We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays

[Kugelblitz]

Can’t link but a headline post in the Telegraph. The trolling is desperate surely ?

Oh fuck off.

This is a very obvious area to cut back on. That £15 will stock the pantry with sweets for a couple of weeks at least.

The least likely part of the whole story is that their youngest is called Barry

@Richiewoo Who are you referring to and where would you like us to go?

Could you explain further?

Much worse off here : I can't go on six holidays....

"Al and Alexandra spend around £10,000 a year on a part-time nanny for their two-year-old, Barry."

Epic name for a 2yr old, to be fair

100%

Well as Barry is likely to be sent to local state school instead of private like Ali and Harry, his name needed to fit in.

Genuinely hilarious.

Just goes to show there's always someone worse off than you... 🤣

I completely agree that the concept of this article is very unpleasant, given the current cost of living etc. But blame that on the newspaper.

It's all relative - sure this family have loads more money than I do, and spend it on more luxurious things. But I would expect a family with this household income to be able to afford those - the fact that they can't I think is a worrying sign for all of us.

Incomes have stagnated for decades, cost of living has gone up - it's all very well to say ha rich people take your kids out of private school, which of course they have the option to do. But i don't think it makes my life better if they can't afford something - and I actually feel it's an indicator that my life is worse!

“The gardener used to come twice a month, but then he increased his costs from £230 a year to £245 a year. We only have him come once every other month now.”

The gardener comes twice a month?! Does the grass grow that quickly?! Also £245 a year for twice a month, that surely is cheap labour 🤣🤣🤣 I feel I’m in the twilight zone…. And it only increased by £15?! 😂😂😂😂

Al, or AI?

Either way, fuck 'em. And fuck The Telegraph too.

My aunt is like this.
She seems incapable of understanding that people can have no money.

She'll say things like well they'll just need to buy x
You'll say they isn't, they've got no money.
She'll reply they'll need to take it from their savings.
You'll say they have none and she'll tell you everyone has sayings.

You literally cannot get her to understand what no money means.

It's bizarre.

It’s a real slap in the first for the many families who are genuinely struggling to keep their kids in the schools they are happy and settled in or whose schools have closed as a direct result of this policy and other policies that have been introduced by this Government (increased NI, no business rates relief). I suspect someone in the Government has a friend in the Telegraph. They want people to think that all private school parents are like this. My dad recently described private schools as “hoity toity”… when I challenged him as to whether that’s how he sees his own grandchildren, he was “oh no their school isn’t like that!”

Nah, it's always that loony. You should read the comments sections - frothing at the mouth gammons. Unbelievable.

We live on 10% of their income and I consider us 'comfortable' (mortgage is paid off though, to be fair)😁

They ran an article a while ago where millionaire, castle dwelling, celebrity Alexander Armstrong complained that he was feeling very angry and extremely poor due to the VAT on private school fees.🙈

https://www.thepoke.com/2025/03/07/alexander-armstrong-complained-that-tax-on-private-schools-had-left-him-extremely-poor-13-anything-but-pointless-comebacks/

saved me starting a thread 😀

I think they actually are:

I think someone is manipulating the Telegraph to troll private school parents…I wonder who would do that….

It reminds me of https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14745569/Countess-Yarmouth-reveals-worried-childrens-school-fees-disinherited.html

"Previously the couple had received around £7.45million in assets and income from the trusts - but Lady Yarmouth says they have now not received any money to pay for their children's school fees."

What did they do with their previous money? Even if things weren't fractitious between them all, would they not have wanted a sense of safety and independence. As an ex-director at Goldman Sachs I'm sure she could find some work... And he could quit getting up at 4am to pick elderflowers and sell juice/booze. He could go get a regular job given the current setup clearly isn't bringing him enough in. Many people want to be their own boss or a CEO but it's a robust and talented few who can do it profitably.

Was just about to comment likewise. Typo? £240 per day/half day visit sounds more like it & going rate for 1 acre plus home counties.

I noticed that too, I'm sure that must be a typo and that's the monthly cost

"When you consider how much money people who aren't net contributors receive from the state, I think that the likes of that family are extremely valuable to this country."

"That family are what we should all aspire to be like."

What, @uuuuu people who are not net contributors like nurses? Teachers? Carers? Dustbinmen? I'm not saying that people who pay a lot of tax aren't a good thing for the economy, but society would fall apart without people who will never, ever be a "net contributor" even if they work all their lives.

@Kugelblitz I can't tell what's real and what's parody anymore. Poe's law.