Well, at least not this year . . . Do you charge them rent? DS finished his A levels last month. I think he'll do reasonably well but certainly won't get straight As, and he does not want to go to Uni. He doesn't know what he'd study, doesn't want to get into debt. (Although luckily we are in a position to help).
He is now working (almost) full time at a bar (his part-time job for the last year) until he "decides what he wants to do". Now while I'm glad he's getting out of bed and doing something, I'm not sure what we should be doing re his "keep". He has not suggested paying any rent and as yet I haven't asked for any. He also has use of my old car (DH recently got a company car, I "inherited" DH's car, so my little runaround was sitting on the drive going rusty, so there was no expenditure). He puts petrol in the car and has paid for the tax.
I have told him that now he's no longer in further education he'll have to start fending for himself a bit more (ie I don't do his ironing, don't change his bed or hoover his room. If he wants to wear unironed clothes or sleep in the same sheets for weeks at a time that's his concern!)
Last night he came home and devoured a huge plate of bread, cheese and salad and then told me the pickled onions had run out so would I get some the next time I went shopping. Well, he's the only one in the house who eats pickled onions, so I told him to buy them himself if he wanted them! and he was a bit surprised and made some excuses how split shifts make it difficult go shopping, etc. My response was that I also work full time and have responsibilities for his younger brother, the dog, the housework, etc - so why should I go out of my way to buy things specificallly for him? He didn't raise any objections, I think it just hadn't occurred to him.
Now he must take home between 200 and 250 quid a week (not exactly sure, sometimes he works more shifts than others) and it seems to me that he should contribute something to the household whether we actually need the money or not. He does buy all his own clothes and pays for all his own entertainment - doesn't need to put credit on his phone as we bought him a "contract" phone for his birthday. So in reality he has a lot more disposable income than I have!
Well, wise Mumsnetters - what would you suggest? He is a good lad and we never have any trouble with him but I really want him to understand that money doesn't grow on trees and that if he were to go out an get a flat then he'd have a lot more bills to pay than he does living at home!