal amount in comparison to what he would be paying if he lived elsewhere. I also think you could give him a break down as to where his money would go and leave that as an option or ask him to buy a specific utility bill or food for the house or something similar to show where his money is going and maybe make him feel more involved. 

Pollycat

Whiterose23 said:

I don't know about this ... why should one of them pay more for the same living situation just because they are earning more? I wouldn't feel comfortable saying that just because one is more fortunate/successful, he/she should pay more. At the moment I'm asking for 16/17% of  take home pay from my son, so I could say the same for my daughter when she starts her first job, but if she was earning £30k and him £20k for instance, then it wouldn't really be fair to take extra from her. Ultimately my aim is to just to cover the essential money I'm losing, as well as maintaining a decent standard of living for us all at home, plus of course helping them to budget, rather than increase their board depending on their success. I think the only reason I would ask for more would be if something went very wrong such as if I lost my job and couldn't cover the mortgage, and that would be temporary until I could pay them back.

I don't know about it either.

I was playing Devil's Advocate in a potential scenario.