Charging for Keep

[Byblyofyle]

My 18 year old son is taking a gap year. He has a job which pays him £800 a month. We feel he should be paying some money towards his keep. We actually intend to put the money in a savings account for him but haven't told him this.
My question to you lovely mums is: what would be a reasonable amount to charge him (he's not keen on paying anything!)?

I'd be upfront with him about putting half in a savings account
he'll need to for uni next year surely?

No, don't tell him, take £100-£200 a month, save some and use some for his board.

£50 per week would seem reasonable to me.

If he doesn't want to pay anything then suggest that he looks at the cost of flat sharing plus all the shopping, electricity etc he would have to pay for.

I'm guessing you don't have £800 each month to spend entirely on yourself so I don't see why he should either; After all it will still leave him with £600.

Yes definitely reasonable. I gave my mum about 1/4 of the money I earned when I was working during the uni vacation, think it worked between £100 - £150 a month, and this was back in 93 & 94!

I think £200 would be a reasonable amount, but I would only save half of it for him.

£800 a month is a fortune!
He has to pay his way and you are doing the right thing insisting he does.

Have you done any research into what flatshares cost? You could then charge him below the average amount in your area ans you both would be satisfied.

£200-250. I certainly wouldn't be putting all of it into a savings account for him.

When I was earning £700 a month,not so long ago,I gave my mother £200 p.m,which she used as I'd expect her to,put £200 in an Isa and spent the rest.

I would certainly say at least a third - where else is he going to get a roof over his head and all amenities for less? It's a very kind lesson you are giving him actually.

Take a percentage. then if he earns more or less it still pays the same proportionately. I'd say 20-25%% was fair.

When I left school in '98 I took a 3 year apprenticeship and gave my parents £35 a week which was just over 1/3 of my weekly wage. All my food and washing was done for me so it was a total bargain really.

When I was in that position I had to pay 1/3rd provided I also saved 1/3rd (and had the remaining 1/3rd to spend). If I wanted I had the option of paying 1/2 and spending 1/2.

I think about £100 a month. my friend's mum did this too - she was 16 and had a part time job, and they didn't need the housekeeping money. She paid them her housekeeping, and when she moved out, when she was 24 - they gave her all the money so she was able to put it towards decorating her new house.

A brill idea - but def don't tell them, as they will get more of a sense of "money" and learning to pay their own way, IMO.

I'm going to have this problem next year, as my daughter's telling people she's going to stay at home 'for free' for a year after university.

Given there will only be two of us, I don't see why only one of us should pay for everything!

I didn't take anything off her when she was on her gap year, as she was saving up to travel. Is he planning to do something similar?

I read some advice once that suggested a young person should deduct their work expenses (travel, lunches etc) and give Mum half the remainder.

Do it fairly. Divide monthly bills, food shop, council tax etc. by the amount of people in the household and charge him his share. He should also be doing his share of chores, cooking etc round the house

You are doing him no favours if you take nothing - my DSS lives with us most of the time and is on an apprentice salary and needs a good reliable car which we have bought and he is paying us back at £200 per month. The bulk of the rest of his money goes on petrol as he has a 120 mile round trip every day. If he had enough spare we would take it from him to teach him aboout the cost of living! I paid my mum approx 20% of my take home pay and also helped out with ironing etc..

going rate for a room in a house
electric
gas
water
council tax
food
telephone
domestic services!!!
etc

You are doing him more of a favour by breaking it down for him and making him contribute to all household bills.

After all, one day he'll move out (well, unless you let him live with you for free and cook and clean and do his laundry....) and it's best that he understands that everything costs!

oooohhhh. I remember being on the other end of this. My mum, single parent, 1980's, insisted that I pay 1/2 of all the bills when I started work aged 18. (showing my age now ) As it was just the 2 of us, it seemed fair. It also taught me the meaning of budgeting, how much things ACTUALLY cost,and gave me a real sense of how the adult world really worked.

If he was mine, I would expect a proportion of how many lived in the house. Eg, if 2 people 1/2, if 5 people 1/5 etc etc.

BTW I worked with a guy whose mother presented him with an itemised bill each month - cooking, cleaning, ironing, shopping, gas, electric etc. - bit over the top IMO.

I agree with MumInBeds. I used to do 1/3 to parents, 1/3 to save and 1/3 for me. Personally I'd take at least £250 and make sure he's contributing fairly to chores.
Agree also about teaching him responsibility and not doing him any favours taking nowt. If only DSD had been kicked up the arse taught some [wishful]

When I first got a holiday job my aunts and uncles asked Mum and Dad if they were going to make me "tip up" - something most miners and factory workers near us did as a matter of course. You got home at the end of the week, handed your pay packet over to your wife / mother. They would then return a fraction of it to you (and I mean about a tenth) as your week's pocket money, and the rest went into the family kitty. My cousins did this when they started work 20 years ago, too.

Not necessarily recommending this approach, but contributing to a house you're living in is definitely a good idea.

Third to parents, third to save, third for me was what I did.

How much would you like to put away for him-you should be able to take that plus rent from 800GBP tbh.

DD1 came home for a while after she finished uni and before shegot married, She had a job and earned about £400 a month. She paid us £130 a month rent.