<p>Hello, I just graduated college and I learned that my parents are going to make me pay rent to live in my own house in addition to doing chores around the house. I understand the doing the chores part but my parents making me pay rent to live in my own house?</p>
<p>Do you make your kids pay rent to you to have them live in their own house after they graduate college? Just wondering.</p>
<p>Yes, we did. 20% of takehome pay, but no chores as such. We put half the rent into a savings account, and he used it as security deposit money when he moved away. My parents charged me rent, too — I could pay in cash, or pay in sweat equity. </p>
<p>My kids didn’t come home to live after graduation.</p>
<p>For me, it would probably depend on how long you planned on sticking around. My kids both spent a couple of months at home after college graduation before they started out of town jobs and we did not charge them for rent , we fed them on our dime.etc. But if they were going to be living at home and working in town, we probably would have asked for some amount after a period of time. We paid/are paying cell phone on the family plan for a year after graduation, car insurance and AAA for a year if needed,etc. But one year post grad is where that would stop.</p>
<p>by “my own house” I am guessing that means you paid for it? Or at least you paid your share of the purchase price, taxes, insurance, upkeep and so on through the years? Surely you wouldn’t mean the house your parents did all those things to achieve, would you? How do you think your parents live in that house? They either pay rent or mortgage to live there.</p>
<p>If you are like I was at 17, 18, 19, or soon after, I was trying to persuade my parents to treat me more like an adult. My S did that too, at that age. Well, if you’ve graduated college you are old enough, and should be prepared enough to be an adult. An adult typically comes and goes as he pleases in his home, and sets his own rules in his own home. Of course, that adult typically is self-supporting. If you’re not working yet, you’re not yet quite an adult, as many adults see it, and if you have to live in parent’s home then yes, rent is likely. Partly because they didn’t intend for you to graduate college to live in their home. Had they wanted you to live in their home, there’d be no reason for you to attend college.
Plus, paying rent and having other responsibilities is more adult-like- remember the parents do too. They pay rent or mortgage and have around the house chores too. Sometimes a parent gives back part or all of the rent paid when the kid moves out and becomes an adult. But from the parent’s perspective- paying rent is a disincentive for the kid, in hopes of encouraging the college grad to become a self-supporting adult.
An angle you may not have thought of is that your parents are adults too, in their own home. They can set the rules in their own home. You can do the same when you are in your own home.</p>
<p>We gave each kiddo a by on rent for a period of time. We charge a nominal amount for the one who lives here to live here. No objections. She can’t find an apartment for less money than what we are charging her. We put all that she gives us into an account…and she will get that when she moves out. Shhh. It’s a surprise! </p>
<p>My dad did the same thing for my sibs and me.</p>
<p>And yes, she has household chores as well. She is living in this house. We expect her to do her own laundry, keep her room and bathroom clean, and call us when she is going to the grocery store to see if we need anything. </p>
<p>Not a bad deal!</p>
<p>No rent for a year. Then we charged. Yes, chores and communal responsibilities as well as family ones. What we charge is less than what would be available around here. </p>
<p>It’s up to each family how they want to do this. I think it’s doing some kids a favor in that it forces them to live on a reduced amount so that when they transition to their own place, they’d already have some of that rent cost already taken into account. A friend who has her DDs living at home is now in the situation where those girls have adjusted their life styles and budget using their whole check not taking into account the toll rent would take. It’s so easy to do that. Buy more car, make other obligation, get used to a bigger life style, and all of a sudden you can’t get your own place if you wanted to do so. </p>
<p>I would if they had come home 
but so far no one is coming home.</p>
<p>Our oldest never moved back home. Our 2nd oldest is a disabled adult. He just started contributing to our household about 4 months ago and he is 22. He is finally working steadily and we are using it as an opportunity to help him understand how to budget expenses (though the amt he contributes is miniscule, it still helps connect the idea that all the $$ he makes is not spending $$. We are also forcing him to put 50% of his income in his bank acct) Our dd will be graduating in Aug. She already has job offers in our area and she will be moving back home temporarily. She wants to save up enough $$ to buy a car and put enough $$ in the bank to be able to afford signing a lease on an apt. We will be charging her rent. We have paid all of her expenses up to now and will through graduation. I do not feel any responsibility toward providing for everything for a fully employed adult. Help? Yes. Complete dependence on us? No. She will pay enough to help cover the costs of her food and car insurance, etc. </p>
<p>It’s pretty common to charge graduates for rent…honestly otherwise what is your incentive to move out?
They are probably charging you less than market rate…so you can still save up money for your own place.</p>
<p>Also they probably want to change the dynamic of your relationship…when you were in college, you didn’t pay rent and maybe you did or didn’t do chores since you were not living there full time. </p>
<p>But now that you are an adult, and are expected to take care of yourself, they are specifying what chores you are responsible for as a paying member of the household, just like if you rented with any one else.</p>
<p>You might think it “not fair”, but what if you were 35 and still living at home for free? Would that be fair to your parents? At what point do you think it is fair for you to pay?</p>
<p>There will be rent after college graduation if either of them chooses to come live in my house again. They don’t get to live off of me forever. The Bank of Mom is closing when they graduate from college. </p>
<p>If they did come back home, it would depend on circumstances, but there would be a charge, because while I love them dearly, I also find sharing a home the size of mine challenging with more than one other adult for very long.
Or they could be traumatized forever because they find out mom sleeps nekkid.</p>
<p>S has lucked out on rent since moving back to Chicago. His friend’s parents own a four-flat in Logan Square and his rent for his share of a three-bedroom apartment is a mere $100 a month plus utilities. I tell him all the time that if he moved back home I would not be as generous as his friend’s parents are. </p>
<p>My parents always charged me rent when I lived at home (even when I lived at home during college they charged a % of my pay from my part-time job). I resented it - I will let my daughter live in our home rent-free after college if she chooses to - I doubt she will however.</p>
<p>My D1 had a job lined up that started in August after graduation. She lived at home rent free for those 2 months. If she hadn’t had a job, I would have let her stay 6 months without rent IF she was really looking hard for employment, then she would have to figure something out (take what she could get and pay some rent, or move out). If she wanted to live at home and had a "real job"in the area, I would have let her stay but charged her rent. I have told my kids if they want to go to grad school in our area they can live with me, but the grad school tuition is on them.</p>
<p>My expectation is that my kids went to college to get skills to launch themselves into the real world, and they know I expect them to be self supporting after graduation. D1 is there, D2 is still in college.</p>
<p>I’d rather she put what little is left over into a 401(K) or save up to buy something some day.</p>
<p>After one year living away at college, S moved home to go to the local university. Our expectation was he had to pay for car insurance, his portion of the cell phone bill, car payment and chores around the house. He still has at least one year of school left but on top of classes is working a full-time professional job and his expected contribution has changed. On top of the original expenses he is now paying “rent” that goes toward household upkeep. This is all part of the training to be an adult and learn how to handle monthly expenses and long range financial planning.</p>
<p>To Ktsai91, original poster, are you planning to live at your childhood home and hold a full time job? Or live there while actively searching for a job? Your answer to that question, probably changes all of our answers.</p>
<p>Well, I got a temporary summer job lined up after graduation. It’s the same job I got last summer, but I was working nearly full time so I think it will be the same thing again when i start to work at my old job. I plan to both work hard to hopefully convert my summer job into a permanent job and also look for another permanent job while working my summer job. Either way I do want to move out of the house as soon as possible.</p>
<p>D will be coming back for some period of time. She can live here and commute to her new position, or move if she desires to live on her own. She has no obligations this summer and starts her real life job in November. If she chooses to stay in the nest at that time, she will be expected to bank ALL of what would have been spent on rent. We would trust her to manage her finances accordingly. And she is expected to be a contributing and respectful member of the household.</p>
<p>The additional cost to us in utilities, food etc. is negligible when compared to her upkeep the past 22 years :)</p>
<p>S1 didn’t move back home. Expect S2 will have a much tougher time finding a job. Studios in our area are 1600/mo. He has til September after graduation before we charge rent. Time to assume person responsibility. </p>