What is expensive but worth every penny?

[Teadrinker11]

Following on from the previous thread about expensive purchases that weren't worth it, what is expensive but actually is worth it? What do you own or have done that is very expensive but you don't regret it at all?

@AliceAbsolum

IVF rounds Campervan with hot shower Ethical down jacket Ethical down slippers Therapy Hydroflask Sports massages Brooks running shoes

What slippers are these? I’m in the market for some new ones.

Our lovely little house.

Velvetiser

Peloton.
Weight loss surgery.
Heated airer.
Cloud 9 hair straighteners.
Highlights.
Natural fabric knitwear.

@Ais234

Another IVF one.

5 years, 7 cycles, £40k but very lucky that it was successful on two of those cycles and now have 2 beautiful children.

Meant we couldn't afford alot of the other things mentioned here but all worth it!

Only £40k for seven cycles?! Where please!

Oops I forgot the dog. Way more expensive than the Peloton!

The best large amount of money I think I ever spent was paying for a private amniocentesis at the Harley Street Clinic of Professor Aris Papageorghiou, who at the time was considered the most experienced.

I was 42 and pregnant with my 2nd child after two failed pregnancies. My first DC's amniocentesis was done on the NHS and I'd heard that the high incidence of miscarriage following it was purely down to human error (but they don't tell you that) and it was terrifying.

He was so good and reassuring and they also were able to tell me the gender weeks ahead.

Why are people so bothered about the idea that a private school is money well spent? For a good private school it absolutely is an investment in your children's future, yeah they shouldn't be better than state schools but how dare you sacrifice your children's chances for principles you've chosen?

And to be clear mine probably won't go private because we moved to a grammar area but if I thought it was the best choice for them you can absolutely bet I would send them if I could.

how dare you sacrifice your children's chances for principles you've chosen?

And there in a nutshell is the snobbery that surrounds schooling in this country. I didn’t sacrifice my children. They got a good education and mixed with children from a range of backgrounds - some on FSM, some better off. They did well at school through their own efforts, not because they were spoon fed by teachers terrified of parents complaining they didn’t get the results they paid for (friends who teach in private schools tell me this happens repeatedly; they have also told me about teachers who walk around pointing at the right answers in exams). My children understand how society is structured, because they haven’t been cocooned in privilege. I think they are the lucky ones. One is now at a RG university with a large private school quotient and is horrified by the entitlement shown by those students. If they get fined for breaking college rules (happened a lot in lockdown), their immediate reaction is that they’re not going to pay it because the rules shouldn’t apply to them. I think that attitude is pretty familiar to us all now, thanks to our PM.

Principles are not worth having if you don’t live by them. That’s not about sacrifice; it’s about teaching your children values.

OP, I can see this is far removed from the purpose of your post. Apologies. Fwiw, my money well spent is good haircuts, vets’ bills, a velvet quilt for the bed, and my MA. Oh, and another vote here for cashmere. So from now on I’ll be sure to argue about quilts and cashmere, not education.

Espa candles

@notwavingbutdrowning5

how dare you sacrifice your children's chances for principles you've chosen?

And there in a nutshell is the snobbery that surrounds schooling in this country. I didn’t sacrifice my children. They got a good education and mixed with children from a range of backgrounds - some on FSM, some better off. They did well at school through their own efforts, not because they were spoon fed by teachers terrified of parents complaining they didn’t get the results they paid for (friends who teach in private schools tell me this happens repeatedly; they have also told me about teachers who walk around pointing at the right answers in exams). My children understand how society is structured, because they haven’t been cocooned in privilege. I think they are the lucky ones. One is now at a RG university with a large private school quotient and is horrified by the entitlement shown by those students. If they get fined for breaking college rules (happened a lot in lockdown), their immediate reaction is that they’re not going to pay it because the rules shouldn’t apply to them. I think that attitude is pretty familiar to us all now, thanks to our PM.

Principles are not worth having if you don’t live by them. That’s not about sacrifice; it’s about teaching your children values.

OP, I can see this is far removed from the purpose of your post. Apologies. Fwiw, my money well spent is good haircuts, vets’ bills, a velvet quilt for the bed, and my MA. Oh, and another vote here for cashmere. So from now on I’ll be sure to argue about quilts and cashmere, not education.

You are (or rather your child is) confusing correlation with causation here. Some private school kids have twats for parents. In terms of entitled attitudes, probably more private school parents than state school parents are twats. No amount of private schooling will stop the children of twats growing up to be twats.

But not all privately-educated kids are twats.

Charbonnel et Walker pink champagne truffles.

No other chocolates come close, worth every penny.

@AnnaK163 Just Wow!!

@HaveringWavering (I'm not sure who's side I'm on here!) when I was at (an RG university) almost all the privately educated students really stood out in the first year. But by the third so many were struggling because they'd become so entitled and complacent.

My wonderful Westie
iPad and iPhone
Leather Jacket

Long haul club seat

[quote TicksallBoxes]@HaveringWavering (I'm not sure who's side I'm on here!) when I was at (an RG university) almost all the privately educated students really stood out in the first year. But by the third so many were struggling because they'd become so entitled and complacent. [/quote]
Is it not possible that you only noticed the ones who were failing, and others simply did not go around shouting about where they went to school?

By contrast, I went to Cambridge from state school. I never noticed any generalised difference between the state and the privately- educated students in terms of academic ability/ achievement. To be honest I didn’t really pay attention to where people had been to school; not coming from the independent school sector myself, many of the school names beyond Eton and Harrow meant nothing to me and I didn’t even realise they were private ones.

Good quality musical instruments. I'm a total cheapskate most of the time & hate spending money on even necessary things for myself but if I'm buying a new instrument I'll always get the best I can afford.

wavingnotdrowning
It’s funny that you profess to be so well educated and teach your children so well but you have a very narrow view of private school and clearly quite a bit of prejudice towards people who choose this as an option. And perhaps you have passed this onto your kids. (I was bullied by kids local to me for going to the “posh” school).

There are people as you say who are like this but it’s by no means the majority. (From what I’ve observed as a parent and through my mother who taught in the “poshest” private schools and the “roughest” comps).

My child has a scholarship and we work really hard so he can go to private school. All the changes in him have been positive.

I didn’t send him to private school for a pass at life or for it to open doors for him. He needs to work hard and be a good human for that to happen. I sent him as I felt it was the best environment for him to thrive as a person and for him to have the best opportunity to get the best from himself.

It’s not right that society is like this but it isn’t something I think we can change.

Do you have the same view about private medical care / health insurance in the UK?

1. Dyson hairdryer, contemplating the straighteners
2. Childcare
3. Manuka Honey

[quote Musmerian]@notwavingbutdrowning5 - I’ve taught in both and the gap has widened hugely and it’s not about facilities. It’s about schools who trust their teachers and give then freedom to teach without micro managing, it’s about having the ability to attract well qualified passionate staff, I see so many English teachers on Twitter asking scarily basic questions about ‘subject knowledge’, it’s about valuing your older and more experienced staff rather than hounding them out to be replaced by NQTs, it’s about having real relationships with students not mad zero tolerance policies with kids being isolated for uniform infringements. I could go on…[/quote]
Agree
But the facilities are also phenomenal! My children do waterpolo, rock climbing in site, matches very week, cross country races etc

They have a 3d printer. My son has dissected a pig. I could go on.

This is prep. They do all the above and they’re not even at secondary.

So much more than the facilities BUT the facilities are special

@notwavingbutdrowning5

user47000000000, why wouldn’t I? Because I think the very least we should demand of a decent society is that it gives children a level educational playing field. A good education is every child’s right - not something to sell to the privileged few. But worse than that, parents are paying for access. They know that a good private school will open doors for their children throughout their life. That is fundamentally wrong. I don’t want to give my children the message that you can pay for access. And I want them to open those doors themselves, not rely on our wealth to do it for them.

I agree with you

But I am the ultimate hypocrite when it comes to my children

@starshipsahead how is it a waste? Without knowing everyone’s reason for choosing private, you can’t say that.

I’ve not chosen private for my children because I’m desperate for them to go to oxbridge. I’ve chosen their school because it is the best for them and what parent doesn’t want the best for their children?
If my children choose to go to university, they will obviously end up with teens from state school as they are a huge majority so I hope that’s not your attempt at calling it a waste?
Private school is about much, much more than grades.
I would never consider it a waste of money.

We got to over 30 pages on a thread about actual expensive things rather than services before the private school debate kicked off. Perhaps an odd mention along the way but others kept to the spirit of the thread. There are so many threads about the pros and cons. This wasn't the one for the ruck.

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