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Education

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Original poster

how do you afford private school fees?

94 replies

beautifulgirls · 29/04/2007 08:14

I am interested to know how you afford private school fees? Are you lucky enough to have a good household income or do you subscribe to any of the school fees investment schemes that exist? If you subscribe, how good are they, which do you use? We will make sure we afford it for our kids, but it will stretch us on our current income unless we can make the money go further somehow. I fully intend to work more hours once they start school so that should help too, but things are not always that simple.

OP posts:

BingoWingo · 29/04/2007 09:04

Schools fees are a huge part of our monthly budget. We are scrupulous in our budgeting and make sure that we have adequate monthly transfers to cover every single thing.

We have our own business and really put in a lot of hours to keep staff cost down. We draw just over £50k a year and that covers a fairly large mortgage and the school fees for two. We live very simple lives and don't want for anything.

I do wonder how some of the fashionistas at our school manage with their constant holidays and new cars. I can only imagine that they have a lot of debt.

I firmly believe that if you are going to go down the route of private eduation that you need a rock solid financial base. Those stock market based savings plans need to be started years before you have kids IMO. What you need is regular cash that won't be needed for anything else. You can make that happen if you are frugal but you do need a good income in the first place. It takes two of us going flat out but at least between the two of us we don't need childcare so I feel we do get value for money, a lovely education for our kids and plenty of time together as a family.

I wouldn't go down the private school road if it meant compromising our family life.

marialuisa · 29/04/2007 09:42

We both work f/t and we are only paying for one child at a private primary in the East Midlands, the fees at our schoo our not in the ££££ bracket, less than £6k p.a. in fact. We pay out of income as after consideration the school fees plans didn't seem worthwhile for us.

At the moment we live in a perfectly nice, but perfectly ordinary house and when we moved here chose not to take on a big mortgage. We have a comfortable but not extravagant lifestyle and although we could find homes for the additonal money if we didn't pay fees, it would probably just go on stuff like more frequent/expensive holidays and more clothes rather than essentials.

UnquietDad · 29/04/2007 10:50

No, things aren't always that simple - you are right. We both work, but we;d find it difficult to afford school fees.

Don't forget, if you want to start with private straight away it's an 11-year commitment - more if you have more than one child, and double price in the years they overlap.

Our local independent has bursaries, but they are for people with household income below 13K. So, as usual, those in the middle lose out.

twinsetandpearls · 29/04/2007 11:06

when we considered private and on an income similar to BIngo Wings dp was going to do overtime to pay the school fees which would have been around the six grand mark.

pointydog · 29/04/2007 11:23

childcare costs would blow it out the water though

ebenezer · 29/04/2007 11:38

Totally agree with Unquietdad that the families 'in the middle'are always the losers. The seriously rich can simply afford it, and those on a very low income can benefit from means tested bursaries etc. As teachers, we would always have fallen into the 'middle' bracket, until after 20 years of slogging our guts out in the state sector, DH took a taching post in the independent sector, so we now get massively reduced fees for our DCs which is how we afford it. Would definitely recommend this as a course of action for teachers!!

ebenezer · 29/04/2007 11:42

Oh and would just add as a point of interest (being in the know with DH working in the independent sector) - there are definitely some parents who run their own business who benefit from the means tested bursaries by appearing to earn very little on paper. Total scam really - cos in reality they're usually the ones with the flash cars and several holidays abroad per year. But you did ask how people afford it, so thought you might like to know. I gather that many schools are wising up to this now though!

Twiglett · 29/04/2007 11:45

I am a loss to understand how a salary of 50K could cover 2 sets of school fees and a mortgage

is that net? or gross?

sorry am being horribly nosy aren't I? Its just the school I would like my children to attend (in 5 years and 8 years time) is currently 12K a year (so that would be 24K gone before anything else like uniform / books and trips)

Twiglett · 29/04/2007 11:46

is it true that a teacher in the independent sector gets kids in cheaply at other private schools? I've heard this before (some kind of agreement between schools) ..

ebenezer · 29/04/2007 13:13

Yes it can happen with some schools - the ones I know of are where there's a girls school and s boys school in the same town - they are separate institutions but obviously have some sort of agreement financially. I guess it may happen with some other schools too. The reduction in fees for teachers children varies enormously from school to school. Where DH works, we get two thirds off the fees.Other schools i know you get a 50% reduction, and I have a friend who teaches in one where I think she pays one third of the fees for each of her children, but there is a 'ceiling' on the amount teachers have to pay, so once you're paying something like 30% of your teaching salary, you don't pay any more, regardless of how many children you have attending.

SueW · 29/04/2007 13:49

Apparently our local GDST school doesn't offer a discount for teachers for their children. Not sure if this is GDST policy.

Compare to Repton where teachers get 90% discount. I know someone who is moving their children there - their school fees bill will be £300/month instead of £3000 - you couldn't pay for one child to go through most private schools for that much!

BingoWingo · 29/04/2007 14:14

Just to elaborate (because I didn't think that we could afford it either )our finances work out a bit like this:

Monthly drawings:

£2500 to joint account (all house bills)
£975 to school fee account (includes lunch)
£540 to my account (Clothes, shoes, holidays)
£540 to dh account (mysterious black hole)

This equals £4500pm from the business. We pay tax every January and July and we supplement our income with extra projects along the way.

Once you are self employed I think it is easier to find other projects to generate some cash because that is the way your mind starts to work. When we were employed we just used to accept our salary, now we tend to be a bit opportunist.

I completely agree about the 'middle income' trap. We sold our posh house in a nice area to live in a much smaller gaff (but equally nice to my mind) in a less nice area to make the jump to business ownership. It wouldn't be for everyone.

Our fees jump this September with the eldest starting Seniors and his sibling just a few years behind. We have been planning for the last 18months how to factor in the increase and have taken on a bit more work in advance. I really believe that you have to plan, plan, plan.

Also, we have no debt or finance apart from mortgage. Our cars are paid for and basic and I'm never going to win any fashion or grooming prizes. My kids wear secondhand uniform and none of us gives a sh1t about it.

Anyway, that was a ramble. We've been doing it for years and we manage fine but it is a huge commitment. The teachers get a 45% discount at our school but their children cannot be awarded any scholarships.

Marina · 29/04/2007 14:17

It is GDST policy SueW. They don't bar children of staff from applying for scholarships though

Twiglett · 29/04/2007 14:17

OK I get it .. you were talking about 50K net .. so more like 80K gross

BingoWingo · 29/04/2007 14:17

Twiglett, those fees sound southeast to me. Southwest fees are much more affordable because the average wage is so much lower generally. I wouldn't pay £24000 if I could help it.

Twiglett · 29/04/2007 14:19

and less than 12K in fees

I was right .. we can't afford private education .. got momentarily excited by your first post there

Lilymaid · 29/04/2007 14:20

A typical model for "affording" fees is: DH pays all the household bills and DW pays all the school fees. This means that DH (or whoever the highest earner is) has to earn enough to support whole family. I know everyone's salary is different, but at DS's school this was the typical way of funding fees - unless grandparents were generous. Schools fees planning may work for some, but for most people it would start when the family is worst off - when DCs are born - so not many can afford to do that.

BingoWingo · 29/04/2007 14:26

Twiglett, we couldn't do it either really at £24000 from the word go. I imagine that we will be at between £18k and £20k when both of mine are in seniors which is why I spend my weekends doing other projects for income.

Do you both have careers? The year before we moved, we stashed my income and tried to exist on one to see if effectively 'losing' one income to school fees was do-able. It was a really illuminating exercise.

If paying £24k meant both of us slaving with no quality time as a family then I would give up the school in a heartbeat.

BingoWingo · 29/04/2007 14:29

You also have to factor in childcare for the ridiculous holidays too. Luckily we do shared care so it costs us nothing. The boys get a lot of time with their dad during the day and then with me at night when dh is working.

BingoWingo · 29/04/2007 14:46

Last serial post. I just re-read the thread and saw the £80k bit. Whilst I would love that, we actually paid £8k tax last year after allowances.[/all about me]

SueW · 29/04/2007 14:54

[HIJACK] Marina - can you help out with my book thread here ? I think I might have to do a trip into town to be inspired.

amidaiwish · 29/04/2007 15:50

and isn't something like 73% of school fees paid for by grandparents?
that's how people afford it!

i have told my parents that... they can certainly afford it... waiting for them to bite (but it could be a long wait!)

Twiglett · 29/04/2007 17:03

you managed to pay 8K tax and have a net income of 54K? .. good accountant

ATrueBeliever · 29/04/2007 17:41

I sold my soul to Sarbanes Oxley!

Having decided not to work while the dcs were under 5, a ludicrous US law change gave me a year's work at rates that were too good to be true. So I gritted my teeth and got a nanny for a year whilst I raked in cash. Have now got savings which will see both dcs through the next 5 years of schooling, and am hoping that interest etc will get us another year or so. Will worry about the rest nearer the time.

Lilymaid · 29/04/2007 17:47

I'm still waiting for grandparents to offer to pay - DS1 has been through his independent school, got his As and is now doing well at university (and we are still paying for that) and DS2 is about to embark on independent sixth form. Grandparents always say how wonderfully DS1 has done and what a good school it was (and trumpet to their friends "My GS went to the .....") but they have only ever paid for a few music lessons. They aren't poor and one day a lot of their money will end up going to HM Treasury in inheritance tax. Rant over.

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