I started working the day I turned 16, so my mother would still do my food shop for me, but I had to reimburse her.
I also got my first 3 months wages without any board money taken off, then had to give her 20% of my take home pay.
When I started driving, I had to do my own shopping.
Then years later, when it was time to move out, it turns out my mother had saved all of that board money and gave it to me to get on my feet with my first flat.
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Sounds like a top mum – teaching you some fiscal responsibility and helping you move out!
Didn’t pay anything while working and still at school/in education. Dropped out of uni and 19 and went full time in my job. Had to pay maybe 50-100 into the house.
Then moved out and moved back in again after a breakup. Working full time and was asked for £150. Was told to do my own laundry. I would buy most of my own food as I worked shifts but if I was home and mum was making dinner, she’d ask me if I wanted some.
Generally though when I moved back in, I was hardly ever there. Worked shifts and spent most of my free time with my new boyfriend at his house.
80% of my wage was taken as rent and I was expected to make the remaining £100 last me the month including all travel, food and clothes.
Yeh, my parents were scum.
They wanted me to pay something, but in the end mum decided it was easier if I just gave her a single sum every week and it would cover all the bills, food, etc.
So £100 a week (this was 20+ years back so more than it now sounds) but I was basically looked after like I was a kid again, with my meals cooked, laundry done, etc.
The rates might have been different – it was a £xxx per month thing for me – but I got it all back when I moved out too.
I remember being asked what I thought a good ‘rent’ was, and I thought I’d pitched well under. I was as it happens £50 over the figure my parents had in mind, and my higher figure was somehow binding. Worked out well in the end though.
For me it was free as long as in education, decided to work instead of Uni and had to pay about £25 a week, then increased as I grew up. Moved out at 19 though, so didn’t last long!
Wasn’t given back to me as I’d come to expect from other friends, but council house and all that so glad i could at least help my parents out a bit!
I paid £50 a week from when I started work until I moved out (didn’t leave permanently till I was 30). Parents were skint so they were using the money to feed me rather than save it for me but, on the flip side, I didn’t have many rules. If I disappeared on a Friday and crawled home on a Monday, there were no questions asked. My parents were pretty relaxed.
There was a rule about bringing “dates” home until I was closer to mid-20’s. Although, at one point I was asked not to bring boyfriends home either unless I was serious about them because the ones they met “were fucking idiots” 🤣.
Got my first paper round at 13. Sperm donor demanded 50% of my pay cheque as rent. If I bought any sweets etc I had to hand over 50% of them as well. I had to show him all of my pay stubs and receipts for anything I bought to prove I wasn’t hiding money. If I didn’t I’d get a beating. If my mum tried to defend me she’d get a beating. This continued until my mum died when I was 19, at which point he kicked me out shortly after the funeral.
We haven’t spoken in over 15 years now and he still tells other family members that he doesn’t know why I hate him.
Yts they took my wages and then gave me a tenner back…
I have children it’s now our roof and they can stay as long as they wish…. Family home has no time limit…
None they trusted me and wanted me to keep my own money so I could save it to buy my own house one day.
I ask my step son to contribute £60 every two weeks to food. He’s 25. I don’t think that too much of an ask. Everything else is on us as we would need to pay the bills and mortgage regardless of if he lived with us or not.
£50 a week when I got my first full time job. Prior to that nothing
I’ve worked since I was 13. I’d buy my own clothes and stuff, when I got a car I’d feed myself and oftentimes would sleep away from home most of the time. My mum didn’t charge me rent or anything but she also owns the house with no mortgage (inherited), so, I wasn’t really costing much.
When my eldest turns 16 in two years, there will be an expectation of her paying towards things when she gets a job. She won’t be told that the money will be going towards the savings we already have for her. That way she can get a step up on the ladder of life by being able to buy her own place.
My husband’s parents were able to loan him money to buy his first home… we doubt we’d be able to afford that so instead we’re saving each month (and have done since they were born) with birthday and Christmas money going in to it. One day I’ll want them to add to it with pay (aside from their ‘rent’) and then when they’re 21, they can hopefully have enough for a deposit.
Got a job a couple months after turning 16.
My mum sat me down and explained that she was really struggling because she was no longer getting child allowance for me and so I had to get a job.
After my 1st month’s wages she would charge 20% of whatever I got that month.
She didn’t have a chance to put any aside for me when I was older and I have no bad feelings towards her for it. I think that being made to pay and have things explained to me definetely helped me become for financially aware as I have gotten older
I had to pay board when I got my first “proper” job which ammounted to £150/£200 per month so about a quarter of my take home
If I were to impose this on my child I would do the same however the slight modifier would be it would be secretly getting shuifted into a HISA or some kind of savings for them this gets you the benefit of the lesson and the future reward of having a stack of cash you didnt know you had working away for you in the background
I paid rent when I entered university at 19/20 to help with food expenses and utilities like water, electricity and broadband. I had responsibility over my room and my own laundry.
Every 5 weeks I was on cooking duty that included meal planning, shopping and cooking. Mum or dad came with to help me find good value alternatives for certain things – mostly due to a combined laundry list of allergies. Mum also showed me how she dealt with an impulse buying husband which has been helpful not just for my own spending but also the hubby’s. And no I don’t control his spending, we discuss it and compromise.
I started working at 16 but it was in my school at lunchtimes so I made peanuts, so nothing then. Obviously that ended when I was 18 and I moved out as I got a new job :’)
Secretly holding your wages isn’t really a good idea. They could instead teach you about how to invest that money or discuss it with you beforehand. Don’t say they kept it in a regular bank account so it made virtually zero interest
pay £600 a month
First job at 15. They didn’t take anything, but stopped my pocket money I think? Good parents 😊
I paid £350 a month to live with my parents, as an apprentice working a second job to survive
Found out years later they were giving my brother £350 a month whilst he was at uni, and he had the cheek to complain that it wasn’t enough
When I got a shop job at 15 I think I gave my mum 20 quid here and there and got us a takeaway once in a while etc. When I was working at uni I think I have a hundred or so a month, so still drastically cheaper than rent I’d be paying. Around that time my mum broke down what all the bills cost which was eye opening and pretty insightful into what I was actually contributing to
My dad and step mum decided that once I had a job I had to pay them rent as they didn’t work and needed the money, even when I got EMA they wanted a piece of it
My step sister and her loser boyfriend never had to get jobs and did the live on benefits thing. Basically the whole family saw me as an ATM and I left once I could and am in low contact with them.
this is wholesome af
I lived at home with my mum until I was 28, our home was free because she’s disabled and I only worked part time because I also had to care for her, but worked slightly too much to be eligible for carers allowance. I bought the dogs food and all other dog stuff, every other grocery order, and a bill every so often if I’d done extra hours at work. I started working full time at 27 (still at minimum wage though) and managed to save up 10k in a LISA before moving out at 28 and never being able to add anything to it ever again.
To go from a rent free home (where even if she had paid rent herself the rent would have only been 450 a month) to rent being £1000 a month for the cheapest place I could find, plus so the other bills, plus I’ve now got a baby, that is absolutely killer financially.
I paid £50 per week from when I got my first full time job at 16. Moved out at 24.
My sister never paid a penny 😂
While still at school (16-18) I worked 4 hours a week, she took nothing but said if I wanted to drive, I would have to pay for my lessons, a car and insurance myself. So my wages went on that as we live in a semi rural town.
Afterwards, I paid for part of the groceries or we would take turns to buy the weekly shopping. I would give her 25-30% of my income to cover rent, bills and laundry. As it was just my Mum and I, she was not entitled to the single person council tax reduction if I lived with her, so I didn’t mind giving her a chunk of my income. When I was unemployed after Uni, she never asked me for money but I still gave her 50% of my JSA (as it was at the time).
I also got £2 a week pocket money growing up in the 90’s. Could spend on what I wanted, but was told when it’s gone it’s gone. Some weeks she would say she was saving £1 of it. I would get all of that back when we went on holiday to spend on what ever. But when it was gone, it’s gone. Definitely taught me the value of money, and financial responsibility
Nah. I got a weekend job at 16 and all my dad made me do was open a savings account and explain about investing and interest rates and stuff. Just making sure I wasn’t wasting all the money I was bringing in as a teen.
lived at home until I was 22. Never paid a penny nor was I asked for it.
My dad was very much of the belief I didn’t ask to be born so I shouldn’t have to pay. My mum went along with it. I worked 30h weeks while I was in college and uni, earned decent money, wasted it all and learned zero financial responsibility. I also have ADHD which does a number on financial responsibility skills! When it came time to move out dad paid my rent and bills. Then he died.
He’d set up an inheritance and I had the bright idea to study in Sweden so I bought a house there. A house I can no longer live in while I sofa surf back in the Uk.
I loved my situation at the time. Now at 37 years old I WISH my parents would have asked for something, anything, taught me something about the real world. It gets hard to coast through life supported by others when everyone is struggling or dead!
I started working soon after I was 13. I paid for my food budget, did my own shop and paid my own phone bill. When I turned 15 I got a small pay rise and started paying my tv bill.
Any transport or social activities I wanted to do were also on me which weren’t many as I couldn’t afford any!
Similar story my grandparents used to charge my mum “rent” when she was I believe 14/15 and had a part time job – They actually saved it up and gave it all back to her when she was 18….
Well. Your mother is amazing.
Mine not so much, but rent was £250 when I brought home £1000. I was saving another 50% to get married.
However every day at least twice a day (no exaggeration) both she and then my step father would harass me over making noise – I was out of the house working from 6am – 7pm during the week and was only allowed in my bedroom unless I was cooking (another ‘rule’ for the family regardless of if I was going to be eating with them or not).
Another time I was screamed at for a few strands of my hair being left in the shower (my bathroom. That was cleaned by me)
And was ordered to make my packed lunch for work when I got home from work because they don’t like to get up before 9am and me walking downstairs in socks, and making a cheese butty apparently woke them up.
When I moved out as it was two days into August she demanded I give her another full month’s ‘rent’ because ‘i’ wasn’t being fair to her. She also banned me from taking any of my bedroom furniture.
I haven’t been in contact with her since then.
We take 10% of their take home for ‘rent’. This we put in premium bonds accounts that they don’t know of and when they are ready to move out we’ll return it as a deposit etc.
I set the rules.
I lived with my dad, who was rubbish with money, and who was never interested in food. I was always starving! The fridge would have a block of lard and a pint of milk in it. I used all the money from the part time jobs I had while I was still at school for food.
So I said he could pay the rent, and I would buy the food, and we would pay half of the bills each. I took £5 a week off him to put towards his half of the bills, or he wouldn’t have had enough when they came.
I wasn’t saving any money to help my dad buy his first flat…
I paid my mum I think it was £40/week ‘board’ once I turned 18 for any time I wasn’t in higher education. That covered food, beer from the fridge, etc
This was around the year 2000
I left home at 16. Got a 3rd shift job at a gas station (lied aboiut my age). Bought a $250 car. Had a $25 a week room above a biker bar and still went to school. Imagine the home that made that look appealing. lol btw that was in the 70’s, be hard to lie about youir age these days.
Every single time I went out for a few drinks, my dad would say ‘if you’re not in bed by midnight, come home son’ and laugh like a drain.