Son got first job, fair rate for board

I find the concept of board very odd.

Given you've made a fortune out of the property boom, it seems quite disgraceful to be asking for rent from a child, who will never benefit from this.

If it's a point of 'showing them the value of money', at least give the money back when they move out.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Whats a fair rate for someone who has secured first job.
We aren't talking pocket money here, around £1200 take home per month.

So whats a fair rate for all in board and lodgings?

Initially I off the top of my head said 20%, but at £240 maybe that's a bit steep, its not supposed to be a profit making exercise lol.

He eats a lot, that's probably the most significant bill, but also uses a fair amount of electric and is not careful on the usage either. Eg got locked out the other night as I was locking up I noticed his light on, so had assumed he was in, he wasn't, he had been out for hours.

So would something like £150 be fair (a month)
That's just over £34 a week over 52 weeks, allowing £30 for food and £20 a month for utils. TV etc are in effect free as we would pay them anyway.

Too high, too low?
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Take a third of it, but don't spend it all. If you intend to put £200 per month towards your bills put the other £200 into a savings account and give it back to him when he comes to start looking for his own place to buy/rent. It will be a massive headstart and he probably would have just blown the money whilst living at home with you anyway, so he will thank you for it :)
 
Going back some years, my dad charged me £100pcm when I was earning about £800pcm, (the amount wasnt really an issue for him) looking back it was pretty fair, it allowed me to live a bit and learn some responsibility.

Living costs are a lot higher now, so I guess you have to be carefull, its a fine line between spoiling a child which may set them up for failiure and charging them too much.
 
I was on around £2200 p/m for the past year and my parents only asked for £50 p/w but I also paid the Phone/TV/Internet bill for the household as me and my brother are the only ones to use those services 95% of the time.
 
zegna said:
I find the concept of board very odd.

Given you've made a fortune out of the property boom, it seems quite disgraceful to be asking for rent from a child, who will never benefit from this.

If it's a point of 'showing them the value of money', at least give the money back when they move out.
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If find that questionable. When I first left home I was earning about 27k which for local area was a good wage. My mother was on about 18k.

Why would I begrudge her 25% of my salary. She worked damn hard when I was younger so I will help her out when i can :confused:
 
Anything more than 200 does not seem fair.

under 200 seems more reasonable, depends how much you want (or need?) the money and I guess if he's eating good food will cost you about £100 a month
 
Sone said:
If find that questionable. When I first left home I was earning about 27k which for local area was a good wage. My mother was on about 18k.

Why would I begrudge her 25% of my salary. She worked damn hard when I was younger so I will help her out when i can :confused:
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Completely different case. I'm sure if you contributed towards the household off your own back, instead of being asked for an arbitrary figure it would mean a whole lot more.

Psychologically board is for the simple minded part of the previous generation, that want to retain some sort of power of their child once they start earning their own way but can't afford to move out; which isn't possible because of the inflated house prices that the said parents generation are responsible for.
 
The Craig said:
Anything more than 200 does not seem fair.

under 200 seems more reasonable, depends how much you want (or need?) the money and I guess if he's eating good food will cost you about £100 a month
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I guess it depends on context, if the parent is well off, they should charge the kid enough to make them feel it, regardless. Otherwise they can move out.

For less well off families it's often the case that resourses may need to be pooled.

Put it this way, if I landed a 30k job at about 20 years old, I'd have no problem paying £500pcm for an all inclusive residence complete with home cooked meals and laundry service.
 
I paid £250 a month when I was working at 16 on minimum wage. Was happy to pay it, did the maths on moving out lol

With my son, I will charge him a similar amount but he will not know that I'll put away £150 a month into a bond and not reveal it until he's set for a drastic life change.
 
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Sorry, an 18 year old isn't a "kid". Just because you live at home, doesn't make you a kid. You can vote.

It's not to teach a lesson, it teaches a practical reality.

Parents not charging board from working adult "kids" is why we have a moocher expectance culture.

Pay your dues as a way of life or GTFO and pay your dues to survive.

The intention is the important part. People need goals and purpose to progress.
 
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sports_brah said:
Reading this thread depresses the **** out of me, and makes me realise why we have such a societal problem with the family unit.

Why on Earth would you charge your own flesh and blood? Surely you want the best for the them? You don't need to be taking their money to teach them life lessons. Be the example yourself.

And if you need the cash, then they should volunteer of their own volition.

I'm setting just over a k a month to help my parents out financially. They helped me out massively growing up, and now that I've got my first job, I'm going to take care of them.

Maybe I'm just strange, but family is everything, and I can't see the point of such a short term gain such as charging. :/
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I agree with you.

The idea of 'teaching them a lesson' about money is ridiculous. If a child gets to 16 or whatever age they have a job and they don't understand how money works then you have bigger problems and/or you've been a soft touch on them when they were younger. I'd want to help them save up as much money as possible so that they can put down a deposit for a house. The only exception would be if the parents actually needed the money which is fair enough.
 
Charging board is fine and I will do the same when my children grow up but the money will be put away for them when they need it, not to line my pockets. Young adults do not understand the value of money until they earn it and live independently. Most of them will also waste it on drivel when they should be putting money away for a mortgage.

I was 20 when my father died. Luckily for me the will stated I had to be 25 before I could get my inheritance as if I had the cash there and then I would have nothing to show for it now. Would have spent it all on cars and holidays. All of my friends who went straight into a trade were the same. Bringing home over 1k a month and having nothing to show for it!
 
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