Paying for Your Keep When Younger

toffee

toffee

Senior Member
Location
uk
How many of paid our parents for our keep- food etc ….I started doing so soon as I started my job and it continued till I left home ,
wages wasn't a lot then but I still paid my mum 'and dont remember ever borrowing off her like kids do today --- my wage had to last till nxt payday'
but always found it for my records or shoes lol.....so when I had my sons I took keep from them both ' by telling them things dont come free when you
start working ' but my boys did borrow off me - times change !!
 

Growing up, my mom never knew how old I was. Yet, she knew when I turned 16. That meant I could get a part time job. And it's easy to remember the day I started my first employment-it was my 16th birthday. From that time on, I was responsible for everything- clothes, school supplies, etc.
 
toffee said:
How many of paid our parents for our keep- food etc ….I started doing so soon as I started my job and it continued till I left home ,
wages wasn't a lot then but I still paid my mum 'and dont remember ever borrowing off her like kids do today --- my wage had to last till nxt payday'
but always found it for my records or shoes lol.....so when I had my sons I took keep from them both ' by telling them things dont come free when you
start working ' but my boys did borrow off me - times change !!
Click to expand...


Bout the same here, we call it paying board. Paid it till I left home, as you say. Oddly, later in life I partially supported my mother. My parents divorced when I was seven, never borrowed a dime from either.
 

Never paid anything. Never expected my kids to pay when they were at home either. My oldest son is the only one of my kids that has kids of his own and he's doing the same. Although the oldest grandchild, my granddaughter graduates from college next month and although she has been accepted to graduate school my son says he feels like he's done enough and she's on her own now. I'm cool with that.
 
Last edited:
From 18, on, I paid for any place where I hung my hat. My dad put up a room for me, in the basement of his two-flat, made up of old doors. I had a TV and a lamp, a mattress on the floor. I paid $20/wk, and was told that no girls were allowed. After a few girls, and a few arguments with my dad's second wife, concerning them, I figured I could do better, so I found my own efficiency flat, closer to my Yellow Cab garage. Then, it was time to go back to college, which I also paid for.
 
I gave my mom a small amount each week once I started to work. I didn't want a big wedding so when we got married my mom and dad gave us the money for what the wedding would have cost plus what I had given them over the years. I didn't know she was saving it for that purpose.
When my kids were living with us I didn't ask for anything. From an early age my son was so handy and probably saved us thousands on repairs and work around the house. He does this to this day.
My daughter has been generous in other ways.
 
I was a parsimonious little feller when I was a kid. Every time I got $5 bucks from an aunt or an uncle or whatever for Christmas or my birthday or whatever I would put it away in a savings account that my parents opened for me. By the time I was 11 or 12 years old I had $400 bucks put away. That was a pretty good chunk of change back in the late 50's. Then one day, I can't remember why, I wanted to take some money out for something. But I could not find my bank book. So I went to my mom and told her I wanted to take some of my money out. And she said "It's gone, I had to spend it".

Now in her defense we had fallen in to some pretty hard times since my dad had died and left nothing behind but a stack of unpaid bills and my mom, who only had an 8th grade education had had to go to work waiting tables at greasy spoons for nickel and dime tips. So looking back on it, I get it. But it still hurt.

But it didn't change me. I'm still parsimonious as Hell. :)
 
Trade said:
I was a parsimonious little feller when I was a kid. Every time I got $5 bucks from an aunt or an uncle or whatever for Christmas or my birthday or whatever I would put it away in a savings account that my parents opened for me. By the time I was 11 or 12 years old I had $400 bucks put away. That was a pretty good chunk of change back in the late 50's. Then one day, I can't remember why, I wanted to take some money out for something. But I could not find my bank book. So I went to my mom and told her I wanted to take some of my money out. And she said "It's gone, I had to spend it".

Now in her defense we had fallen in to some pretty hard times since my dad had died and left nothing behind but a stack of unpaid bills and my mom, who only had an 8th grade education had had to go to work waiting tables at greasy spoons for nickel and dime tips. So looking back on it, I get it. But it still hurt.

But it didn't change me. I'm still parsimonious as Hell. :)
Click to expand...
Man, your mom should have, at least, discussed, with you, what she needed to do, before she yanked your dough. I would have hocked my mom's jewelry, behind her back, using an older friend, if she had pulled that $hit on me.
 
I didn't pay board money, but when I was a teenager and my parents didn't have enough for the mortgage payments, they would borrow it from me, so technically, the house should have been mine too - in writing. As punishment for wanting to be a rock singer after high school, dad sad he would not help fund my college education in any way. I thought he had to be kidding. He wasn't. I had to pay for it all myself. :(
 
I paid keep to my mum, she was very fair as I had to pay train fare to work, the rest went on essentials like, clothes, make up and cigarettes....;)
 
Makes sense that every working adult in the home should contribute to it's upkeep, or at least one's own upkeep, if it is needed. Ruth's post is in line with my way of thinking & doing.
 
Once I turned 18 and during the months I was living at home and not in college I did help with groceries. It wasn't much from what I remembered. My parents also wanted me to save money so once I was out of college I could move out I believe. I did just that and shortly after that I was married.
 
treeguy64 said:
Man, your mom should have, at least, discussed, with you, what she needed to do, before she yanked your dough. I would have hocked my mom's jewelry, behind her back, using an older friend, if she had pulled that $hit on me.
Click to expand...

We barely had a pot to piss in let alone jewelry. But I was a spoiled brat anyway. Back then in Florida you could get a restricted driver license at 14 and then you could drive a motor scooter by yourself as long as it was rated at no more than 5 brake horse power. Some of my friends got them and I wanted one bad. Back then you could get a used one for $100 bucks. But we didn't have that to spare. But I had read somewhere that the bank wouldn't start foreclosure on your house until you were 3 months behind in your payments. Our house payment was $60 something a month. So I asked my mother to just miss two of them so I could use that money to buy a scooter. She refused.
 
Trade said:
I was a parsimonious little feller when I was a kid. Every time I got $5 bucks from an aunt or an uncle or whatever for Christmas or my birthday or whatever I would put it away in a savings account that my parents opened for me. By the time I was 11 or 12 years old I had $400 bucks put away. That was a pretty good chunk of change back in the late 50's. Then one day, I can't remember why, I wanted to take some money out for something. But I could not find my bank book. So I went to my mom and told her I wanted to take some of my money out. And she said "It's gone, I had to spend it".

Now in her defense we had fallen in to some pretty hard times since my dad had died and left nothing behind but a stack of unpaid bills and my mom, who only had an 8th grade education had had to go to work waiting tables at greasy spoons for nickel and dime tips. So looking back on it, I get it. But it still hurt.

But it didn't change me. I'm still parsimonious as Hell. :)
Click to expand...
Back in those days, I was just plain cheap. I even had a girl tell me that. I paid for everything on dates, but otherwise, I didn’t like spending money. I bought my first car, paid the insurance and gas. My dad put snow tires on my car and paid for them. Back then, we had to switch tires in the spring and fall.

I wasn’t charged anything for living at home. I did the same as Trade, I never asked for anything from my kids either. They saved their money at my insistence, but not without complaining. I worked from the time I was 14 doing whatever, like my first job was working in an orchard for 50 cents an hour. Then a small grocery store, a 5&10 cent store warehouse, paper route, gas station and a farm. Sometimes, I had 2 jobs going on during the same days. A person can become addicted to earning money.

Today, I’m just the opposite. I am very giving. Life has been good to me, so why not? A couple times a year, I will pay for a young couple’s meal as a random act of kindness. I get a kick out of watching their expressions. I also donate to 2 charities.
 
Last edited:
hollydolly said:
My wage packet had to be handed over to my father unopened. he gave me my bus fares to work, and he kept the rest. I worked for nothing basically...
Click to expand...
Gee, Holly, I’m sorry to hear that. If I had it to do all over again, I would have told my kids to give me 10% and put 15% in the bank. Instead. I made them put the 25% in the bank. Talk about moaning, my daughter was worse than my son.

Were you paid by cash or check?
 
911 said:
Gee, Holly, I’m sorry to hear that. If I had it to do all over again, I would have told my kids to give me 10% and put 15% in the bank. Instead. I made them put the 25% in the bank. Talk about moaning, my daughter was worse than my son.

Were you paid by cash or check?
Click to expand...
Cash , weekly in a regular little brown pay packet. !! If I dared open it , I would have got the beating of my life!


With my own daughter.. who I raised by myself, I didn't ask her for any help with the housekeeping until she was 22 and working in middle management , and earning a very high salary.

I'd raised her on my own after my divorce when she was 6 years old, working several jobs at a time to ensure she had the best education and didn't go without anything ..and I managed to put her through Music college, too, without a penny help from her father ...so when I asked if she could pay just a nominal amount when she was 22, she was not happy at all.. , so by the time she was 23 she'd bought her first home and moved out!!
 
I did farm work in Texas after school and during the summer. My room and board was 25% of my earnings. This started when I was 14 and continued until I joined the Navy at the age of 17. They drank up whatever they got from me. I never borrowed money from them, but they borrowed from me several times and it was difficult getting my money back.
Overall, I don't have much respect for either one of them. Their behavior, especially when drunk, was terrible.
 
When I worked I paid (age 12 to 16)
Moved out rather early
Came back for a bit, but everthing 'family' was effed up
Lived on and off in a back room of a store in my later high school years
paid for that too
No regrets
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top