Any parents who are struggling with school fees and now regret the decision?

[freakazoidroid]

I am considering private school for my daugher from reception in sept.
It will mean tightening the purse strings quite substanially.
I wondered if anybody had sent their dc's to private school and maybe a few years in slighty regrets the decision,from a financial point. What sacrifices have you made ,it is making your life harder and did anybody pull their dc out and put them into state?

Yes you can save, save, save for school fees. No matter what you earn, you're getting taxed on your earnings and then you're paying the fees out of taxed income.

I would go and talk to a specialist financial adviser, one who does school fees most or all of the time. They can get you tax-efficient ways of saving/investing which can save you thousands.

They always say that though they can save a situation when things go pear-shaped, they can't work miracles and the earlier you start planning the better.

No I'm not one, but we are taking long-term advice.

What I am trying to say is that there is nothing that friends have who educate their kids at state but have lots of money for holidays/flash cars/big houses that I envy . To be honest I think they would be better off educating their children privately, but that is my personal opinion

Grrrr! These threads are soooo patronising! No amount of saving and cutting back is going to mean that we can even consider private schooling. Get it into you heads fgs

My DD will be state educated as we have no choice. We have no car, no holidays and no other luxuries, because although we both work damn hard DP and I have a joint income of less than 25K.

GEDDIT?

Sorry

Been a few threads on this lately and they do wind me up just a smidge!

Um, I didn't say that everyone in the world should be able to afford private schooling, I am not that thick, I do realise that the majority of people can't. AND I realise that what you see is not necessarily what you get. But there are plenty of people (mainly on mumsnet probably!) who say that they wouldn't consider privately educating as they prefer to have an easier lifestyle. My comment was a reply to one such poster just above.

"Should" be able to afford private schooling.

"One such poster above" ??

Do you mean me? Ha ha ha, this has cheered me up no end!

Yes you said you could choose private but didnt? Apologies if you didn't actually mean that. Of course you need to do what is best for your own family, they just are not the choices I would make.

TangerinePuppet I would get if I read posting about vegetarianism or my other bug bear homeopathy but I just don't bother to read them I dont want ot cause myself that much grief.

I am fairly sure that there are loads of parents my pockets of the UK who could afford independent education and instead prioritise holidays or cars.

Admittedly, I am basing this on the untested hypothesis that when I return home from the school run on a morning, at just before 9, I cannot turn into my own drive as it's blocked my massive black BMW 4WDs and a convertible porsche and whacking great brand new flashy white land rovers. When I am trying to manoeuvre my little 1 litre 4 seater in.... Now I may just be slightly bitter that they haven't also been on a very early school run (my eldest starts school at 8, an hour previously) and I guess they could theoretically be company cars or cars borrowed to make a splash on the school run - but there are a hell of a lot of these flashy cars driven into my village to go to park outside my house, with yummy mummies with swishy hair leaping out to put up £900 pram systems and walk up the road to the state school.

grafit - I chose state because I do not want to support a two-tier system. End of. You have your opinions, I have mine, never the twain shall they meet.

Ultimately it's a two tier system but it's always go

...go what?

Try again ultimately it's a two tier system but it's always going to be there whether you choose to use it or not. Some of us are just lucky enough to have enough money to pay for it I'm afraid that life. I also agree that there are probably many who have enough m

Bloody lap top I also agree that there are probably many parents who can afford day fees but choose not too and have other things instead. I'm less convinced about boarding £31 000 PA per child is a lot of money and people with that kind of disposable income are in a very small minority I believe less tha 1 % of the entire UK population.

That's interesting, because where I live it's the private schools with the flash cars parked outside....

And what iamnotinterested said.

6% of the country use fee paying schools
BUT
outside London its nearer 3%

Mumsnet is the only place in the UK where Private school is considered a "normal" option

the other 94% of us sit and snigger or weep
65% of the country earn less than £26,000 a year

On the general basis that no-one has a crystal ball, I'd say that if you think you can afford private education and have identified a school that you think will be the best possible option for your DC, then send them when you can.

If you suffer a major reversal of fortune, then what you think you may be able to afford in the secondary years may prove illusory.

The prep or state school your DC attends will be formative in shaping their attitude to school, learning and wider education. Even if you choose or have to go to the state sector later, a prep school child stands a good chance of being in the top sets and that can make a huge difference to the acceptability of an average school. (That assumes that the prep is a good one - you need to check this for yourself, not assume standards solely on how it is paid for).

Ok there are quite a few who good afford an independent school but choose state. I stand by my comment on those who choose boarding.

Meant to say could afford independent day especially at prep school level.

Tangerine, you may ask yourself why you clicked on the thread title then...

reluctantly decides probably best to unflex fingers also though recoils a little from what seems to be the assumption that loving parents who want the best should always prioritise private school as a thing to spend money on

ROTFLMAO at Seeker and Elaine
6% do it
another 5% could probably do it without too much pain
another 5% could do it at a push
another 10% could give up everything else and do it
the remaining 74% of us get on with our lives and enrich our childrens' upbringing in the 84% of hours in their lives that they are not at school

I work with children and their parents nearly all from what ever background they come from are "loving parents". I dont think I've ever stated that all could afford it if they simply cut back on expensive holidays or drove clapped out old heaps. I accept that school fees are outside of the majorities budget but bursaries are available again not to all but they are there.

How many an afford boarding. We reckon you've got to be

avoids filling in the gap for what you've 'got to be' to send your child to boarding school