Charging your teenagers rent

Teetonetal

bloodandtears said:

Be warned this could backfire.. it could invite the attitude to to further treat the family home as a hotel given he's paying for digs.

It may also incite a desire to leave home.

In which case you then get him to start to pull his weight with house hold chores.
It becomes Rent = room only, he can go buy his own food, use a launderette unless he contributes to the household running etc. Ultimately this is a parents last act of getting a child ready for life - if they don't like it, they will move out and the real world will hit them at great speed.

Axe_meister

charge him rent but put the money aside to help him out with a deposit for his own place when the time comes

TheMarlin

Chargé him rent, but keep it in a savings account for him. Could help him with a deposit for a house. 

If you have to act like a dick to you kid, be a constructive dick!  Take with one hand, give with another. 

fob

50%

25% for keep, 25% in a savings account that he can't touch until whenever you think is appropriate. Milkshakes, spaghetti measuring services, and the like come out of the remaining 50%.

MattBanshee

Charge him rent, but put it aside for a deposit, otherwise you're digging a hole for him before he's even got started.

Also, please remember - he is a teenager. A raging concoction of hormones, emotions, psychological confusion, and staring straight into the face of growing up in a country that hasn't been this hostile since the second world war. He is absolutely going to be behaving in a way that you feel is unbecoming - because that's what every teenager does. You can either try, with futility, to 'incentivise' him out of something that he cannot fully control, or you can instead be understanding, nurturing, patient and remember that you signed up for this on the day that you let the little tadpoles out for a swim. Don't give him even more shit, he's getting enough as it is.

MattBanshee

menamestom said:

Thinking of charging my lad rent as well. 

The fact he's 9 and has no source of income is the main stumbling block at the moment.   The glimmer of hope is open fires are coming back so the demand for chimney sweeps is likely to rise.

You'll find a way. It didn't stop the Tories, after all.

Guitar_Slinger

Nitefly said:

The rule in my parents' house was always 1/3 of take-home pay.  This even when I was at school and worked in a chippy part-time during holidays.

Wis'd. My dad did this when I was 17, taking £9.50 on £28.50 weekly wages.  Although he gave me £1 a day for lunch!

At 18 I moved to London and struggled for the first year, having to pay £42 a week rent for a tiny room, with £85 take-home pay.  From the second year, I did full and part-time jobs to survive, and it taught me to be responsible with money.  I was also having a great time and saved for stuff like motorbikes, guitars and a house deposit.

My younger brother, on the other hand wasn't charged anything and has turned into a right selfish cunt.

I'd charge my own son 1/3 of wages, or let him live rent-free while in full time education.  The thing about kids is, they talk to other kids and make comparisons to suit themselves with the one that pays the least rent/gets the most pocket money/does the least chores.