To all those of us who have gone over and over the finances to see if we can afford Private Ed.....

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

How much did you feel you needed to have 'left' over each month??!
Did you calculate in a certain % for fees to rise?

Those of you like me who know it will be tight, how tight was too tight??

Sorry, I know a very personal thing! I am concerned about the ski trips/extras etc so need to really, really be sure we can afford it.

probably allow an extra £100 per month per child than the actual fees, don't forget the lovely little extras bill...does depend partly on what's included, for example some places lunch is, some places not. And don't forget uniform often costs a bomb!

Ski trips aren't compulsory and most private schools have a second hand uniform sale. Ds's blazer is from Harrods, immaculate condition and cost me £20. Excluding the cost of the blazer (which the state school doesn't have) ds's uniform was cheaper than the local state school. Lunch costs the same as state (although some private schools make lunch compulsory). Ds has piano lessons which again are cheaper than the local teachers I contacted. The only thing that is expensive are the fees!

I would calculate for an annual 5% increase. Last year we had 0% increase, this year it is 5%.

Also think about how you will fund fees. I pay out of income and have a year saved up. I had always assumed that if I lost my job school fees would be first to go. When that happened recently I realised that paying school fees was higher on my list of priorities than I realised.

most of my extras bill is after school club to be fair (lunches included at ours)

Before and after school club for Ds costs £4/day. Seems like a bargain but then I remember the school fees I've paid

£4 for both before and after school club?! I'm being robbed...

It is a bargain! Ds gets really cross if he doesn't get to go.

Yeah so do mine, but at £10 a pop for afterschool they only go when I need them to!

Not many extras for me either - a couple of day trips per year, uniform is mid range price wise and lasts for years, I buy blazers from the school second-hand shop. The last school trip to France was £300 for a 5 days, £150 less than it costs at the state school I work in!

We choose to pay insurance to cover fees in case of illness, which is an extra £40 per term.

I think the change is going to come for us in Upper school, where lunches, the bus and exams are all extra.

The ski trips etc are all optional and many children don't go - mine never have.

Extras are tricky and you need to discuss it wiht the bursar (he or she won't mind remotely, so please don't feel reluctant). DS school includes almost everything in the fees - all obligatory trips, lunches, all clubs etc. DD's school does not and our bill always contains a lot of extras (cultural trips, specialist equipment etc)

diablo yes about the bus. They are ferociously expensive if they are run by the school. £10 per day for DD. I often toy with taking her but what with petrol, wear and tear and of course time I still feel justified in using it.

Extras vary from school to school. If you have somewhere in mind you should be able to find out what is included and what is not.
5% fee increase annually should cover the fees.
In terms of whether you can afford it / is it worthwhile, then it's a question of thinking about what you would rather spend money on. I know one family who go to state school so they CAN have expensive holidays instead. I know my parents paid school fees and we never stayed in a hotel until I was about 18, they were never fussed about cars (same car for ever) or clothes. There are a lot of things you can cut back on that might make the difference; colour you own hair instead of going to the hairdresser, TV / cable packages, checking what you spend on general 'drip-feed' spending ie. coffee on the way in to work?

Many many thanks for the help. What I guess I am really asking is how much do you think you would feel safe with left over each month from your total income??

I earn to pay the school fees, DH's salary covers everything else. I couldn't do it by scrimping and saving because I would be so stressed that I would have to pull my kids out if we lost our jobs. We have a large buffer (svings and equity in the house) that I know we never have to take our kids out under any circumstance. We could live in a larger house and have more expensive holidays if we didn't do private but its worth it - don't think kids mind about the house or holidays.

It is not really a very simple question to answer, marypoppins. As long as I have enough for day to day needs (including clothes, birthday presents, a camping holiday somewhere in the UK, etc.) then I don't really feel the NEED to allow extra money over and above that. Although we do have a small amount of savings put to one side just in case school fees go up or something.

We set aside mortgage, bills, travel, childcare for other child and food first and then we worked out what school fees would be on a max 5% annual increase. At the moment it is a pretty small expense compared with childcare for our younger DC so we're reasonably relaxed because it will effectively replace that... Not much is being saved at the moment though and I would like to have a year of fees at least saved up just to feel better.