Son got first job, fair rate for board

Sudden said:
I don't think i'll ever understand this culture of charging your children.

Do you need the cash he contributes? If no, don't charge. If yes, then he should be contributing whatever you need, regardless.

But maybe that view is because I didn't grow up here.
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I know what I would have done with a disposable income of £1,200 a month at 18. It would not have been a long list of sensible financial choices. I suspect that most teenagers are at least a bit like this.

My mum made me pay rent when I was that age and living at home. I paid £200 out of an income of £1,000 a month. I didn't pay for food, electric, gas, TV and internet, council tax etc. The object wasn't to make a profit or to cover the costs of having me at home, it was designed to be the next logical step in my financial education. It taught me to prioritise my expenses. If I wanted a roof over my head (I doubt she'd would have actually thrown me out but you know what I mean), my car to run etc I needed to pay for these things before I bought that new cd or a pint at the pub.

I still had enough money to have a good social life and save a little on the side. £800 a month in disposable income isn't really too far off what I have now, although I also have my own place now, and it's certainly more than adequate for an 18 year old. The OP's son will have £1,000 left over on what he's suggesting, which isn't unreasonable when you have nothing to buy out of that but what you want.
 
As soon as I saw his wage, £200 sprung to mind.

Shouldn't be free whether you need the money or not, kids need to realise that living isn't cheap. In my mind, if they're earning why wouldn't they contribute.
 
my mum just threw me out when i was 18. This taught me to be careful with my money :D. I moved back in for a year or so in my early 20's while i was arranging buying a house all good :D
 
don't hit him too hard tho.. £200-£250 sounds about right :)

my parents wanted 500 for rent + food + bills etc..

so I just left and rented a house with my younger brother who was told to bend over too.
 
I think it's pretty old fashioned to be 'charging' your kids rent. If he's old enough to be earning £1200 a month then he should be old enough not to need your lessons.

It seems a bit like "oh you've got a job son? well done, we'll have 20% of that because we need to teach you that when you have kids and they finally get a job you deserve an extra holiday every year."

Get him to save the money for a house deposit or he'll be living with you forever.
 
Skidder said:
I didn't even know this was a thing. Do you need the money or are you trying to teach him a lesson?
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Why can't it be a bit of both?

McBain said:
As soon as I saw his wage, £200 sprung to mind.

Shouldn't be free whether you need the money or not, kids need to realise that living isn't cheap. In my mind, if they're earning why wouldn't they contribute.
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As the man says, if you're earning why is it unreasonable to expect you to contribute whilst also teaching you how to manage your money.
 
from my group of friends growing up the only ones that actually moved into places of their own with responsiblities were the ones who paid a reasonable rate of rent. The rest stayed as long as possible because it was free
 
To be honest, earning £1200 a month he's earning enough to be living on his own like grudas said. No more sneaking skanky one night stands in after pub closing time to the parents house. Come back to my pad and let me wake up the morning after with horror and regret burnt into the very fabric of my soul.
 
Amp34 said:
£100-200 I'd say. As you say it's not a profit making scheme and that should cover your costs. That'll also help him save for a deposit on a home/rental... Alternatively make it higher and put part of it in an account and surprise him at a later date (say when he's looking to move out and pay the aforementioned deposit). Depends to an extent how old he is and what he plans to do I guess.
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I would be thinking along these lines. Take more than you'd be after and put half of it into an account for when he's looking to move out. when it comes, surprise him. I know personally it would stop me from wasting too much and would find it both helpful and sort of thoughtful. :)

edit: Then again, I don't pay a penny. Student and all that. ;)
 
I persuaded my parents to charge me nothing, on the condition that I put almost all of my wages into a savings account and didn't touch it.

They seemed OK with this, because it means I'll be able to bugger off and move out sooner. :p
 
Anything more than £200 is a bit ridiculous, to be honest. The guy whose parents were charging him £300-£400 on a take home of £1000 - his parents must have hated him :p
 
PMKeates said:
The idea of charging someone £200 to live at home as a lesson in "managing money" is farcical.
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Agreed, it teaches nothing as it's such a small amount, it doesn't need managing, and I don't get why you wouldn't want to help your kid out as much as possible, that baffles me.
 
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