Would you charge your working child board and lodgings?

[Alison]

My 8 year old has decided he'd never go to Uni because he does not want to be lumbered with a student debt, and I've not even mentioned it to him, which is sad in a way because he's in the top of his class and might really benefit from university, maybe he'll follow his bro into the Marines

There will be a lot less people going from less well off backgrounds, it will return to being only for the chosen few.

Alison

this is a real shame, I went when it was a grant and got the max possible given our financial circumstances, and would recommend university to anyone (with a slight proviso assuming good course at somewhere with a good reputation),

I know what you mean about good course, good reputation, sorry but leisure and tourism a degree :roll: just to sell someone a holiday, check them into a hotel, be a holiday rep to sell holiday makers dubious packages when they arrive, for crying out loud you can learn that on the job as an apprentice, a degree is for jobs you need a degree for, that you need that level of education for.

But I do think if your an intelligent person and you want to pursue your interests at degree level then you should be able to.

Alison

 

[MarinMartin]

not going to lie. Im 23 and dont pay rent to my dad (yes Im still living with my dad but truth be told I didnt want to leave because him and my mum broke up a couple years ago and he didnt take it well, and now he has a couple of medical problems Im trying to help him as much as possible)

anyway im in the unfortunate position of not having a paid job at the moment (only voluntary work currently). But before anyone judges me, Im not a scrounger who sponges money from my parents. Ive always paid for my own stuff since leaving school. clothes, consoles, games, bikes and even on £50 a week I treated my family to meals out. So even though I'm not paying rent, I like to give them something. they're stubborn buggers who wont take money from me (even though Ive borrowed money from them in desperate times like a £300 motorbike repair bill-paid back in full dont worry) so I buy the shopping as much as possible, put fuel in the car, things like that. (actually thinking about it, paying rent would probably work out cheaper )

I see some teenagers driving around in flash cars that their parents have bought them and insured for them. that I dont like, I wanted transport, I bought my own moped for £450 and paid for my CBT. thats all I could afford but it was tansport. Im not judging anyone for it, if they want to do that Ive got nothing against them, I just feel that kids shouldnt be spoilt too much. by all means buy their first car but make it a £1000 cheap runabout instead of a £5000 sporty little thing.

back from rambling land its up to you about charging rent or not, but letting them pay their own way is a good start. it will show them what its like to need to buy their own stuff. my parents could have been a lot more harsh there's no doubt about that, but having to buy my own transport etc has given me a bloody good sense of budgeting.

 

[Alison]

not going to lie. Im 23 and dont pay rent to my dad (yes Im still living with my dad but truth be told I didnt want to leave because him and my mum broke up a couple years ago and he didnt take it well, and now he has a couple of medical problems Im trying to help him as much as possible)

anyway im in the unfortunate position of not having a paid job at the moment (only voluntary work currently). But before anyone judges me, Im not a scrounger who sponges money from my parents. Ive always paid for my own stuff since leaving school. clothes, consoles, games, bikes and even on £50 a week I treated my family to meals out. So even though I'm not paying rent, I like to give them something. they're stubborn buggers who wont take money from me (even though Ive borrowed money from them in desperate times like a £300 motorbike repair bill-paid back in full dont worry) so I buy the shopping as much as possible, put fuel in the car, things like that. (actually thinking about it, paying rent would probably work out cheaper )

I see some teenagers driving around in flash cars that their parents have bought them and insured for them. that I dont like, I wanted transport, I bought my own moped for £450 and paid for my CBT. thats all I could afford but it was tansport. Im not judging anyone for it, if they want to do that Ive got nothing against them, I just feel that kids shouldnt be spoilt too much. by all means buy their first car but make it a £1000 cheap runabout instead of a £5000 sporty little thing.

back from rambling land its up to you about charging rent or not, but letting them pay their own way is a good start. it will show them what its like to need to buy their own stuff. my parents could have been a lot more harsh there's no doubt about that, but having to buy my own transport etc has given me a bloody good sense of budgeting.

My son bought his own first car recently for £1000, with my mechanic brother, full service history, bills from all work done, seamed a good buy, it got him home and never ran again, got towed to a garage who spent 6 weeks messing about with it first changing the ignition coil when that didn't work they looked again, spent many hours trying to fine the problem as there computer would not speak to the Matiz computer, in the end it would cost £700 to fix so he scrapped it, they didn't charge him for any labour or for changing the ignition coil and gave him the £100 the scrap men gave him, so he made a great loss as he had paid several hundred pounds on insurance for a car he only really drove once :roll: He's vowed he'll never buy second hand again and is now saving for the deposit on a new one, he won't get to use it much though, he's off around the mediteranien, middle east and North Africa over the next four months then he'll be deployed somewhere else, then somewhere else, I don't see the need for a car :roll:

But I'm afraid I was less honourable than you I just refused as a kid, and while at first I didn't work when I did I wasn't paying I was only on a pittance, So I was a bit of a shit, I paid when I got my own place and have been paying since though, never late and never in arrears.

Alison

 

[MarinMartin]

ah yes have been in that situation before. bought a bike, spent a fortune on it, then found out it was dodgy as hell. lost a lot of money. never a nice feeling when you've lost a lot of money. cars are a gamble, we normally buy £300 cars which go on for years, yet we've paid £1500 for a car which broke after 2 weeks.

I dont mind parents helping out if something like this happens its just when the teenagers go around boasting 'look what my daddy bought me' (if anyone's ever seen my super sweet 16, they'll know what Im talking about) I just feel they need to be taught that they cant rely on their parents forever, budgeting is an important part of life and just giving them money means they never really feel the need to budget which can land them in trouble later on in life when money gets tight.

as for being less honourable, if your parents dont force you to pay anything then its up to you, you dont have to. theres no shame in not paying if you dont have to, I just chose to because I was always bought up in a low money environment and know what its like struggling so I would rather help someone else than spend the money on myself (most of the money I used to buy new things came from me selling old things)

At the end of the day its all up to the parents. Im not going to judge anyone on how they bring up their kids, thats their decision. I just feel that they should be taught the need to budget, instead of buying new games etc for them, make them sell things they dont use any more to pay for them. but thats only my opinion and purely because thats how I was brought up.

 

[Alison]

Yes, I was brought up in a low income home, from when I was three they started up a Holiday home for underprivileged children in Nottinghamshire, so although we lived in quite a big old house all the money came either from charitable donations, jumble sales or my step dad's stamp dealing, which again was from donated stamps. so money was short, my step dad did, when I was 16 buy me my first decent bike, a Revell touring bike anyway they did that together till I was 19 then my mum turned it into a charity for the homeless until she retired and when the house sold everything went to homless charities, I'm a meanie I thought she should have kept it

We as earners are not that well off either, well my hubby earns I do the housework, while playing on retrobike but we try to do our best.

Alison

 

[technodup]

Yes.

Or you could go the route of a very close neighbour's parents and just buy them a two bed flat when the market was highest, complete with en-suite, secure car park for the new Scirocco (that you also paid for) video entry to keep the poor mite safe etc and have all the bills sent to your own address for payment. And obviously throw in the odd holiday, and petrol and cash for grass.

That'll teach him the value of money.