Money for keep

[Quiet Man]

How much money is reasonable to ask my son to hand over now that he is working? He has a good appetite.

[B00]

Lol @ good appetite bit!

The actual amount obviously depends on how much he's earning, but I dont think it's unreasonable to ask for a third of it, if he moans point out to him that he won't find anywhere cheaper to live where he also gets his cooking and cleaning done for him as well!

[Liza B]

Depending on how much he earns, you could divide all the bills into how many live in the house. That way everyone is paying the same and there are no arguments.

[miso]

Make him pay for things like gas for the car, clothing, car insurance, outings, cell phone bills, shopping. I'm not sure about making him pay for food. He is your son, you can't let him starve. If he only just started working, he's probably only got minimum wage, probably not enough to pay for everything.

I guess the only thing i'd really have a problem with is making him pay rent. That's just silly. (I assume he's your average underpaid student, and not an irresponsible 30-year-old freeloader.)

Note: make him do his own cleaning. ;-)

[len_1]

i think 25% is good. Get him used to budgeting first and then up it to a third. You don't want to take too much straight away as it might put him off working. (whats the point of working if you don't see much of the pay).

[Solarjunkie]

Our family rule is the price for a local bedsit, as shown in the local paper. He gets food, washing, TV licence, council tax, aspirin, loo roll, and everything else for that, so he gets a very good deal, I feel I am pampering my son but he gets an idea of what the real world is like.

The percentage could be as high as 80% of earnings, but as parents we are no longer getting child allowance so why should we subsidise him even more when he is actually earning? He is still getting much more available cash than when he was only getting pocket money! Suddenly having thousands of pounds with only CDs and jeans to spend it on can go to your head, so it's up to us parents to add a bit of realism.