I am 23 years old and I have been living at my parent’s house for the past seven months. Since graduating college, I have been working 32 hours per week while using the rest of my time to search for a full-time job that relates to my degree. I never thought it would take this long to find a job and none of my interviews have been successful so far.
I am supposed to start paying rent this month ($75 per week) and I feel like that is understandable since I’ve been staying here for free for a decent amount of time. However, my friends have told me that their parents would never charge them rent for staying at home. Personally, I just feel like the price is high considering the fact that I don’t even have my own room (I have been sleeping in the home office). I appreciate having a place to sleep at night, but I have to leave the room around 9 AM so the office can be used for work.
With my current job, I don’t get home from work until 2:30 AM most nights. I would really be paying to have a place to sleep for a few hours each night, but I don’t exactly have any personal space. I clean up after myself, I pay my own bills (car, phone, ect.), and I pay for my own food. I am also trying to save up so that I can afford furniture and supplies for my first apartment as I plan on moving out once I get a full-time job.
I understand that living anywhere else would cost more money, but is $75 a lot when I don’t even have my own room?
What is your opinion on this situation? Would you charge your kids rent and are my concerns reasonable?
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I live with my grandparents and so does my older brother. You are the same age as him. I’m only 19 and still in college but my brother is not. He pays $300 a month to stay in our RV outside the house.
edit: I mean that I don’t pay rent at all
I would absolutely charge my kids rent. It would be below market rate and I would put that money into an account to save for them and gift it to them later.
I would not tell them while they are renting.
Yep. I’ve charged my adult kids rent when they were done college. They had a 6-month “grace period” after graduating from college, to save money and find their own place. After that, they started paying rent.
My parents never did and unless these some other circumstance I won’t charge my daughter either
I think it’s reasonable because you’re an able bodied adult who needs to be contributing to the house in chores and financially as you are no longer a child. You shouldn’t be treated like you are. You use utilities, make messes and eat food.
Yes
The $75/week would certainly leave a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps your parents want their office space back and are trying to nudge you out. Unfortunately it may impact their relationship with you in the future if it feels like you must pay to visit their home. In regard to my kids – I don’t intend to ever charge them rent. I want my kids to always know they can come back and if there was a situation where I didn’t want them to come back under my roof – I would hope that I could have a direct conversation with them as to why it’s best we live separately. My parents didn’t charge me rent and I lived at home until early 20s. My husband also lived at home after college. We both saved up for several years and were able to buy a home and move directly into the home from our parents houses. We both are thankful for our parents letting us live at home rent free because it would have taken us a lot longer to save up for a down payments had we been paying rent. In your situation, I wonder if you’d be better off couch surfing until you’re able to get your own apartment? Sounds like there’s no reason to stay tbh.
Generally yes. If you are working, you should be at least putting in the extracosts of them running the house. Basically what you eat.
You should also be doing your share of the household chores — washing dishes, cleaning bathrooms. Mom should NOT be doing your laundry.
If you are NOT working, you shoulcd be doing more of hte chores, pick up some project for the family — e.g. Dad has been saying “I’ve been meaning to repaint the TV room…)
My parents said I go to college or pay rent
I went to college then because I was making a good amount of money in school they were charging me utilities around the house that ranged $300-600 a month plus car insurance.
$300 a month is great plus teaching you to budget and who know they could be saving the amount to give you when you’re ready to put down for a house like I’ve seen in some posts.
I would not charge my kids rent. My parents didn’t, my husband’s parents didn’t either. It enabled him/us to save $20k in a few years for a down payment on a house. I would much rather my children be able to afford a house than pay a portion of my mortgage.
That depends on how much I need the money. I would phrase it as contributing to expenses, not as rent, personally. But if I didn’t get the money I wouldn’t charge at all.
Sure i would, not the exact moment they turn 18 of course but still. My wife and I had this conversation a few years back and she was upset at my answer back then but she came around. We decided that if the kids wanted higher education they could stay with us as long as they were in school and until they got a job afterwards within a reasonable time frame. Anything else will require something no matter how small. Hard times are exceptions as well.